Going retro: a guide to retro phones

Mobile telephony has only been with us since the late 1980s, and it’s sometimes easy to forget that this was 30 years ago. However, for all the advances in technology that we've seen over the years, the classic candy-bar retro phone form factor still remains a popular choice among many users.

Here we’ll look at how handsets have evolved, and look at some of the best retro phones for people who prefer a simpler, easier to use handset instead of a huge, complex smartphone.

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Are retro phones still available?

Although phone makers are phasing out older modes, the market for retro phones remains strong. Consequently, the likes of Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung continue to bring handsets to market that shun many of the latest designs and functions in favour of a simplified and more traditional phone experience.

Some handsets even combine the look and interface of a retro phone with newer functions. These include, for instance, Nokia’s Classic range, which offers everything from web browsers to push email, but retain a candy-bar form factor and numeric keypad.

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Retro phone design phases

The first commercially available mobiles were boxy, bulky devices with huge aerials for signal strength. For example, the 1987 Nokia Mobira Cityman weighed a whopping 800 grams, but nonetheless found favour with Mikhail Gorbachev.

Retro phones from the late 1990s (boom years in the industry) typically feature a candy-bar form factor, with a numeric keypad used for accessing functions, scrolling through onscreen menus and making and taking calls.

The early 2000s saw a proliferation of innovative phone designs, including two part handsets such as flip phones, clamshells and slide or slider phones.

Latterly, the majority of new phones have seen physical user interfaces and keypads replaced with a touchscreen. In order to make them easier to use and incorporate an expansive screen, phones with this feature are generally larger than older models with a traditional form factor.

Retro phones and fashion

Young people are increasingly using old, retro phones as a fashion statement. In turn, a market has sprung for collecting retro phones, with early models fetching thousands of pounds on online auction sites. Ironically, this is around the same price that they would have sold for before mobiles became mass market.

Why choose a retro phone?

Retro phones are favoured by many people – especially by older consumers - because they tend to be easy to use. With fewer functions, you’re much less likely to be weighed down and confused by complicated menus.

Another selling point of a stripped down retro phone is that it is much, much cheaper than the newest all-singing, all-dancing models. This makes them a great buy for another trying to save money or who has no need for the latest smartphone functions.

Finally, many people choose a cheaper, retro phone to use as a ‘second phone’. That is they will carry them as a back-up or when they don’t want to take their expensive handset somewhere it could get lost or stolen.

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