What we discovered from the very best telephones from a decade in the past

Key takeaways

  • The range of the smartphone market in 2014 laid the groundwork for right now’s tech giants, despite the fact that lots of the innovators now not exist.
  • Even with breakthrough improvements, firms should adapt to altering market tendencies to achieve the long run.
  • Apple’s success with the iPhone 6 collection highlights the significance of understanding when to combine new applied sciences to succeed available in the market.


As famend English poet William Blake as soon as stated, “hindsight is a superb factor,” and this phrase holds true not just for varied points of our lives but additionally for know-how and, sure, even smartphones. A decade in the past, it was a really totally different enjoying subject for smartphones. Within the yr 2014, smartphone innovation was at its peak and actually, there have been many extra smartphone producers available on the market than there at the moment are.

However should you see it in retrospective understanding, improvements that have been launched a decade in the past have laid the inspiration for the know-how we take pleasure in right now. Within the final ten years, we’ve witnessed so many smartphones and even new classes of shopper know-how emerge, nevertheless it seems that 2014 was a really essential yr for smartphones. We took a visit down reminiscence lane and reviewed the very best smartphones from a decade in the past, solely to find a bittersweet reality.



The smartphone market was extra numerous again then

In 2014, the smartphone market was very aggressive. Not like right now, in 2024 we are going to solely discover a handful of iconic producers, particularly in the US. Nonetheless, again then, it was a very totally different story. Nokia, Blackberry, HTC, LG and Sony have been distinguished gamers, whereas OnePlus had simply launched its first smartphone, the One plus one. There have been many smartphone choices available on the market.

Nokia centered on Home windows Cellphone, whereas Blackberry remained a favourite amongst enterprise professionals. Apple continued to guide the pack in high quality, whereas Samsung pushed the boundaries with improvements like stylus-equipped telephones, curved shows, and top-notch cameras. HTC created our favourite smartphone of all time, whereas firms like LG and Sony have been no slouches both. The competitors was fierce, to say the least.


All of the innovators at the moment are (or about to) be useless

Nonetheless, because the saying goes, “all good issues should come to an finish.” As we speak, lots of the smartphone manufacturers talked about above stop to exist. However what went incorrect? What can we study from their future? However earlier than we delve into all of this, let’s first evaluate what these firms have been doing again then.

At the moment, Motorola had simply launched its Moto X (2nd era) – a tool that aimed to supply a stock-like Android expertise on the within and provide hardware-level customization on the skin. Motorola had its Moto Maker web site (through XDA Builders) the place you may customise your Moto X all the way down to the final element. You’ll be able to customise the colour of your cellphone based mostly on the kind of materials used for the again and even engrave textual content on the again of your cellphone. This was not out there on any smartphone out there on the time.


HTC launched one of the iconic smartphones of the final decade, the HTC One M8. The machine impressed the world with its industrial but premium design and twin stereo speaker on the entrance, offering an audio expertise unmatched on the time. However that was not all. HTC One M8 was the primary commercially offered smartphone to make use of a secondary 2MP depth sensor alongside the principle digicam to create a 3D map and use that knowledge to simulate the bokeh impact.

review-camera-vzw-one-m8

He LG G3 was one other modern smartphone of 2014, which introduced quad HD shows to the Android world for the primary time. It was the most effective flagship smartphones of 2014, that includes probably the most highly effective {hardware} out there and setting a brand new customary with its quad HD show. He Nokia Lumia 1520 was one other notable machine of 2014, marking it as the primary Home windows Cellphone with a phablet-sized display screen. Whereas the cellphone was fairly spectacular total, the Home windows Cellphone OS failed to totally make the most of the machine’s big-screen potential.


samsung galaxy note 4 review

What have been main gamers like Apple and Samsung doing in 2014? Samsung had simply offered the Galaxy Notice 4, providing the very best Android expertise with highly effective {hardware}, customizable but feature-rich software program, and glorious cameras, all at a aggressive worth, a formulation that defines its present lineup up to now. However what about Apple?

Innovation alone doesn’t assure success


For a very long time, Apple stated it could not make a smartphone with a big display screen. In reality, in 2010, then-CEO Steve Jobs even saying throughout a press convention that “no one goes to purchase a giant cellphone.” Throughout the convention, he stated that it was obscure and that “nobody goes to imagine it.” However have a look at what Apple did in 2014 when it launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

iphone 6 unpacked

It went from a 4-inch display screen on the iPhone 5s to bigger 4.7- and 5.5-inch screens on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively. Regardless of preliminary skepticism, the iPhone 6 collection grew to become Apple’s best-selling iPhone up to now. Individuals have been actually curious about a big-screen iPhone, and regardless of its “bendgate” controversy, wherein some customers reported that their iPhone 6/6 Plus had bent when carried in tight pockets, it is nonetheless the very best product available on the market. the corporate up to now.


So what’s the conclusion of all this? It’s clear that innovation alone doesn’t assure success. Whereas a few of the firms talked about above have been main the pack when it got here to smartphone innovation, they failed to know the altering market tendencies and buyer preferences. Quite the opposite, firms that tailored to altering markets and built-in the best applied sciences on the proper time emerged as the most important winners of the period and stay related to at the present time.

Innovation stays the important thing to driving the business; that can not be denied. Confirmed improvements from earlier manufacturers have paved the best way for what we’ve right now. Nonetheless, it’s equally vital to know when to combine these improvements on the proper time.



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