For another project, I compiled a list of the mobile phone models that contained innovations or reached milestones in the mobile industry.
Looking through the list, I was struck by how the innovations in mobile phones fall into a few basic categories:
- White elephants that do something innovative, but few other models copy them. Ex: Solar panels on phone, double-twisting cases, UV sensors, ethical supply chain, optical joysticks,
- Way ahead of their time. It takes the rest of the industry years to start copying them. Ex: IBM Simon, 9:18 and 9:21 aspect ratios in screens, ToF cameras, fingerprint readers, GPS, non-replaceable batteries,
- Minor waves. These inspire some copies, but then they die off. Ex: Sliding QWERTY keyboards, IR blasters, unibody and milled metal cases, 3D displays,
- Sustained subcategory: These inspire copies, but their innovation never becomes dominant. Ex: ANT+, heart rate sensors, SpO2 sensors, pico-projectors, NFC, virtual reality goggles, laser auto-focus, styluses, rugged models, gaming phones, advanced cooling,
- Major waves that have died or are dying. Ex: partial flip phones, clamshells, sliders, physical keys pads, infrared communication,
- Major waves that dominate the industry. Ex: thinner cases, glass cases, phablets, taller screens, bezelless design, screen notches and bullet punches, multiple lenses,
Here is the full list:
| Model | Date Released | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Motorola DynaTAC 8000X | 1983-10 | First commercial portable cell phone |
| Technophone EXCELL PC105T | 1986 | First pocket cell phone |
| Motorola MicroTAC 9800X | 1989-04-25 | Smallest and lightest phone of its time, advertised as fitting in a jacket pocket; first flip phone (flip cover over key pad) |
| Orbitel 901 | 1992 | First GSM (900 MHz) phone (bag-portable) to receive official approval (May 1992); first to receive a SMS text message |
| Motorola International 3200 | 1992-09-03 | First hand-portable digital cell phone |
| Nokia 1011 | 1992-11-09 | First widely-produced, hand-portable GSM phone; made Nokia the largest mobile phone seller |
| Hagenuk MT-900 | 1992 | First soft keys (programable keys that change function); first to include an answering machine |
| Nokia 2110 | 1993-02 announced | First musical ringtone (“Nokia tune”); popularized soft keys; lightest GSM phone and largest display when launched; 20M sold |
| Motorola m300 | 1993 | First to support GSM 1800 MHz (Mercury One2One network) |
| Hagenuk MT-2000 | 1994 | First internal antenna |
| Ericsson EH237 / NH 237 | 1994 | Lightest ETACS phone; over 1M sold by 2015-03 |
| Sony CM-111 | 1994 | Most compact and lightest phone in 1994, with unique flip down microphone |
| Siemens S1 | 1994 | Siemen’s first GSM phone; first phone (along with IBM Simon) with game (Tetris variant called “Klotz”), but hidden due to patent fears |
| IBM Simon Personal Communicator | 1994-08-16 | First “smartphone” combining phone y PDA; first touch screen; first stylus; first expandable storage (PMCMIA Flash RAM); first 3rd party apps; first RS-232; first game (Scramble); 50k sold |
| Motorola StarTAC 8500 | 1996-01-03 | First vibrator (ERM, “Vibracall”); first clam shell design; the StarTAC series sold 60 million units; smallest and lightest in 1996; inspired by Star Trek communicator |
| NEC / DoCoMo Digital Mova N103 Hyper | 1996-05 | First selectable ring tones |
| Denso / IDO Digital Minimo D319 | 1996-09 | First custom ring tone (input by user) |
| Motorola MicroTAC International 8700 | 1996 | First (outside of Japan) with an optional lithium-ion battery (SNN4383) |
| Ericsson GA628 | 1996 | First customizable phone with a replaceable color panel around the key pad |
| Hagenuk (Toshiba) TCP-6000 | 1996 | First to allow user to customize interface by defining their own menu structure; built-in help to avoid using manual |
| Ericsson GA628 | 1996 | First customizable phone with a replaceable color panel around the key pad |
| Nokia 8110 | 1996-09-09 announced | First “slider” form factor; curved shape known as the “banana phone”; first LCD to display graphics; first dynamic font size; popularized the internal antenna |
| Nokia 9000 Communicator | 1996-09-19 | First clamshell smartphone; first physical QWERTY keyboard; first web browser (text only) |
| Ericson GS88 “Penelope” | 1997-01 | Prototype coined the term “smartphone;” only 200 produced |
| Siemens S10 | 1997 | First color screen |
| Siemens S10 active | 1997 | First outdoor phone |
| Nokia 6110 | 1998-01 | First Nokia phone with infrared port; first with Snake–most popular game of its time, installed on 350M phones; first phone using ARM processor; first with Series 20 interface; first with different ringtones to identify callers |
| Nokia 8810 | 1998-03-18 announced | Popularized the use of internal antennas; first phone with style as the primary consideration (the designer, Frank Nuovo, later created the Vertu line) |
| Alcatel OT COM | 1998 | First touch screen without stylus and no physical buttons |
| Nokia 5110 (aka 5146) | 1998-04-12 announced | First replaceable faceplates to change color (“Xpress-on” covers), starting trend for changeable cases |
| Bosch World 718 | 1998-06 | First dual band phone (GSM 900/1900 MHz for use in Europe & US) |
| Nokia 3210 | 1999-03-18 announced | 160M sold (4th highest) |
| Ericsson T28 | 1999 | Best-selling model in N. America for a while; one of the first with lithium polymer battery |
| Palm VII | 1999-05 | Second PDA (after IBM Simon) with wireless (Mobitex network); first phone with handwriting recognition |
| Kyocera VP-210 Visual Phone | 1999-05 | First camera (front selfie) and first video phone; sent 2 fps over cell network or photos in email |
| Benefon Esc! | 1999 | First GPS; first route tracking with loadable maps; early water and shock resistant phone |
| Siemens SL10 | 1999 | First sliding key pad |
| Motorola L7089 Timeport | 1999 | First tri-band GSM (900, 1800 & 1900 MHz) for world-wide usage |
| Samsung SPH-M2100 | 1999-08-12 | First MP3 player; download from an online MP3 store; first Digital Rights Management (SM3 file decryption to prevent copying) |
| Nokia 7110 | 1999-10 | First web browser for the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP 1.1); first phone with Series 40; first predictive text input (T9) |
| Nokia 8877 | 2000-03 announced | First polyphonic (MIDI chords) ring tones |
| Ericsson T36 | 2000 | First Bluetooth (prototype which later became the T39) |
| Benefon Twin | 2000 | First dual SIM (and also supported two GSM bands) |
| Samsung SCH-V200 | 2000-06 | First back camera (photos couldn’t be sent over cellular network) |
| Sharp / J-Phone J-SH04 | 2000-11-01 | First phone with back camera that could send photos over cellular network (Sha-Mail); regarded as first “camera phone” |
| Ericsson R380 | 2000-11 | First phone marketed as a “smartphone” because ran PDA apps; first to run Psion’s EPOC 5.1, which became Symbian OS; |
| Nokia 3310 | 2000-Q4 | First threaded and group SMS (“Chat”); allowed SMS 3x longer with 459 chars; 126M sold; first with changeable front and back panels; first phone marketed toward youth; dubbed “indestructable,” its fans made videos trying to destroy it |
| Siemens SL45 | 2000-Q4 | First MultiMedia Card (MMC) for removable Flash storage; popularized MP3 player |
| Nokia 9210 Communicator | early 2001 | First smartphone with color screen; first infrared; first Symbian OS device |
| NEC N2001 | 2001-10-01 | First OLED display |
| Ericsson T68 | 2001-Q4 | First joystick navigation; first bitmap image editor; first optional camera attachment; first Ericsson phone without brominated flame retardants; popularized mobile web browsing |
| Samsung SCH-N300 | 2001-09 | First Assisted GPS (Verizon provided network support for A-GPS in 2001-12) |
| Matsushita P2101V | 2001-10-01 | First 3G (2100MHz WCDMA) phone (along with NEC N2001 and Matsushita P2401) |
| Palm Treo 180 | 2002-02 | First IR blaster |
| RIM BlackBerry 5810 | 2002-03-04 | First phone with track wheel for vertical scrolling (first appeared in the RIM 950 pager) |
| Motorola A820 | 2002-03 | First 3G (UMTS 2100 MHz) phone outside of Japan |
| Samsung SGH-T100 | 2002-04 | First thin film transistor active matrix LCD; 10M sold by 2003 |
| Sony Ericsson P800 | 2002-09 | First flip panel with number pad and QWERTY keyboard on opposite sides; helped popularize the touch screen |
| Nokia 6610 | 2002-10 | First color-screen phones (along with the Nokia 6100) to sell over 1M units |
| Sharp mova SH251iS | 2002-11-16 | First 3D display; first editor to convert photos to 3D; 4.33M sold |
| Sanyo SCP-5300 | 2002-11 | First LED flash for camera; first camera phone sold in the US; white balance control, self-timer, digital zoom, and filter effects |
| Motorola A760 | 2003-02-16 | First Linux phone (MontaVista Linux + Qtopia Phone Ed. + Java apps) |
| LG G7100 | 2003-Q2 | First pivoting clamshell, with screen turning 270° |
| BlackBerry 7210 | 2003-05-30 | First BlackBerry with color screen |
| Nokia 3300 | 2003-06 | First ring tones using musical recording (“True Tones,” downloadable AMR-WB files) |
| Nokia 1100 | 2003-Q3 | Tied with the 1110 as best selling phone with over 250M sold; cheapest Nokia phone in 2003; produced for 6 years–longest in history |
| Siemens SX1 | 2003-Q3 | First FM radio |
| Nokia N-gage | 2003-Q3 | First gaming phone; had buttons on both sides of screen; only sold 2M |
| LG G5300 Qiblah | 2003-09 | First magnetometer compass?, marketed for Muslims to locate Mecca |
| Sony Ericsson Z1010 | 2003-Q4 | First with both back and selfie camera |
| Motorola A925 | 2003-Q4 | First secondary low-power CPU core (used as a digital signal processor) |
| Motorola E398 (aka ROKR E1) | 2004-03-08 announced | First microSD slot (called TransFlash); first vibration with music; first iTunes phone; first stereo speakers (along with Motorola E680) |
| Nokia 6630 | 2004-Q2 | First mobile phone with global roaming |
| Pantech GI100 | 2004-Q2 | First fingerprint reader |
| Sharp V602SH | 2004-06 | First optical zoom (2x) in a phone |
| HTC Blue Angel / Qtek 9090 | 2004-Q3 | First sliding QWERTY keyboard; first released with Wi-Fi (802.11b) |
| Motorola RAZR V3 | 2004-Q3 | Thinnest (13.9mm) and most compact (65cc) phone when released; 130M sold; anodized aluminum case and nickel plated keypad |
| Nokia 7710 | 2004-Q4 | First 18:9 aspect ratio display; first Nokia device with a touch screen |
| Samsung SCH-S250 | 2004-10 | First 5 MP camera; first QVGA display |
| Nokia 9500 Communicator | 2004-11 (2004-02-24 announced) | First announced with Wi-Fi (but Blue Angel was released earlier) |
| Siemens SXG75 | 2005-Q1 | First Reduced-Size MultiMedia Card (RS-MMC) |
| Samsung i750 | 2005-Q1 | First Bluetooth 2.0 |
| Samsung SCH-S310 | 2005-03 | First accelerometer |
| Nokia N90 | 2005-Q2 | First Karl Zeiss optics in phone |
| Nokia N91 | 2005-Q2 | First 3.5mm audio jack |
| Nokia 1110 | 2005-06 announced | Tied with the 1100 as best-selling phone with 250M sold |
| HTC Universal | 2005-Q3 | First Windows Mobile 5.0 “Pocket PC” phone; first VGA screen |
| UTStarcom F1000G | 2005-09 | First Wi-Fi 802.11g |
| Nokia 770 Internet Tablet | 2005-11-03 | First Linux mobile device (not a cell phone) which attracts an active community |
| Nokia 6131 NFC | 2006-02 | First Near Field Communications (NFC) |
| Nokia N92 | 2006-Q2 | First mobile TV (DVB-H tuner); first double twist body |
| Samsung SCH-a930 | 2006-06-05 | First haptic feedback (“VibeTonz” for video games and identifying callers) |
| Danger/Sharp Hiptop3 (aka T-Mobile Sidekick 3) | 2006-07-10 | First trackball (multicolor LED-lit six-direction) on phone (a feature popularized by the BlackBerry Pearl) |
| Nokia N73 | 2006-07-24 | Most popular model in 2006 smartphone revolution |
| Vertu Constellation 2006 | 2006-10 | First non-replaceable battery; first sapphire glass |
| Samsung SCH-V960 | 2006-12 | First optical joystick |
| HTC Advantage | 2007-02 | First 5 inch screen |
| LG KE850 (aka LG Prada) | 2007-05 | First capacitive touchscreen |
| Motorola RAZR2 V8 | 2007-05 | First microUSB port |
| Samsung B710 | 2007 | First dual lens camera; first 3D camera (but never released for sale) |
| Apple iPhone | 2007-06-29 | First multi-touch screen; first finger-touch QWERTY keyboard; first hardened aluminosilicate glass (Gorilla Glass 1); first offering 16 GB of storage |
| OpenMoko Neo 1973 | 2007-07-09 | First open hardware phone (Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license) |
| WND Duo Atom | 2007-08 | First dual SIM with both SIMs operating simultaneously |
| LG Viewty (KU990) | 2007-10 | First image stabilization in camera (using software) |
| Nokia N82 | 2007-11-14 | First Zenon flash; considered the best camera of its time |
| Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte | 2008-09 | First carbon fiber case |
| Nokia N85 | 2008-10 | First AMOLED display |
| HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1 | 2008-10-20 | First Android device |
| HTC MAX 4G | 2008-12 | First 4G phone (on Russian Yota WiMAX network) |
| LG New Chocolate BL40 | 2009-09-18 | First 21:9 aspect ratio screen |
| Samsung Omnia HD (i8910) | 2009-05 | First 720p video recording |
| Palm Pre + Touchstone charger | 2009-06-06 | First wireless charging |
| Nokia 97 | 2009-06-09 | First offering 32 GB of storage |
| Apple iPhone 3GS | 2009-06-19 | First oleophobic coating |
| Samsung E1107 Crest Solar (aka Solar Guru) | 2009-07-10 | First with optional solar panel |
| Sony Ericsson Satio | 2009-10-07 | First camera with more than 10 MP |
| BlackBerry Bold 9700 | 2009-11 | Popularized the optical trackpad (that was first introduced by the Samsung SCH-V960) |
| Samsung Wave (S8500) | 2010-06-01 | First Wi-Fi 802.11n; First Bluetooth 3.0; first Bada phone |
| Dell Streak | 2010-06-04 | First “phablet” (screen 5” or larger) |
| Apple iPhone 4 | 2010-06-24 | First glass back cover; first Micro-SIM; first MEMS gyroscope; popularized selfies; first HDR photos (with software update); thinnest phone (9.3mm) when released |
| Samsung Galaxy Beam (I8520) | 2010-07-01 | First built-in projector (TI WVGA DLP pico projector) |
| Motorola DROID X | 2010-07-15 | First Micro-HDMI port (HDMI 1.4 Type D), first dual LED flash |
| altek Leo | 2010-09 | First 3x optical zoom |
| Samsung SCH-R900 Craft | 2010-09-21 | First LTE phone |
| LG Optimus 2X | 2011-01 | First dual core CPU; first 1080p video recording |
| Motorola ATRIX 4G | 2011-02-22 | Popularized the fingerprint reader; first with 1 GB of RAM |
| ZTE MTS 945 GLONASS | 2011-03-31 | First GLONASS GNSS |
| Casio G’zOne Commando | 2011-04-28 | First IP67 dust and water resistant phone |
| Samsung Galaxy S II | 2011-05-02 | First MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) to output HDMI over micro-USB |
| HTC EVO 3D | 2011-06-24 | First 3D video |
| LG Optimus 3D | 2011-07-07 | First dual lens camera (that was released for sale); touted as “world’s first full 3D phone” |
| Cherry Mobile Q70 Quad | 2011-08-15 | First quad SIM |
| Nokia N9 | 2011-09-15 | First gesture-based user interface (Swipe UI); first offering 64 GB of storage |
| HTC Rhyme | 2011-09-22 | First ANT+ (Adaptive Network Topology) used by fitness and health monitoring equipment |
| Samsung Galaxy Note (N7000) | 2011-10-29 | Popularized larger screened “phablets”; first phone with active digitizer layer in display to detect stylus |
| LG Optimus LTE | 2011-10-04 | First 720p HD screen |
| Apple iPhone 4s | 2011-10-14 | Popularizes >300 ppi screen (“Retina Display”); popularized panoramic photos (included in iOS 6 update) |
| Motorola DROID RAZR | 2011-11-11 | First use of kevlar in back panel; thinnest phone (7.1mm) when released |
| Galaxy Nexus | 2011-11-17 | First to support face scanning by front camera to unlock (Android 4.0 feature); first voice-based intelligent assistant (“Google Now” in Android 4.1); first Bluetooth 4.0 |
| HTC One X | 2012-04-02 | First quad core CPU |
| LG Optimus LTE2 | 2012-05 | First with 2GB RAM |
| Samsung Galaxy S III | 2012-05-29 | First eye tracking (“Smart Stay” to prevent going to sleep while looking at phone); first Gorilla Glass 2 |
| Kyocera Urbano Progresso | 2012-05-30 | First tissue conduction receiver (“Smart Sonic Receiver”) for the hearing-impaired |
| Nokia 808 PureView | 2012-06 | Highest resolution (41 MP) and largest sensor size (1/1.2") of any camera phone; best image processing and digital zoom (4x) of its time |
| OPPO Find (aka Finder) | 2012-07 | First USB audio in place of 3.5mm audio jack; thinnest phone when released |
| Apple iPhone 5 | 2012-09-21 | First CNC milled case (aluminum “unibody”); first Nano-SIM |
| Nokia Lumia 920 | 2012-11-02 | First Qi wireless charging; first optical image stabilization (OIS) in camera |
| Samsung Galaxy Camera (GC100) | 2012-11-08 | Largest optical zoom (21x) in phone; first slow motion camera (at 120 fps) |
| HTC J Butterfly (aka Butterfly and Droid DNA) | 2012-12-09 | First 1080p screen (beating the Oppo Find 5 by 3 days) |
| OPPO Find 5 | 2012-12-12 | First Dirac HD Sound; second 1080p screen; first hardware HDR video |
| Oppo U705T Ulike 2 | 2012-12 | First self-portrait beautification (face slimming, skin whitening and smoothing, etc.) |
| Huawei Ascend Mate | 2013-02 | First screen 6 inches or larger |
| HTC One (M7) | 2013-03-22 | First to use bigger and better pixels in camera sensor (2.0um Ultrapixel); highest pixels-per-inch display of its time |
| BlackBerry Z10 | 2013-01-31 | First phone running on QNX (BlackBerry OS 10) |
| Samsung Galaxy S4 | 2013-04-27 | First 8 core CPU (heterogeneous big.LITTLE); first automatic scrolling with eye tracking; first multi-window UI; first DDR3 RAM; first Gorilla Glass 3 |
| BlackBerry Q10 | 2013-04 | First case made of glass fiber (patterned weave) |
| NEC Medias X 06 E | 2013-05 | First heat pipes (0.6mm) with evaporative cooling; first IPx8-certified phone for water resistance |
| LG C299 | 2013 | First quad SIM for global sale |
| Samsung Galaxy Mega (6.3 I9200) | 2013-06 | First Wi-Fi 802.11ac |
| Meizu MX3 | 2013-09-02 | First offering 128 GB of storage |
| Sony Xperia Z Ultra | 2013-07-24 | First quantum dot display (“Triluminos” with 50% larger color gamut); first image enhancing processing for display (X-Reality Engine sharpens image, reduces noise, improves contrast, & fine tunes saturation) |
| LG G2 | 2013-09-12 | First fast charging (Snapdragon Quick Charge 1.0, 5V/2A) |
| Sony Xperia Z1 | 2013-09-15 | First IP68-certified for dust and water resistant |
| Apple iPhone 5s | 2013-09-20 | First 64-bit CPU; first dual tone flash with white and amber LEDs to color correct the ambient light (“True Tone”) |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | 2013-09-25 | First USB 3.0 (5 Gbit/s); first with 3 GB of RAM |
| Samsung Galaxy Round G910S | 2013-10-09 | First curved screen |
| Oppo N1 | 2013-10 | First with optional Cyanogen OS (Android derivative); first manually rotating camera for both front and back; first touch sensitive back case for scrolling and camera control (“O-Touch”) |
| LG Optimus L4 II Tri E470 | 2013-10 | First triple SIM |
| LG G Flex | 2013-11-12 | First “self-healing” back cover that hides scratches; LG’s first curved screen; ad for G Flex caused gag reflex and called “the worst commercial ever” |
| Acer Liquid S2 | 2013-12 | First 4K video recording |
| Fairphone 1 | 2013-12 | First “ethical” and transparent supply chain |
| vivo Xplay 3S | 2013-12-18 | First qHD screen |
| HTC One M8 | 2014-03-25 | First depth camera; first bokeh effect in camera; popularizes dual lens camera |
| Oppo N3 | 2015-01 | First motorized rotating camera for use in front and back; first motorized panorama, which could be controlled by scrolling on the fingerprint reader |
| Samsung Galaxy S5 | 2014-04-11 | First phase detection autofocus (PDAF) (in ISOCELL sensor); first heart rate sensor; first multi-window interface |
| Oppo Find 7 | 2014-04 | First fast charging that increases current, rather than voltage (VOOC Flash Charge 1.0, 5V 4A) for lower heat; |
| OnePlus One | 2014-04-25 | First eMMC 5.0 Flash memory; first phone running Cynagen OS, an Android fork |
| LG G3 | 2014-05-28 | First laser auto-focus in camera; first 3-axis OIS (Optical Image Stabilization Plus) |
| Sharp Aquos Crystal | 2014-08-29 | First edge-to-edge display (at sides and top) |
| Samsung Galaxy W | 2014-09 | First display 7 inches or larger (that was marketed as a phone) |
| Samsung Galaxy Alpha | 2014-09-12 | First Gorilla Glass 4 |
| Apple iPhone 6 | 2014-09-19 | World’s best-selling smartphone, with 220M sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus; 4 years of production was the longest of any smartphone |
| HTC Desire 510 (EU version with Snapdragon 410) | 2014-09-27 announced | First 64-bit, quad-core CPU |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | 2014-10-17 | First UV sensor; first SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) sensor |
| HTC Desire 820 | 2014-11 | First 64-bit, 8-core CPU |
| Samsung Galaxy A5 | 2014-12 | First hybrid slot accepting both Nano-SIM and MicroSD cards |
| Samsung Gear SM-R320 + Galaxy Note 4 | 2014-12 | First virtual reality googles using smartphone |
| Oppo R5 | 2014-12 | Thinnest phone ever made (4.85 mm); special cooling with liquid-metal and phase-change materials |
| LG G Flex 2 | 2015-01-06 | First with DDR4 RAM |
| Samsung Z1 | 2015-01 | First Tizen phone |
| Asus Zenfone 2 (4GB model) | 2015-03-09 | First with 4 GB of RAM; first offering 256 GB of storage |
| Samsung Galaxy S6 | 2015-04-10 | First UFS (Universal Flash Storage 2.0, max 720 MB/s) memory |
| Lenovo A7000 | 2015-04 | First Dolby ATMOS for 3D spatial audio |
| LG Optimus LTE2 | 2012-05 | First with 2GB RAM |
| Oppo R7 | 2015-06-15 | First screen flash for selfie photos |
| OnePlus 2 | 2015-07-28 | First USB Type-C port |
| Apple iPhone 6s | 2015-09-25 | First haptic feedback to simulate on-screen button click (with linear resonant actuator “Taptic Engine”); first touch pressure sensors (“3D Touch”); first screen flash for selfies that auto-adjusts its white balance (“Retina Flash”) |
| Motorola Droid Turbo 2 | 2015-10-27 | First shatter-proof display (“ShatterShield” with flexible AMOLED, dual digitizers, plastic substrate and hardcoat) |
| Sharp Zeta SH-01H | 2015-11-29 | First IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) display; first 120Hz refresh rate |
| Microsoft Lumia 950 | 2015-11-17 | First “convergence” phone for use as a PC (Windows 10 Continuum) |
| Kyocera Digno Rafre KYV36 | 2015-12-11 | First soap-proof phone |
| Shiftphone SHIFT5.1 | 2015-12 | First forward-compatible phone so upgradable with parts from later SHIFT5.X versions; first phone sold with refundable recycling tax (€22 in 2016) |
| Fairphone 2 | 2015-12-21 | First modular phone (better repairability and longer lifespan); 5 pogo pin connector for mods; first Blue Angel certification for phone; first iFixit score of 10 out of 10 |
| Xiaomi Mi 5 | 2016-02-27 | First 4-axis OIS |
| Vivo Xplay 5 | 2016-03-01 | First with 6 GB RAM |
| Samsung Galaxy S7 | 2016-03-11 | First Dual Pixel PDAF |
| LeEco Le 2 (MediaTek version) | 2016-04 | First 10 core CPU |
| Huawei P9 | 2016-04-16 | First monochrome camera (more light and detail in low-light) |
| LG G5 | 2016-04-23 | First wide-angle secondary lens (instead of telephoto) |
| HTC 10 | 2016-05 | First OIS in both front and back cameras |
| CAT S60 | 2016-06 | First thermal camera |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 7 | 2016-08-19 | First front infrared LED & camera for facial recognition (“Iris Scanner”); the exploding battery caused the most expensive recall, costing $17 billion; first Gorilla Glass 5; first HDR display |
| Xiaomi Mi MIX | 2016-11-04 | First ceramic frame and back cover |
| Lenovo Phab 2 Pro | 2016-11 | First 3D scanning for AR (infrared dot “Project Tango”) |
| Kyocera Torque X01 (KYF33) | 2017-02 | First to meet 18 categories MIL-STD-810G standard |
| LG G6 | 2017-02-26 | First Dolby Vision HDR display; popularized the 18:9 or taller aspect ratio; first display with rounded corners |
| Samsung Galaxy S8 | 2017-04-21 | First physical button for an intelligent assistant (Bixby button); first Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Alcatel Flash (2017) | 2017-04 | First dual lens cameras in both front and back |
| Asus Zenfone AR | 2017-06-14 | First with 8 GB of RAM |
| HTC U11 | 2017-06 | First pressure sensitive sides to detect squeezes to do action (“Edge Sense”) |
| Essential Phone PH1 | 2017-08-17 | First screen with notch and non-standard aspect ratio (19.5:10), allowing “bezelless” design and the highest screen-to-body ratio when released; first titanium frame |
| Apple iPhone 8 (and iPhone 8 Plus) | 2017-08-22 | First AI/neural processor (“Neural Engine”); screen color adjustment for ambient light (“True Tone”) |
| Xiaomi Mi A1 (aka Mi 5X) | 2017-09 | First Android One phone (unmodified Android, OS/security updates for 2/3 years) |
| Asus Zenfone 4 Pro | 2017-10 | First Wi-Fi 802.11ad; first WiGig (60GHz) |
| Google Pixel 2 (and Pixel 2 XL) | 2017-10-19 | First eSIM; first separate neural chip (“Visual Core”) |
| Apple iPhone X | 2017-11-03 | Reliable facial recognition (“Face ID”) with infrared flood illuminator and dot projector; started trend of $1000+ prices for flagships |
| LG V30S ThinQ | 2018-03 | First pixel binning to combine 4 pixels into 1 for better low-light images |
| Huawei P20 Pro | 2018-03-27 | First triple lens camera; first “Night Mode” photo processing; first AI-based image stabilization (Artifical Image Stabilization) |
| Huawei Mate RS Porsche Design | 2018-04 | First to offer 512 GB of storage |
| ZTE nubia Red Magic | 2018-04 | First RGB lighting (programable on back cover); first button (“GameBoost”) to increase power and disable notifications |
| SHIFT Shiftphone SHIFT6m | 2018-05 | First phone assembled in an “ethical” factory owned by the brand |
| vivo NEX S | 2018-06 | First motorized pop-up front camera, allowing “bezelless” design |
| Xiaomi Mi 8 | 2018-05 | First dual frequency GPS |
| Smartisan Nut R1 | 2018-05 announced | First offering 1 TB of storage |
| OPPO R17 | 2018-08-23 | First Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Samsung Galaxy A9 | 2018-10-11 | First 4 lens back camera |
| Razer Phone 2 | 2018-10-22 | Popularized high refresh rates (120 Hz) for gaming phones; first THX-certified audio amplifier |
| OPPO RX17 Pro | 2018-11 | First 3D time-of-flight (ToF) camera using infrared LIDAR |
| Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 | 2018-11-11 | First camera slider, for bezelless design |
| Huawei Honor View 20 | 2018-12 | First punch hole in display for front camera and bezelless design; highest resolution (48MP) in camera |
| Asus ROG | 2018-12-14 | First 90 Hz OLED screen; first with 2 USB ports |
| vivo X20 Plus UD | 2019-01-25 | First in-display fingerprint reader |
| Lenovo Z5 Pro GT | 2019-01-29 | First offering 12 GB of RAM; highest screen-to-body ratio of 95.06% (but gsmarena calculates 88.5%) |
| Samsung Galaxy A50 | 2019-03-02 | First plastic case that looks like glass with reflective effects (“3D Glasstic”) |
| Motorola Moto Z3 + 5G Moto Mod | 2019-03-14 | First 5G phone (with added mod) |
| Samsung Galaxy S10 | 2019-03-08 | First Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) (along with the Galaxy S10+) |
| Royale FlexPai | 2019-03 | First to release a folding screen for dual phone & tablet |
| Samsung Galaxy S10 5G | 2019-04 | First phone with built-in 5G cellular baseband |
| OnePlus 7 Pro | 2019-05-14 | First UFS 3.0 |
| Samsung Galaxy A80 | 2019-05-29 | First with mobile SoC designed for gaming (Snapdragon 730G) |
| ZTE nubia Red Magic 3 | 2019-05-27 | First active cooling, with both fan and liquid cooling; first 8K video recording; highest slow-motion frame rate video (1920 fps) |
| Asus ROG Phone II | 2019-09 (expected) | First USB 3.1 (10 Gbit/s) |
| Samsung Galaxy Fold | 2019-09 (expected) | First widely-sold folding screen; unclear if it will have Samsung’s self healing oleophobic coating |
| Realme XT | 2019-Q3 (expected) | First 64 MP camera (Samsung GM1 sensor) |
| OPPO Reno 2 | 2019-Q3 (rumored) | First 20x zoom in conventional form factor |
| Purism Librem 5 | 2019-Q3 | First hardware kill switches; first replaceable cellular modem and Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth (on M.2 cards); first smart card reader (for 2FF OpenPGP card); first running 100% free software; only current phone to offer convergence as PC without special hardware |
| Oppo | 2019-Q4 (rumored) | First under-screen camera |
| Motorola Razr 2019 | 2019-12 (expected) | First folding screen flip phone |
| Xiaomi Mi | 2020 | First 108 MP camera (Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX sensor) |
Looking at the list of innovations that the Librem 5 will have, which haven’t appeared before in any other phone, the Librem 5 will be one of the most innovative models in the history of mobile phones. However, I wonder how those innovations will be regarded.
Will the Librem 5 be a white elephant that nobody else copies, will it become a sustaining subcategory, or will it be a model far ahead of its time, but eventually its features will become a wave that dominates the industry? What do you all think?
Also if you project this view to linux in general you would see that Linux as operation system is also surviving for the desktop while the usage in percentage is very low, but:
