Posted by In today’s age of super-smart phones, it is easy to forget how far we have come since mobile technology took off in these parts. I thought it would be some fun for us to go down memory lane and talk about our first mobile phones.
Mine was the Motorola T2288 Talkabout. It had a Monochrome display of 96 x 64 pixels, showing 4 lines of text. The built-in phonebook stored up to 100 entries and call records were limited to Call records 10 dialed, 5 received, 5 missed calls only.
Oh, its WAP 1.1 browser was cutting edge for 2001 too. So was the conspicous antenna that jutted up from one side of the top of the phone. Of course, there was no GPRS, so I could only browse via dialup after some relatively tedious setup. I remember using Mtech’s WAP settings then for my mobile browsing.
Need I mention too that the T2288 preceded the days of colour screens and removable memories? No pictures on the phone. no music player. No video player. No calendar. No FM Radio. No GPS. No everything else. It was a true mobile phone, nevermind the modern pretenders to the name.
I can imagine that if I was given a copy of the T2288 today to use as my primary mobile device for 24 hours, I would probably die of frustration before the trial period was over. I mean you could announce my obituary upfront and wouldn’t have to eat your words.
Still, the Motorola T2288 was my very first mobile phone and served faithfully for years. It was a faithful, rugged friend. I gave it out as a gift eventually and the new owner used it till its last ring.
What was your first mobile phone and what fond memories do you have of it? We will have a picture of the phone inserted in your comment when publishing it.
Founder of MobilityArena. Yomi’s journey in mobile started in 2001. Besides obsessing over mobile phones, he also started creating WAP sites (early mobile-friendly websites created with WML). He began writing about phones in 2004 and has been at it since then. He has owned over 200 devices, from Symbian, Palm, PocketPC/Windows Mobile, BlackBerry/BB10, webOS, Windows Phone, Firefox, Ubuntu Touch, to Android, iOS, and KaiOS operating systems.
Funny how technology gets cheaper with time; today a N5,000 phone has more features and beauty.
Hilarious post.
I can’t remember much about my first personal phone except that it was a Motorola something. Heck I consider my first real phone to be this Nokia E63 I’m using to post this comment…and it’s barely three months old.
You must have been real a geek from way back to do all those clunky wap settings with that motorola talkabout. My dad had that same phone back then, and we couldnt even figure it out 🙂
This looks like a sequel to https://www.mobilityarena.com/down-memory-lane-with-alcatel-phones-part-1/
My first mobile was a Nokia 3310. GSM came to Maiduguri in 2002 and I bought my 3310 in 2003 at the cost N50,000. My Econet buddie line was purchased at N7000. It felt really empowering to have a mobile phone back then. I remember how much we admire the few people that can afford the Nitel Cell phones before GSM came. I always look back and say it’s worth it. There was a time it accidentally fell into a bucket of water without me noticing. I found it after more than an hour still very much alive under the water. I used that phone up till the end of 2006 before moving to a Motorolla L7. And guess what? It was functioning well when I stopped using it. I just needed a phone with GPRS and Java.
This is going to be one truly hilarious thread of reminiscence, no?
My first smartphone is the Nokia 5320 Xpressmusic. I love the phone, and still use it after 16 months.
I got it in 2003 during econet’s phonocracy. I would spend hours looking at the phone amazed at the technology. I would almost cuddle the phone when sleeping. I must add the phone looked like a feeding bottle or better stilla walkie talkie.
Nokia 3330 with small one alcatel one touch cant remember the model.. Used to feel top of the world then, still have d carcass of the 3330- Museum items.
Mine was motorola c117…good memories
Anyways, my first “smartphone” was Nokia 3650 and that phone is a true legend.
mine oh mine! me an yomi used the same phone the T2288 talkabout, mine had an orange mobile logo on it.gosh! i got it 3rd hand from a guy for 8k during my nysc year-2003.I used to carry it about fully charged without a simcard(i must charge every night.Then I took a suicide move-during econet bonanza in Bauchi where i was serving,i bought an econet line with the whole of my alawi – SEVEN THOUSAND,FIVE HUNDRED NAIRA.
I nicked name the phone weapon of mass distruction – it looked and feel sturdy.i used to have anntena isue with it, calls will just freeze some times. And the pin charger port was also an issue forme, kept taking it to a corper friend who is an electrical engineer-nothing like a gsm engineer, at least not in Bauchi metropolis in 2003.
from there i move to the almighty sagem x-6, very poweful, wap engine,colours,java,went internet mobile with a glo simcard in october 2005
First smartphone, the fat Sendo X with a 32mb memory card jampacked with more things than I can remember. Wasn’t bad apart from its being temperemantal at times. @admin I think the 3330 was a few microns smaller than the 3310 too.
Ha. Mine was a motorola t190 in the year 2004 with a glo play later line(it was hell using glo cause other networks would not interconnect with glo) had to get it cause i kept getting home late. It is a mono chorme display but very durable. I remember holding and swinging the phone from its antenna(it still functioned after that). I got it at N9300 and still have the receipt today for sentimental reasons.
I miss all these phones. I have been a GSMarena visitor since 1998 and i do nothing else on that site than to check out phones and admire them, my overnight browsings are still fresh in my memories.
I was so good that i could recognise and tell you the functions of any phone, nowadays, there are so many phones that I find it hard to catch up.
Finally, I was able to aford a phone in 2003. Alcatel OT 311
my first ever smartphone experience was nokia 6600. am sure u will agree with me it was a fantastic phone by those days standards..
My first phone ever was a Nokia 3310! I was so excited for the phone. ANd I used to boast of its “Myriad” of functions!
Like Bosun, I was always on Gsmarena, but also on mobile-review too. You could call it window shopping.
Yes, there are so many phones now, and it so difficult to keep up. But we try to do so all the same.
I could boast that my Nokia 3310 may have been the best phone in its segment those days. It cost me 22, 000 NGN! Those old days! SO much nostalgia!
The time was way back in 2001, a friend of mine and a gsm dealer came in with the Sagem and a motorola talkabout. The choice was not difficult. It was love at first sight with the alluring “horn” and those sweet blinking lights, motorola talkabout could just not compete. I bought it for N17,000.00 inclusive of my MTN sim card. I think there was a small promo going on then. The Nokia 3310 was everywhere and very costly. My sagem was just the best phone then. Not too common and very sweet looking.
Funny thing, at that time, Sapele had no mobile network. I used to travel all the way to Warri just to make calls (mostly to my brother in the United States). I was loading N2,500 every two weeks to avoid being cut off by MTN. It was a big rip off by the two available networks in those days.
Still I had fun with the phone.
My first handset was Nokia 3310. A very popular model with the addictive game of ‘Snake’. A very tough set, I must say.