Ranking all my favorite phone years and phones I ever owned..
My Favorite Phone Years
2011 (branched out away from iOS)
2008 (jailbreaking, birth of Android)
2016 (love my current 7-gadget team)
2014 (best year for Android)
2013 (Android got very mature)
2012 (previous 5-phone team)
2004 (when my addiction began)
2007 (the gamechanger year)
2010 (exclusively used iPhone 4)
2009 (Nokia N82/iPhone 2G user)
Least favorite -
2006 (boring black Moto RAZR V3!)
2015 (although I do use two phones released from last year and love both)
2000-2003 (wasn't really into phones)
My Favorite Phones
LG G3 Beat
Motorola Moto E2 4G
Microsoft Lumia 640
Xiaomi Mi 3
Apple iPhone 4
Google Nexus One
HTC One M7
Samsung Focus
Nokia N82
Apple iPhone
Apple iPhone 5s
Apple iPhone 5
Nokia Lumia 635
MyPhone QTV38
MyPhone my81 DTV
Sanyo SCP-5500
Nokia 3360
RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000
Motorola V600
Motorola RAZR V3
Sony Ericsson T616
Cherry Mobile Flare
Nokia 3595
Palm Pixi Plus
Audiovox 9155GPX
Qualcomm QCP-1960
Half were fairly good or great. Bottom half were fairly mediocre. That's 15 added since iPhone 4 or since I wrote that post. I loved webOS but hardware on the Pixi Plus was horrendous. Worst smartphone I ever owned. Hung twice a day or more. The Palm Pres were not that much better.
I couldn't appreciate the iPhone 5 series because I was enjoying Android those years. I wouldn't mind getting 5s to appreciate it more. My Top 5 (first tier) all give me 8 hr SOT with long standby time. Four of the five I still use and might plan to keep beyond the 2-3 years.
Easy to forget that the iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3Gs only had 163ppi which looks blurry now. Had a 3G briefly but gave it away. Nice memories but better left in the past.
Where will iPhone 7 rank? Top 5, maybe.
_
Apple Longevity
iPhone - up to iPhone OS3
iPhone 3G - up to iOS4
iPhone 3Gs - up to iOS6
iPhone 4 - up to iOS7
iPhone 4s - up to iOS9
2011 -
Google bought Motorola
Microsoft + Nokia
Steve Jobs passed
Death of Palm
Ice Cream Sandwich
The phablet term was born
Samsung's The Next Big Thing ads
LTE became more widespread
2011 Class -
Apple iPhone 4s
Apple iPad 2 (updated for iOS10)
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Samsung Galaxy S II
HP Pre 3
HP TouchPad
BlackBerry Bold 9900
BlackBerry Playbook (QNX)
Sony Xperia Play (retrogamer phone)
Nokia N9 (Meego)
Nokia Lumia 800
Motorola Atrix (fingerprint sensor)
Motorola XOOM (Honeycomb, fav ad)
HTC ThunderBolt (4G LTE speeeeed!)
HTC EVO 3D
The iPhone 4s is the greatest iPhone for longevity. Not my fav and I wouldn't go back using one. Ironic since I prefer budget phones with 2012 flagship specs (720p). The 4s did get laggy by iOS9 but I still see many iPhone 4/4s users over half a decade later and just as common as the 5/5s. While rarely anybody is using an Android from 2010-2011. The iPad 2 with the same A5 chip will still be supported for iOS10.
The previous iPhones before the 4s got 2-3 annual updates, tops. The 4s also came from a gamechanging year in tech. Perhaps iPhone 5 will surpass 4s. The 5 was the first iPhone to get 1 GB of RAM. So by 2017 when it is still being supported and I still see many people using them, 5 will lay the claim as greatest for getting five yearly updates. Until then, 4s holds the crown for its four updates.
The original iPhone is still the greatest for being the biggest industry gamechanger but the 4s lays claim for aging the best and from coming from an eclectic class of gadgets on multiple OSes. QNX, webOS, and Meego were all underrated. Xperia Play deserves a successor. Yet, iPhone 4s aged better than all of them and even some released after it like the Nexus 4.
GOAT iOS devices?
First iPhone and iPad for industry impact
iPhone 4s and iPad 2 for longevity although 5,5s,SE might surpass them. SE is the current iPhone champ for batt SOT.
Worst of all-time?
iPhone 3G especially with same SoC as the 2G, glossy plastic rear, and one of the slowest iPhone to use if updated to iOS4. As laggy as many Android flagships from 2008-2013 before Jelly Bean's Project Butter, TRIM support, and KitKat's Project Svelte. Only saving grace for the iPhone 3G in 2008 was the App Store opened and was priced initially at $199 subsidized.
My Favorite Phone Years
2011 (branched out away from iOS)
2008 (jailbreaking, birth of Android)
2016 (love my current 7-gadget team)
2014 (best year for Android)
2013 (Android got very mature)
2012 (previous 5-phone team)
2004 (when my addiction began)
2007 (the gamechanger year)
2010 (exclusively used iPhone 4)
2009 (Nokia N82/iPhone 2G user)
Least favorite -
2006 (boring black Moto RAZR V3!)
2015 (although I do use two phones released from last year and love both)
2000-2003 (wasn't really into phones)
My Favorite Phones
LG G3 Beat
Motorola Moto E2 4G
Microsoft Lumia 640
Xiaomi Mi 3
Apple iPhone 4
Google Nexus One
HTC One M7
Samsung Focus
Nokia N82
Apple iPhone
Apple iPhone 5s
Apple iPhone 5
Nokia Lumia 635
MyPhone QTV38
MyPhone my81 DTV
Sanyo SCP-5500
Nokia 3360
RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000
Motorola V600
Motorola RAZR V3
Sony Ericsson T616
Cherry Mobile Flare
Nokia 3595
Palm Pixi Plus
Audiovox 9155GPX
Qualcomm QCP-1960
Half were fairly good or great. Bottom half were fairly mediocre. That's 15 added since iPhone 4 or since I wrote that post. I loved webOS but hardware on the Pixi Plus was horrendous. Worst smartphone I ever owned. Hung twice a day or more. The Palm Pres were not that much better.
I couldn't appreciate the iPhone 5 series because I was enjoying Android those years. I wouldn't mind getting 5s to appreciate it more. My Top 5 (first tier) all give me 8 hr SOT with long standby time. Four of the five I still use and might plan to keep beyond the 2-3 years.
Easy to forget that the iPhone 2G, 3G, and 3Gs only had 163ppi which looks blurry now. Had a 3G briefly but gave it away. Nice memories but better left in the past.
Where will iPhone 7 rank? Top 5, maybe.
_
Apple Longevity
iPhone - up to iPhone OS3
iPhone 3G - up to iOS4
iPhone 3Gs - up to iOS6
iPhone 4 - up to iOS7
iPhone 4s - up to iOS9
2011 -
Google bought Motorola
Microsoft + Nokia
Steve Jobs passed
Death of Palm
Ice Cream Sandwich
The phablet term was born
Samsung's The Next Big Thing ads
LTE became more widespread
2011 Class -
Apple iPhone 4s
Apple iPad 2 (updated for iOS10)
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Samsung Galaxy S II
HP Pre 3
HP TouchPad
BlackBerry Bold 9900
BlackBerry Playbook (QNX)
Sony Xperia Play (retrogamer phone)
Nokia N9 (Meego)
Nokia Lumia 800
Motorola Atrix (fingerprint sensor)
Motorola XOOM (Honeycomb, fav ad)
HTC ThunderBolt (4G LTE speeeeed!)
HTC EVO 3D
The iPhone 4s is the greatest iPhone for longevity. Not my fav and I wouldn't go back using one. Ironic since I prefer budget phones with 2012 flagship specs (720p). The 4s did get laggy by iOS9 but I still see many iPhone 4/4s users over half a decade later and just as common as the 5/5s. While rarely anybody is using an Android from 2010-2011. The iPad 2 with the same A5 chip will still be supported for iOS10.
The previous iPhones before the 4s got 2-3 annual updates, tops. The 4s also came from a gamechanging year in tech. Perhaps iPhone 5 will surpass 4s. The 5 was the first iPhone to get 1 GB of RAM. So by 2017 when it is still being supported and I still see many people using them, 5 will lay the claim as greatest for getting five yearly updates. Until then, 4s holds the crown for its four updates.
The original iPhone is still the greatest for being the biggest industry gamechanger but the 4s lays claim for aging the best and from coming from an eclectic class of gadgets on multiple OSes. QNX, webOS, and Meego were all underrated. Xperia Play deserves a successor. Yet, iPhone 4s aged better than all of them and even some released after it like the Nexus 4.
GOAT iOS devices?
First iPhone and iPad for industry impact
iPhone 4s and iPad 2 for longevity although 5,5s,SE might surpass them. SE is the current iPhone champ for batt SOT.
Worst of all-time?
iPhone 3G especially with same SoC as the 2G, glossy plastic rear, and one of the slowest iPhone to use if updated to iOS4. As laggy as many Android flagships from 2008-2013 before Jelly Bean's Project Butter, TRIM support, and KitKat's Project Svelte. Only saving grace for the iPhone 3G in 2008 was the App Store opened and was priced initially at $199 subsidized.