The hinge mechanism for Japanese flip phones (especially from Sanyo and Sharp) is still superior even now with the surge in foldables. That snap-click and cushioned thud is so satisfying.
@paranoidhumanoid My razr v3 I've had since 2005 still has a satisfying hinge. It has no battery, a bad USB port and model plane fuel spilled on it, but I still pull it out to play with it every so often. Something cool though, I can put my Nokia 3200 battery in it and it'll still power on, the screens have oil spots on them and that battery is about done though and is too small.
Glad you mentioned Pantech Used to be one of last Korean phone manufacturers besides LG and Samsung and I was sad when they shut down I hope you review Pantech devices too one day 😊
I've never left a comment probably, but I've been watching your stuff for years, since pocketnow. And as a fellow 757 native it's always cool to see this stuff and bring back the nostalgia. In short - I always appreciate your content (for the past decade+)
There is also this does not compute youtube channel too. I'm subscribed to techmoan, dank pods and this does not compute since they talk about vintage stuff since I'm really into retro stuff. I wish there were more youtube channels dedicated to products that most people consider relics of the past since certain products are coming back from the past.
Only one youtuber who perfectly scripting his content and delivering it to the viewers. I already gone to my childhood. Thank you so much for the effort that you put on this.
Sanyo SCP-2300 one of the best phones I had. Martin Scorsese used these phones in The Departed and accentuated that hinge snap (made the phones sound like a switchblade/weapon). Great phone and great video, Mr. Mobile!
Damn, I wish I remembered to mention that! Remember the scene where Damon (or DiCaprio?) swaps out SIM cards from a slot that didn't exist on those phones? 😄
@@TheMrMobile I remember looking for the GSM version of my phone to switch to a network that didn't use CDMA (to no avail)... luckily, there's been some technological advancements since then 🤪
Thanks for taking me back in time. I wish there was a time machine. I'd love to go back there and stay there forever. It was so peacefully in early 2000's
I usually do not comment on RU-vid videos but Michael your videos are pure poetry. Right from your affection for alliteration, to your dedication to detail to your unparalleled commitment to your craft, every single video of this series has been like a short film. Thank you for what you are doing and never stop this series, it is absolutely delightful to see your love for old tech and crafting impeccable stories around it.
I like how personal you make these videos. It be one thing just to explain why the were important and just list off the specs and cultural impact. But using your own experience and photos, puts it into perspective. You're a good storyteller.
10:34 OMG I was a T9 MASTER with the 5500! I loved that I could literally type with the phone in my pocket or under a table due to the quick setting features and how tactile the keys were. No eyes necessary.
I’ve been collecting Japanese cellphones since 2018, and I must tell you that mentioning how advanced and how game changer they were, honours me so much. People doesn’t really know about the whole other level of technology Japanese consumers had back in the day, so yeah, this video is a masterpiece. Thank you! 💌
My first cell phone was my older brother's hand me down Sprint Sanyo MM-8300. Loved fidgeting with the antenna and flipping it open and closed. I have been watching you for over a decade. Thanks for covering these phones.
Man, that "...when phones were fun" outro gets me everytime. My best friend and I used to always chat about which new phone was the best one, since they had wildly varied features.
A Sanyo was my first cell phone and one of, if not the toughest phone that I have ever owned. It fell out my dorm window on the 6th floor and hit cement. I raced outside, the battery had popped out, put it back in and aside from a couple of scratches, worked fine. Great phone.
Oh wow this was a treat! I had the SCP-5000 when it released. I remember that awful reflective color screen. But hey it was color. I upgraded when the first Sanyo camera phone (SCP-5300) came out, and of course upgraded to the Blue Video Camera phone SCP-5500. That was when Sprint got all the cool new things. Thanks for making this video. Im 42 now. Time flies.
Great video. Thanks! I loved my 6200, especially for a unique feature that wasn't mentioned. It had the ability to do voicemail on the device itself. Which meant you could screen calls and break in if it was someone you wanted to talk to.
Thank you, that was really interesting) In Russia Sanyo never sold their mobile phones, only photocameras, videocameras, CD-players for cars and home phones. That's strange, because there were such players on our market as Pantech, Sagem, NEC, Panasonic and Sharp.
What a trip down memory lane. I actually owned several of those phones featured AND stayed with Sprint throughout. My cellphone experience in the early 2000s was interesting. Thanks for reminding me of that fact.
Again very nice video, thanks 👍 I would also love to see the history of SHARP phones as well. I think it has formed many milestones in the mobile industry.. One of the first camera phones, first Mpx cameras & optical zoom, first built-in DVB-T receiver, first frameless phone (Aquos Crystal) etc. So I will be very happy if you create a video about the history of this brand as well, thanks and I wish you continue to make lots of interesting videos 🙂
Man, you really got my 90s nostalgia nerves tingling on this one. Talk of mp3 playback on a phone especially, it reminded me of my old Sony Walkman branded phone *looks at the ceiling wistfully*
I had worked for Sprint from 00 to 04 and Sanyo was the most trusted brand of phone with our customers. The disaster that was the Samsung SCH3500 (which you show in this video) led customers to almost abandoned the carrier. Now the main reason for the merger was because of the great customer service nextel had. Also the Sanyo 5500 used a PTT called Ready Link that Sprint really tried to use as a Nextel killer. Had the SCP 4500, 5000, 5150, VM4500/5500 and the 6000. Apone of the best phones I've ever had!
Interesting you touch on sustainability and the fact you don’t talk about it much. Is it something you often consider? How hard is it to balance sustainability concerns against the constant need to review new products? Would love to hear more about it. And love your work, as always.
I absolutely love it when you make episodes like these. I hope someday you make an episode about Siemens, I don't see many people talk about those phones but they were really cool with their industrial designs and awesome features.
I had an SCP-4900 and that thing was a tank. I was selling phones at Best Buy when Sprint Vision launched, and my LG flip phone "conveniently broke" right around the launch and I replaced it with the Sanyo under the extended warranty (that we weren't allowed to call an extended warranty). I loved that phone.
OMG, thank you so much for this fun stroll down memory lane of cellphones. I remember all these phones because I used to own a mobile phone store in the malls back in the day and sold all these phones. Contract and prepaid those phones where it back then. I even installed the light up buttons and antennas on most of those phones. Again, thank you for this video. Brought back so many good memories.
The regional town/city I live in, Wodonga actually used to have a Sanyo factory until 1987 when it closed. They made TVs. We've actually got a Sanyo Drive still. I'd like to see a history on Kyocera. My dad was a die-hard Kyocera user until Telstra shut down the Australian CDMA network in 2006. He always used to brag about the network coverage and superior Qualcomm radios. I remember him having something similar to the blue 2135, then the SE47, the super cool Koi/KX2, and finally the KX5 was his last.
Had both the thin Sanyo candybar phone. It worked so well, great reception, battery life, color change backlight and 8 bit like ringtones. Also had the sony cmz-100. Felt so futuristic back then.
I remember many people on Sprint with these phones... I had a friend who had a Katana for awhile (aka "Razr Clone") in pink with I believe the fancy ornamentation on the front faceplate. I can distinctly remember the "Snap" of the flip as you flipped these phones closed.
I can remember my dad and me going to our local phone in 2003 trying to sell his sanyo sprint. The phone was small clam but the charger was a black block. The owner was wondering why it wasn't even damaged or had look like fresh out of the box and my dad told him " kept it in the house. On my counter" the guys literally had this wow amazement face. I laugh because I was a kid and wasn't tech savvy unless it was VHS or walkman cassette
One of my favorite phones ever was a Sanyo rugged model (forgot the name of it) but it was obviously Sprint's early efforts to emulate the "Nextel" experience.
There was also an Italian phone called Telit Mobile, not sure if you heard about it as it was sold only in few European countries. Worth an episode about it.
I was all about my feature phones back in the day but I cant recall ever owning a sanyo.. definitely had LG, Moto, Sony Ericson, Samsung, Siemens, and so on. Part of me really does mis those days, especially, having a macbook with me all the time, I rarely use my iphone as a smartphone aside from camera, maps and I guess some occasional browsing/ youtube. I also now work with kids young enough to only know them as "dumbphones" I actually just told one about the "feature phone" designation the other day when the brought up the idea of getting one!
Do you know anyone in NY who can understand Japanese? It might be worth hopping on Yahoo Auctions Japan and buying a big bag of old Japanese phones and doing a video on it (even better if you know someone who lived in Japan in the 00's and 10's who can give you backstory on a particular phone and whether it was popular there and so on).
In my younger days, I wasn’t aware Sanyo made phones until the Katana was announced. In my mind then I immediately saw it as a bootleg Razr. I’m glad though I got to learn more about their more innovative offerings. The phones we use today are built on the backs of many creative people.
Wonderful video, thanks once again Mr. Mobile. Fun fact, Panasonic bought Sanyo for one big reason: Cutting-edge battery technology. Panasonic's huge battery business (their factories famously supply Tesla and other EV manufacturers) was originally *Sanyo's* battery business. Same with the Eneloop consumer line of rechargeable batteries.
Mike, I don’t know how you have such fond memories of Sanyo phones, but for me… growing up with them, I just hated them. They felt like cheap imitations of more popular phones from Motorola and Nokia. I wanted to have a Razr, a Nokia N95 8GB, any Nokia N-series phone honestly! I loved Sony Ericsson’s designs and always loved seeing a few of them in some 007 Bond films. It got my young imagination going! “Wow, I could use the same phone James Bond used to save the world!”
I had an SCP-5500 as my first phone. The first phone I got to choose on my parent's family plan was the Katana XL. I remember being so mad when I couldnt use the phone as an MP3 player (stuck having to carry a PSP around for most of my time in college for media).
I had a Sanyo Incognito and I loved that phone. It was hinged on the side with a full QWERTY keyboard inside. The outside was a mirror finish (I even used it as a mirror) and the keys lit up on it once the power key was pressed.
I had an Incognito from 2010-2014. It was the last time I just got whatever I could get with my plan, it was the first one I used for heavy Internet use, even though it was a function phone, not a smartphone. After that was the BlackBerry Q10, the KeyONE, then the Unihertz Titan Pocket.
I really wish that I was old enough to have experienced the mobile phone market in the 2000s. Each release was bold, exciting and fun. Not to mention the exhilarating feeling that one would get knowing that their device is the first one to have a feature that we take for granted nowadays! By the way, at 8:28 is one of the best looking laptops that I have ever seen!
I still have my pink rose Sanyo VI-2300 in a drawer. Still used it a few years ago before CDMA and Sprint died. Got it in 2005 and had a warranty swap in 2006... Been okay since. Still powers on!
I worked for Radio Shack in the early 2000's and sold Sanyo and Sprint PCS. You're absolutely correct. That was a time when phones were fun! Too bad we've gone so far into the smartphone world that people don't know how to just be without a phone...Bring back Nextel and Motorola phones!!
I worked at best buy when the 5300 and the 5500 came out and i had both! they were great phones and a lot of my friends also had Sanyo phones, you forgot about the sprint direct connect feature those later Sanyo phones had BEFORE they bought Nextel!
I love this series. Let's see where this Nostalgia train takes me...early 2000s? That was the Nextel era in New York for me in college...ah, the constant chirping at the bar across the street from south street seaport that got so bad that you had to shut your phone off to drink there. They were THAT fed up with it. That said? I remember seeing this phone...had an eye for it but I opted for something else.
@@TheMrMobile no clue why I'm blanking here lol. I text a buddy from college I went there with just now. I'll edit this comment as soon as he texts me back. Lol.
I had a 6200. It was affordable, well designed, and conveniently sized for a pocket, and probably one of the first phones that managed to be all of those things.
ahh yes. i remember the j-phone j-sa06 (a year when j-phone merged with vodafone jp) which has an programmable multi-led flash, photo mail, camera, satisfying hinge, nostalgic vga camera and great design worth remembering even today. yep, i still remember that phone and yet not fogetting it.
![MrMobile [Michael Fisher]](http://yt3.ggpht.com/Bf8B_79jyHxP6CVnjV5WKws93l9Vxlk0d7aPmcBygTBDKzgsGrpazdJRFUrfg1sUNlo8YX8rji8=s48-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)