What is the Golden Era of Smartphones? 

2017-2019 is the golden era for smartphones for me, we have one of the best samsung design in the s8, s9 and s10, apple started the high screen to body ratio with the iphone x, pixel coming with the pixel 3 xl which imo is the best pixel ever, huawei demolish the competition with its camera with the p20 pro, oneplus 5t and 7 pro were the best oneplus ever made and both of them ive used before.

I think 2016-2020 era was peak smartphone. At the high end, we had the Samsung's S7 Edge, S10e, and Note 20 Ultra, Huawei's Mate 10 and P30, the OnePlus 7T and 7 Pro, LG's G6 and V30, and iPhone X. In the low to mid-range, we had the Samsung S20 FE, Huawei's Nova 3 and 5T, the Nokia 7 Plus, and Xiaomi's Mi A1 and Redmi Note 7.

Years 2016 to 2019 was THE Golden Era. Every phone releasing felt and looked different, it all had personalities. There was actually a reason to buy one phone over the other. Today, it's all about software, and hardware wise, everything looks the same now.

I'm still rocking OnePlus 7T Pro, and I have no desire to change it until one of us dies.

Golden era? Def the 2014-2017 era. So much innovation over such a short span while also being a time where you couldn't go wrong with basically any pick. It was competitive and was the only period where I felt I really wanted to upgrade every year

6:20 Remember when RU-vid app used to look like that? Google’s app and OS were all so colorful. Now it’s all one color at a time.

Between 2012 and 2017 I updated my smartphone every year, as the new updates were significant compared to the previous year's model. From 1 camera to 2 cameras, then 3, then 4, much better photos and videos every year.... better screens, better and bigger battery, from 2 gigs of RAM to 4, then 6, then 8... better and faster processors, much faster charge speeds and so on... And now I have a 5-year-old flagship and still don't feel the need to update it, as it still does everything well, even compared to brand new phones.

My personal golden era smartphone was my Galaxy Note 9. That thing was an absolute beast! Overall, I'd say the golden era ended when they sealed the batteries and removed the headphone jacks!

I had the s8 when it was new, it was by far the most head turning smartphone I’ve ever had.

I love 2017-2019 era, all the phones looked different, and each brand had his own personality. The camera module was different, the variety of colors were very gorgeous. Now all the phones looks identical :/

i think the note 9 is the best phone ever made. It was the last time Samsung put everything in the phone and didnt follow the trends of removing stuff to cut corners like inclusion of the hole punch/notch, removal of the heaphone jack, sd card trays, the battery charger that comes in the box, notification lights, super fast fingerprint sensors, adjustable aperture, multiple front facing cameras etc.

2019 no cap is the golden era, no bs smartphone features, still fast and good until today

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Series is the best phone line up of all times.

I'm still using my Huawei P20 Pro today, a 2018 smartphone. I feel no need to upgrade and don't feel enticed by any of the newer smartphone options these days. I'm bias but I think the golden era of smartphones was definitely 2017 to 2019. "Peak" smartphone, as one may suggest. It's peaked ever since and I don't see any real innovations to the smartphone experience compared to then. The iPhone X - 11 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S8 to S10, Huawei P20 Pro/Mate 20 Pro to P30 Pro, OnePlus 5 to OnePlus 7 Pro, Google Pixel 2 to 3, etc. were all so magical in terms of options you had available.

In an alternate universe the Nokia N900 went on and instead of Android we'd have the full linux phone with desktop-grade apps, proper resource management, and a DeX-like connectivity to a screen in 2010, in that alternate universe the opensource community ports games released for linux to Maemo and we get Proton years prior with AAA titles running on phones we can dock to use as a console, a desktop or a laptop.

The Mate 20 Pro is still one of the best phone existing, if there's a re-release of it with just improved hardware I'd buy it day one

The aspect ratio change era. Cameras got much more interesting, screen tech got crazy, charging speeds went up and who was last to the party? Them weirdos in cupertino that had to adapt due to their fans wanting a lot of what android had at that time. Crazy and fun time.

I feel like Mate 20 Pro and P30 Pro are some of the best devices ever causing a big shake in the industry

The early days of android are it for me. Everything was a constant discovery, and no one knew what a smartphone should be doing. Testing out endless roms on the galaxy S and S2 are some of my fondest memories of smartphones.

The golden era of smartphones was 2010-2014 when the lag and stuttery performance were everywhere 🤪

HTC One M8 and Nexus 6P are my all time favorites. LG G8X was great as well.

OnePlus 7 Pro hands down best phone ever

Literally the definition of 2018-2020 Never been so much CONSISTENT innovation by so many different companies. If a market gets crazy innovation AFTER becoming stale then I think that's a golden age so many new design philosophies

My favourite device from 2010-2019 is the HTC One M7, with the iPhone 4 trailing close being HTC Sense was one of the best looking Android skins in my opinion and it went perfectly with the exterior design of the device. The device was also very capable, even with its questionable 4mp rear camera. Don't get me wrong, I have the S24 and I think that it is a wonderful device, but nothing will beat the M7. I have the M7 GPE (Google Play Edition) and would pick its design over anything else that is out today. I also have an iPhone 4 and it stills works to this day, even with the same battery that it shipped with all those years ago. The build quality on this device is superb and its small form factor is still something that I will forever miss in smartphones. The camera, although poor by today standards, is still very capable and produces nice, softer images with a "nostalgic" tone to them. The skeuomorphic design language of older IOS versions was stunning and I still wish that skeuomorphism would make a full comeback.

2011-2019 everything later is unnecessarily OP

I had some of the brands that don't exist (in America) anymore. I had the LG G6 which I think was the 1st phone with a 2:1 aspect ratio and it came with an ultra wide angle lens which was new at the time. Before that I had an Honor 8. That was a great value phone that was built so nicely I was often asked 'Is that the new iPhone". I still like to try the off brands. I have a TCL and have just ordered my 1st Oneplus, the 12R.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the LG G6. At the time, it was considered the phone with the “thinnest bezels.” I’ll never forget when I saw it in person for the first time. I was so amazed at how thin the bezels were. It’s sad just how boring phones are now.

I think now. Firstly not only do we have foldables from so many brands going head to head with fellow phone manufacturers year after year refining the foldable craft. Secondly we are entering the age of AI products letting us see a whole new wave of smartphone concepts, like the Rabbit R1 as-well as the Humane AI Pin with surely more to follow. We are very lucky to be the ones throughout mankind’s history to watch innovation of tech unfold. It may feel stale now but they’re always working on something so the future is always promising & something to look forward to✨.

Once I got a hold of a foldable phone I knew years from now I am going to rose tint this thing lol

I think from about 2010 to 2016. There were so many cool designs, experimental features, and companies just trying new things that there sort of was a smartphone for everyone! My all time personal favorite smartphone is the HTC/AudiovoxPPC-6600. Vertical slide QWERTY keyboard, came with a stand, user replaceable battery, SD Card slot, and LOTS of user programmable buttons. A personal favorite is the Nokia Lumia 920. Indestructible. Seriously, look on RU-vid a guy did a 3 part video trying to break it.

2009 to 2015 was the peak of smartphone design and features. Everything looked cooler, easily replaceable batteries, lots of accessories, wireless charging had just started to become a thing, and phones were more repairable then than they are nowadays. My favorite phone of all time would have been the Samsung Galaxy S4 series. That's regular, mini and the crazy Galaxy S4 Zoom. All of them. They dared to do things never seen before, or since.

2017-19 honestly 2017 brought actual full screen and 2019 had the Galaxy S10 and OnePlus 7, I will miss rounded frames 😓

2010-2015. I may not have been old enough, but it was back when we just had more competition and the next 5 years were totally unpredictable to us. I feel like by 2016-2020 we had better phones, but a lot of the cool ones just fizzled out.

2018 the Note9 is the single most feature-dense and long lasting phone besides removable battery legends such as the Note 4 or LG V10

The best for me was : 2010-2015 , HTC was incredible with HTC Sense UI and their models from the Desire ,Wildfire , etc , Blackberry back then was still on the market , iOS was evolving as well for me iPhone 3GS/4 were the most iconic , Samsung coming with it's first Samsung Galaxy S , and then years later first Galaxy Note . Windows Phone was also on the market . Everything was different back then , many operating systems , different UI. Even on Android each company had their personalized UI , so you could feel the difference between HTC, Sony Ericsson , Samsung, LG. Now everything is blunt

i am using galaxy note 9 and trying to use it for as long as possible, bcoz it has sd card slot, headphone jack, no notch.....and is still running really well.

Galaxy S10 and Note 10!!!

My favourite is the Huawei Mate 20x. Supersize screen and battery, great cameras, headphone jack, pen support, removable memory card, a joy to use. Too bad that the 5G version is not available in my region, so I had to retire it this year.

I actually think the golden era is what we have been in for a few years. If speaking purely from device performance we've been pretty well at a peak now for five years. I have been pretty enamored with the new design from the Pixel 6 series and onwards. Reminds me of the old Nexus 6P that I never got to use.

Still using my Samsung S7 edge

Funny how comments are usually saying something between 2016-2020 while that was the time frame when I didn't follow the market at all Phones peaked in 2021 imo, not much has changed in last 3 years except the prices have been rising up

My S7, S7 edge, & Galaxy S9 had everything you would want in a phone at the time. The cpu performance & cameras are great. Photos looked good on the phone's screen and on other devices. Could play all the new games of its time and multitask a lot. 2016-2018 is definitely one of the best times to have a new phone. Everything's just dull now and I'm currently sticking to my iPhone 12 mini till it doesn't work anymore. 😂

Galaxy S7 edge and OnePlus 7 pro hands down the most stunning phones ever made

I think my favorite phone of the 2010s had to be my OnePlus 6. It was the phone that proved to me that Android didn't have to be a slow laggy mess like it was on Samsung. It had good clean software and pretty timely updates. It wasn't overly heavy and had a nice screen size that I enjoyed using. The camera was nothing special, but it still got the job done. My later OP devices got better in some ways, but really suffered when it came to software updates and I eventually abandoned Android entirely as a result.

I was lucky to have experienced all generations of phones from the Flip to present, but 3 significant eras for me -2013/4, 2017/8 and 2019/20 - I upgraded whenever I observed significant new tech. Carried a Blackberry (for productivity) and Sony Xperia (for camera) together for a while - until the Samsung S3. Then S4, S6, S8 (revolution of aesthetic design) and Note 10 which I think was the Pinnacle of modern design. I dig curved screens and mid compact devices. I can't seem to upgrade now because the new designs appear to go backwards, although hardware specs are better. I look at a S24 and go yeah - it's OK, but I don't immediately want it like the previous phones I had. Btw, I hate the S24 Ultra square box design.

The most excited and most heartbroken I've ever been for a phone, with the exception of the excitement I felt for the first iPhone, was the Note 7. I remember how mad I was when Samsung made us all send them back in. I think that's when I lost enthusiasm for anything new until the folding style smart phones were introduced. I'm waiting on my Flip 6 now. I haven't had an iPhone for 8 years or so.

I think 2013-2016 area was the best one. The features were incredible for their time. my Galaxy Note 4 is still working.

Oneplus 7 pro's design is still unbeaten

2014-2019 is the time I have been interested in phones. Especially when the OnePlus One came out, that was exciting

For me arguably the best ever device ever has to be Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ because of the amount of refinement it had on everything.

S4, iPhone 5s, htc one m8, lg g2, note 3 those were the days

Galaxy s10e snapdragon is near perfect: sd card, headphone Jack, light weight, premium material, flat screen, physical side thumb print reader, decent battery life when optimized, great display without needless level of res and perfect screen size, great form factor, great sounding high res dac, still zippy in 2024, great looking design, wireless charging/reverse charging, bixby button can be used as varied quick access function, great cameras and clear speakers, responsive lag free 60hz display. The only drawback for me is the lack of notification Led. This phone is fantastic.

HTC M8 and then the Note 9.... those are the two smartphones that I actually miss.

I agree with everything you said on 2016 to 2018. Those are the times that I've been scratching my head which device i will replace my Note Edge. Samsung's s6 edge to s7 edge was pretty interesting for me especially with their special editions on their lineups; LGv20 if it isn't about their bootloop issue, they would've won the cake for me, they have everything i need in a smartphone. G5 was supposed to be perfect (on paper) but the availability of their modular accessories and their bootloop issues was the last nail on the coffin of their popularity and public trust. Huawei's P20 and Mate 20 lineups are an actual threat to all smartphone companies at that time. They listened to their customers needs and wants (literally and figuratively if you know what i mean) retaining all the features essential to the device. HTC and Google Pixels at that time are not available on my country (philippines). I ended up getting a Note 8 to replace my Note Edge. It was a beast for me until battery issues started to worsen my experience. For me, that was the time that smartphone manufacturers are battling to get new customers, but now, smartphone companies are only battling to retain their customers. I hope something will change on the competition. Yes, the new features we are getting from new devices coming out every year is fascinating, but we also need to realize that they're placing features nobody actually asked and removing features we actually need (Yes, I'm talking about the 3.5mm jack, removable batteries and expandable storage). Nobody actually asked or nobody actually needs a folding screen and a notch where they could've placed a front facing stereo speakers and all the sensors they need on front side of the device. understandably on business owner's perspective that cashflow has to be maintained, which is the main reason why smartphones are getting boring and boring nowadays. but creativity and the interesting part of the smartphone industry went down with it. However, we actually see startups making interesting design of smartphones (fairphone, sony, and Nothing) makes interesting designs of smartphones, they just don't get the attention they actually deserve. Maybe we are just too comfortable with the devices we are using coming from the biggest smartphone companies? All I'm saying is: we are also the factor of what we are having on our table. sorry for the long comment, just had a good hit of coffee.

2016 - 2019, after that, most of the smartphone companies shut down and the top dogs like Samsung and Apple solidified their positions and now release the same device every year

iPhone SE first gen 2016 was the best compact entry phone in apple ecosystem. Having the SOC and Camera of iPhone 6s with a 5s body.

HTC easily

Galaxy Note9 from 2018 was just amazing, I remember seeing a demo unit in some mall and I was blown away, that Super AMOLED Screen was hella vibrant and just everything about it was amazing, too bad I never had one.

I used Galaxy S8 up until this spring, upgrading to S23. It was a 2017 smartphone.

2015 was the golden era for me, cause you had the Galaxy S6 with curved edges, yearly iPhone upgrades were noticeable and appreciated, and smartphones came in all shapes and sizes not like today with the standard 6.5" display with a pop-out circle for the camera 😂

Galaxy Note 2 from 2012 . Hands down my fav smartphone of all time

LG G6 My personal favourite. Such an underrated phone and a pioneer of rounded corner displays

I'll always believe, the ban to Huawei was the beginning of the downfall to smartphone innovation

Imo the Note 4 is the best phone ever made. Had the best display and performance on the market on release. Outstanding battery. Tons of features. Removable battery. Headphone jack. Excellent cameras. Peak smartphone.

The Nexus 5 is still my GOAT smartphone with the Pixel 3a XL coming a close second!

2014. You could get flagship level phones for less than $500, like the Nexus series and OnePlus One.

The golden era of smartphones is the era where we had more choices. It crazy to believe how many smartphone manufacturers have gone away this past decade. Here in the states, we really only have a choice of 2 smartphones; apple and Samsung. If there weren't hardcore users in the states, I think Google would stop manufacturing of their pixel line.

Before the arrival of the OG iPhone.. smartphones were already existed and people already know that.. iPhone was basically simplified everything and made it smoother.. but still to me the Golden era of smartphones were around 2013 - 2016.. Iphones.. Androids.. Blackberry.. Windows Phone.. each of them ran smoothly and very well optimized..

I think phones peaked around Android 10 (maybe 11 era) when 200-230$ phones become pretty good you know that you reached the peek and not a lot of stuff you can offer to consumers (even to the one that own a flagship) to just by a new phone every year.

I'd say it was 2016 and 2018 in particular. In both we got great innovation and lots of great affordable options that got you high end phones for a fraction of the price of the flagships.

2016-2018 was peak android. iPhone is arguably still peaking with YoY improvements to the Os, given things like on-device Ai and an exponential increase in customisation features. Peak android of 2016-2018 was very differentiated, and catered to a diverse market. Today, especially with hardware, android is just mirroring iPhone

I feel that while there was so many great points in smartphones but the most exciting was the release of the iPhone X and Galaxy s8/note 8. That was a time where hardware boundaries were pushed in areas that seemed impossible,software was so cool and etc. I’ll never forget when I got my S8+,the curved screen and experience altogether was so cool at the time. I remember so many people wanting to use my phone and look at it 🤣 before that,one of my favorite times in smart phones was when the galaxy note 3 was the absolute bleeding edge.

2011 - 2015 with the smaller screen sizes, more practical designs and easily replaceable batteries. The first iPhone SE was the last good phone imo.

My favorite phone of all time is the Panda Pixel 2 XL. 2017 was the peak smartphone era, and it's not even close. Everybody made great phones, and you couldn't go wrong with any of them.

The Nokia 808 was pretty good but with flaws. Since then, it's hard to find phones with natural processing, or they have taken years to have in sensor cropping again or even reach the sensor size of the 808, or you get Sony which lacks hardware but has the more "natural" processing. In 2024 we're seemingly getting closer to having really nice photography with those super macro and 1 inch sensors and large zoom sensors etc. But then they still have varying over processing or poor quality mics. The Nokia 808 was a media powerhouse. Nowadays everything seems geared towards social media ready devices. Big, long battery, spiced up photos.

Not sure there's a definite golden age as there are always cool ideas or unique phones, remember that LG Wing everyone forgot now

2021 was the golden era. You went over flagships, primarily. At least in the USA, you could pick up some crazy hardware are wild prices (Motorola One 5G Ace with 6GB RAM for less than $100 a lot of the time). Those midrange-budget devices are still really good to this day, and have plummeted in value to boot. Moto G100 for less than $200? Absolute monster.

In my opinion, 2013 through 2020 were the best smartphone days. My favorite phones were and still are the: iPhone 5s, S7 Edge, Note 9, and the Note 20 ultra. I currently use the S23u

2019 was also the last time that you could buy a good budget phone for less than 180€ without it being a brick

Honestly all my life I've looked at flagship and never had one. Always stuck watching reviews and wishing I had the phone. I knew everything about phones i never owned. But I had to settle with midrange. I had a lg k20, 2gb ram and 32 gb storage until 2020 I finally upgraded to a midrange. After a few more midrange phones I bought an old flagship in the s20+ it feels so good to finally have a flagship caliber phone regardless how old it is😭 But I find my self unfulfilled, I love the design of the s8 and want that phone so badly but its obsolete. Those were the peak years of design.

for me definitely 2015 to 2019 every single year felt like a huge advancement, and many were upgrading every year

I don't think we can mention the golden era or the greatest smartphones without crowning the Note 9...It was EVERYTHING

Haven't watched the video yet but I think it was between 2016-2020, just before the pandemic. Improvements were substantial with each generation, across all market segments. Now things have stagnated a lot.

5:33 the pixel is the most beautiful phone I have ever seen

Best phone ever for me, was the Note9 pre OneUI, such a powerhouse and just worked, as soon as it got Android 10 is was buggy and broken AF. (Exynos) Currently loving the Google Pixel Fold.

the golden era of smartphones was definitely between 2016-2019, I loved when companies experimented more with their designs. The era definitely ended with the Huawei ban.

My Oneplus 8 still works to this day,but somehow the display also still looks gorgeous.It looks in fact better than the newer Samsung S phones, I was able to compare. Samsung has some serious Software problems. The screen looks too greenish and the black mode isn't really black, it's gray. Also the costumization of the Display option is really lacking.

iPhone 4s, Galaxy S3, Note 2, HTC One M8, Galaxy S7 Edge, Pixel One, iPhone X, One Plus 7, LG V20, Mate 20 Pro, Galaxy S10, iPhone 13 Pro Max

For me the best devices (with unexpectedly worst software support back in 2018-20), are the Redmi K20 pro (first full display phone ever with a popup camera i ever used) and a insane VFM poco F1 offering stellar specs under 20k and the camera (with Gcam) can compete with flagships back then.

2018 was the golden era. Bezels were being shrunk yet not everybody had a notch or cutout. LG V40 had the first triple cameras in October & only a month later in November the Samsung A9 (2018) was the first with quad cameras & in December the Samsung A8s was the first with hole-punch camera. Also 10GB RAM phones meant serious performance & now you could say “that phone has more RAM than my PC”. Also 512GB storage was a much-welcomed upgrade. It was also the last year of the last true HTC flagship with the U12+. And the Pocophone F1 came out, a budget model and brand that people really looked into.

2011-2014 There was not only multiple OEMs, there were multiple platforms for OS. I miss choice

My fav phone will forever be the Pixel 2 in those panda colors. It was beautiful, powerful and had an awesome camera.

2014 - 2017 i was wow to every phones comes out ❤

Anytime 2016 or before. Maybe because you could get phones with removable batteries. It sucks that if you need more power you have to carry a battery bank when you could just swap out a battery in 20 seconds and have a full charge.

Lg V series were the best phones for me. V60 is my all time fav

I think Xiaomi releasing the first POCO phone was a watershed moment in smartphone history, and I don't say it lightly. The competition in the budget and midrange category intensified after that like never before, democratising smartphones. No wonder we have 120hz and fast charging on cheap phones now.

For me the Golden era was when we had iOS, Android and Windows battling each other. Samsung was also trying to jump into the OS scene with Tizen. The market was super competitive, so many different phone brands that were making unique phones. Today it’s just 2 OS that have matured and are basically copying each other and converging to a common look and feel. Most phone brands are putting out same looking phones with minor upgrades every year. Every year it’s the same, more powerful chips with slightly bigger/better cameras. The exception is folding phones. They are different but they are also following the same pattern of minor upgrades every year. Smartphones are boring now.

I am still in love with that Galaxy S6 edge in emerald green!

I would say .... Nokia N95 8GB and N9. N95 because of the camera performance that made first iphone to look like 5 years old phone and N9 because of the true multitasking between apps.

For me it was 2015-2018 where there were insane pushing the envelope and some were just gimmicks. Like the Motorla phones with wave feature and what not.