Remember the Nokia 3310? When feature phones ruled the market, that phone changed it, bringing amazing durability and battery life with some added features.
The same can also be said about the Nokia 1100, which sold around the same time. But then smartphones came around. And for all their durability, these older phones couldn’t match the sheer number of things you could do with a smartphone. It’s been a few years now and smartphones have settled in as the only phones to buy.
But as wise men have often said, change is the only constant in the world. So, it was only a matter of time before something changed the smartphone market. But which were the phones that brought about this change? Here’s the list for India.
Google Nexus 5
At its time, the Nexus 5 was an affordable flagship class smartphone that could do anything that higher priced phones could. Yes, it lacked in battery life, but this is arguably the phone that brought Nexus to the forefront, converting regular consumers to a Nexus from others.
Moto G and Moto E
Before the likes of Xiaomi and OnePlus came into the market, American Motorola woke up to show everyone what it was made of. The company that made the first handheld mobile phone ever came into the market with the Moto G, which was quickly followed by the Moto E.
Both these phones delivered pretty high performance at an affordable price point, and with Motorola’s name attached to them, the consumer interest was inevitable. It was a red flag for Samsung, Sony and others, to raise the bar when it came to the price to performance ratio.
Xiaomi Mi3
When Xiaomi first entered the market in India, it caused a wave like no other. The Xiaomi Mi3 sported specifications and performance similar to the Nexus 5, but at a price point similar to the Moto G. It was something that none of us had heard of or seen before and despite the company’s lack of service support at the time, it turned heads. Of course, it put Xiaomi in a tough spot, since people started expecting similar phones all the time, but the Mi3’s task was to put Xiaomi on the map in India. And it did, even though it sold only for a few weeks.
OnePlus One
The OnePlus One gained a lot of consumer interest from India even before it was actually shipping to the country. Upon entry, the phone was already quite old globally, but it brought an incredible value proposition that no one could deny. So, despite the frustrating and irritating invite-only scheme, people flocked to get their hands on this phone. Only a select few did, but they were largely happy with it, and OnePlus entered the fray.
Samsung Galaxy Note 2
Love them or hate them, Samsung has played a big role in making Android what it is today. The company’s huge marketing push put Android on the map in a market that was being overrun by Apple at the time. In fact, many would say that Google would never have been able to bring Android to the forefront without Samsung’s help. But all that aside, Samsung is also credited for bringing the advent of ‘big screen phones’.
The Samsung Galaxy Note was the first time people saw such big screen phones, but the Note 2 was the one everyone really loved. In addition, Samsung’s S-Pen brought the stylus back to touchscreen phones and the company has worked to make it better over the years. Over the years, every other OEM took to the big screen, and even Apple couldn’t ignore it, launching the iPhone 6 Plus last year.
(Som Dasgupta is a freelance journalist who thrives on everything tech. After all the time he’s spent around technology, he’d like to think he’s turned into a robot.)
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