Below we write some of the phones that we really believe made a huge mark in the lives of all Zimbabweans from all walks of life.
1. The first phone to hit our list is none other than the hefty Nokia 5110
This candy-bar phone was the in-thing. Too bad those who were born around 2000 do not know this phone. With its long form, people didn’t mind shohing off this monster in Commuter Omnibuses. The phone surfaced in the days when Econet was still cutting its teeth in the “phone network” business. The phone was god at “catching” the network, those days “boosters” were sparse and far away from each other and you had to stand on a raised spot and be still coz network might “go”!
2. The Nokia 3310 makes the second spot
The Nokia 3310 took over from its hefty 5110. However where the 5110 ws heavy looking and masculine, the 3310 brought with it femine looks and smooth curves and it became a hit with mainly women folk. This phone once saw its price shooting out of the ceiling when crazy rumours suggested that it could unlock cars and Nigerians were buying these phones like there was no tommorrow.
The 3310 had a wide following in Zimbabwe and one of it’s striking features was the lack of an long aeriel.
3. The Motorola Razor takes third spot.
Motorola took celebrity status overnight with this slimmer and sharper than ever clamshell phone aka flipphone. The phone wowed many with its impressive slimness and sharp screen. It was a full colour high resolution screen that was used mainly by the high heeled. People would even flip it using their cheeks in commuter omnibus so the whole world sees that they have a Motorola Razr.
4. Samsung E250
The Samsung E250 was a beauty from the Samsung Giant. The Slide phone was slim and could take photos with its camera. The resolution was pathetic but the fact that it took photos and could do facebook was a huge selling point. This phone established the Samsung brand as a mobile phone maker in Zimbabwe. Afterwards Samsung spawned a wjhole lot phones imitating the E250. Phones like the J700 and D900, D900i were all inspired by the E250.
5. Last but not least SMADL
These phones hit the scene just after the country dollarised when Zim was coming from extreme poverty. It used to cost upward of $100 and people would buy these Chinese gadgets like they were IPhones. These metal cased phones had so much noise some people hated them for that very reason.
However, these SMADL things were hot because they had memory card slots, cameras, torch ( a huge plus in blackout country like Zimbabwe ) and an FM radio. These features were a huge selling point they inspired companies like G-Tide and Boabab to set up shop and make simillar phones. However, G-Tide now wants to shake itself of that image and it has re-branded to G-Tel and it now makes Android smartphones. But SMADL put them on the map.
Hope you liked this post and enjoyed reading it.. cha cha!
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