In our last couple of throwbacks, we had revisited a few smartphones. But today, we’re going a bit further back in the past, namely the early 2000s. This was the time when Nokia was still king, and now, we’ll be covering one of its most iconic phones ever, the indestructible Nokia 1100.

What made the Nokia 1100 Special?

Simply put, the popularity of this phone might be unmatched by even some of the most well known models from the Finnish brand. It has an almost mythic status in the realm of phones. Back when it launched in 2003, the 1100 wasn’t the most powerful or even the most attractive looking device. However, what it lacked in appeal, it made up in various different aspects. It was a user friendly handset that was quite popular in every market that it was available in.

Nokia

This holds especially true for the developing nations. Getting this out of the way now, the Nokia 1100 is the world’s best selling phone ever. It sold over 250 million units since its launch in 2003. It was so popular that it remained in production till late 2009. As mentioned above, it wasn’t the most powerful device back then, and lacked many of the advanced or modern features other handsets offered. But, it was built to work all across the globe, and banked heavily on its affordability and reliability; and let’s just say, it was quite reliable.

Apart from being the most popular device, the Nokia 1100 has a legend built around it based on its durability. It was touted for being tough and no one in the world ever worried about how they were handling it. The handset was designed with global market in mind and offered some degree of dust proofing, water proofing, and we all known, its tough as a brick. Also, the phone could last for hundreds of hours in a single full charge.

Impact & Future Influence

Following the launch of the Nokia 1100, the brand had tapped a vast market all across the globe. Many developing nations still had phone markets in nascent stages. So, the 1100 was the very first phone for many. Talking about India alone, the device’s affordable and reliable stature propelled it to the top. Now, even people in rural areas had access to a phone and it was especially perfect for the those that did not need anything more than the basic calling, messaging, alarm clock, reminder, and other such basic functions.

Nokia

Although, you could still play some games on the device and it even had a torch that was a big selling point in many places. Nokia sold its billionth phone back in 2005, and you guessed it, the model was a Nokia 1100 that was purchased in Nigeria. While the company did offer similar phones back then, the 1100 was its cheapest model, which helped it enter various markets across the globe. So, its quite evident regarding the impacts of this device. And for the future, the company used its success to release a number of similarly specced phones after it. But while none of these saw the same level of success, it became clear that Nokia was the go to brand for a reliable and affordable phone. In essence, it helped cement Nokia as the market leader.

Design, Specs, & Price

Talking about its build first, the 1100 had a very basic and to-the-point design. It featured the company’s traditional style navigational keypad, which included a single button to end or receive calls, bi-directional keys, and vibrating alert. The device had a built in torch and had a C button that when pressed twice, locked the phone, and holding it would activate the torch. Interestingly, despite having an uninspired and basic look, the company offered the device in a number of color variants through the Xpress-On covers. This included a light blue, orange, black, dark blue, yellow, red, green and pink versions.

Nokia

It had a monochrome display that supports 4 lines and had a resolution of just 96 x 65 pixels and 3:2 aspect ratio. It had a candybar form factor with soft keys and was powered by a 850mAh battery pack that was removable. None of these features would impress anyone now, but back in the day when phones were a luxury, a sub 100 US Dollar phone was perfect for many.

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