- Best smartphones: The best phones available to buy today Nokia through the years: The best and worst phones, in pictures
Samsung P300
Looked more like a calculator than a phone, but it was 2006.
Bang and Olufsen Serenata
A colab between Bang & Olufsen and Samsung, this had a price tag of $2,000. Expensive even by today’s standards.
Bang and Olufsen Serene
Before the Serenata was a desk-based phone from B&O that featured an iPod-style scroll wheel.
C91 Golden-Buddha Phone
Want your phone to look like a “compact”? No problem. Oh, and of course you want your number pad in a circle like the 1950s don’t you?
Haier P7
Who doesn’t need a phone designed to look like a pen crossed with a laser pointer? This gem had a six day battery life and a 0.3-megapixel camera.
LG G Flex
The Flex didn’t flex, but it was pretty innovative for its time. Sadly, it never caught on, with many finding it too large and too expensive.
Virgin Mobile Lobster
Called the Lobster phone because it looked like a lobster claw, it had a DAB tuner and you could watch TV on its tiny screen.
- Virgin Lobster 700 TV mobile phone review
Microsoft Kin
Before Windows Phone, Microsoft launched the Kin. A huge flop. It felt at the time that it was only on sale for a matter of weeks before being pulled.
- The biggest Microsoft failures ever
Motorola Flipout
It’s hip to be square. The Flipout featured a swivel keyboard, but nobody could work out why they needed it, so it didn’t hang around for long.
Motorola StarTac Rainbow
A great phone that got a colourful makeover to make sure you were noticed when you got this out your pocket in the 1990s.
Nokia 7280
Designed to look like a lipstick, it was best if you had all your contacts stored so you didn’t have enter them by scrolling as there was no number pad
Nokia 7600
There was a time when no two Nokia phones looked alike. The 7600 was the first 3G phone from the company and was a cracker, if a little odd.
Nokia 7700
Coming at a time when a 3.5-inch display was unheard of, this one featured the ability to show things like spreadsheets.
Nokia 7710
More of a PDA akin to Psion and BlackBerry, the 7710 even came with a stylus to help you navigate that huge screen.
Nokia N93
The N93 was all about video. It allowed you to capture 30 frames a second with its 3.2-megapixel camera and play it back on the 2.4-inch screen.
Nokia N-Gage
Wanted a gaming phone? Nokia had you covered with the N-Gage - a gaming-focused smartphone that was for anyone who didn’t want a Nintendo DS.
Pantech Pocket
Samsung Galaxy Round
There was a time that whatever LG did, Samsung did too. The Round was its answer to the G Flex.
Samsung Juke
Launched at a time when all we wanted was a music player that fitted in a pocket, the Juke was as much portable jukebox as a phone.
Samsung Matrix
A tie-in with the film that was really designed to be a collectors item for the fans. As such, it wasn’t the greatest of phones.
Siemens Xelibri
It was all about fashion when it came to the Xelibri range, and that included the price. However, users wanted tech and so the range soon became a flop.
Telson TWC 1150
This was a phone you could wear on your wrist. Years ahead of the Apple Watch, this literally was a phone that came with a wrist strap.
Toshiba G450
Looking like a bloated USB stick, this followed the same design approach as many of the Nokia handsets that presumed you only called your contacts.
Yotaphone
Two screens are better than one right? Yota believed that meant an E-Ink display on the rear to read ebooks and the like.
Nokia 9 PureView
With a growing focus on photography, phones have embraced some interesting ideas over the years. The Nokia 9 PureView came with five cameras on its rear.
Motorola V70
Taking a different approach to the traditional clamshell design. The stylish fashion-focused swivelshell was very satisfying to play with.
Motorola V100
The V100 was all about business and making sure you got that email or text message on the go. Shame it looked like a child’s toy.
Palm phone
This Palm phone was so small it was very easy to pop in a pocket. However, it also made a tiny mark on consumers: they didn’t buy it.
Meizu Pro 7
Many have played with the idea of two screens. It didn’t work, but others are still trying to perfect the idea of a rear screen for selfies.
Sprint Kyocera Echo
Another early adopter, this time you got two screens side-by-side. Of course, today phone makers are opting for one giant screen that folds.
