As you may have read today is the tenth anniversary of the release of the HTC Dream into Australia. To celebrate we thought we’d ask you, our readers, what your first Android phone was and what your Android Journey has been since then.
For me the start was the T-mobile G1. I had been watching Android development for a while on XDA Developers, having been a member there since my Dopod D810 Windows phone and decided to pull the trigger and buy a near-new T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) at the start of 2009.
From there I moved to a HTC Magic followed by many others including HTC Sensation, HTC Inspire 4G, HTC HD2 (hacked to run Android of course), Nexus One, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, 5, 6, and 6P. The Pixel phones followed the Nexus phones owning both 1, 2 and now 3. Add in a OnePlus One, 5, 5T, 6 and 6P and you can see my journey has been long and rarely varied from the relatively stock Android flavour.
I’m sure there is a couple of phones in there that I have forgotten about either due to my advancing age or wiping the experience from my memory. For you it might be different? Are you new to the Android world or do you remember the good old days of the Android Market?
Let us know in the comments below about your Android journey. What was your first phone and what do you currently use?
Samsung galaxy S (s1)
Galaxy nexus by google
Samsung Note 3
Samsung Note 8
Samsung Galaxy S. (S1). At&t branded
Then s2,s3,s4,lgl3,l4
one plus 2,3,3t,5,5t,6
Now OnePlus 6T
Samsung Galaxy S2
Nexus 4
Pixel 1
Htc desire
Samsung Note 1
Note 2
Note 3
LG G2
LG G3
LG G4
LG G6
LG V30+
Can’t believe nobody else had the original Samsung Galaxy (I7500). Not a particularly good phone, but I loved it. (think it was the second android released after after the HTC Dream). I think is was also dubbed Samsung’s beta android phone. It also introduced me to custom roms, and despite Samsung not upgrading from the original 1.6 release OS, I managed to get it up to 2.2 without bricking the phone.
HTC Incredible S
HTC One
Samsung S6
Samsung S7
Huawei Mate 9
Samsung S9
Huawei P20 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy Note 1, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, Pixel 2XL, Pixel 3XL.
2 phones died, Nexus 6 my son dropped it and smashed the screen, Nexus 6P bootloop of death!!
If I was to step away from the Nexus/Pixel path I think I would go for a Nokia phone,
the hardware/software reviews are usually excellent.
I was pretty late to the party. First smartphone was the Nexus 4 which I got in late 2014 for $179. Later got the Nexus 5X and now rocking a Nokia 6.1.
Will never buy bloatware Samsungs or grotesquely expensive iPhones.
Ahh, it’s slowly bringing back memories (mostly of mediocre phones, and the realisation that I need to look after my belongings better): Feb 2011 Motorola Defy – I bought this to replace my first and only iPhone (3GS) which was much less waterproof than I expected. I got the Defy because it was waterproof…. and even if it wasn’t it would have been safe from being exposed to water as it was such a truly awful phone that I stopped using it and went back to a Sony Ericsson candy bar phone before too long Oct 2012 HTC ChaCha –… Read more »
Great response to this story, Scott. Eighty six posts so far – some kind of record, perhaps? Obviously people like talking about their Android experiences. What about this as a suggestion; a poll asking readers to list their FAVOURITE phone in the last 10 years, or perhaps of all time? Cheers.
HTC Desire HD was my first and was such an utterly terrible phone, and Android at the time was so underwhelming and sub-par compared to iOS that that I went to iPhone and stayed until the Pixel 2 XL came out which I have now.
“Why do sheeple love iPhone so much?”
Coz all their friends have one . . seriously though, surely Samsung is heading for world domination. Move over iPhone.
I’m a relative newcomer having switched from Windows Phone last year. Running a Windows Phone – namely the Microsoft Lumia 640 – in 2018 became too depressing with a multitude of unsupported services, apps and the times leaving the platform behind. So I got a Nokia 6 (2017). I chose it for three reasons: price, brand loyalty and Android One. I preferred an iPhone as I’m in Apple’s ecosystem but it’s just too expensive.
Galaxy Nexus
LG G3 – loved the button layout on the back , should have caught on with more phones.
Oppo R9 (I think) Plus. So big I couldn’t button the pocket, kept falling out and smashing. It died, so I had to grab the best thing available at the time which was:
Pixel 2 XL
HTC Desire on the Telstra 3G network! Had an extra lease of life with a custom ROM
Samsung S2
Samsung Note 2
Samsung Note 4 (first to only use manufacturer firmware, son still using)
OnePlus 5T
Nexus S
Nexus 5
Nexus 6P
Pixel XL (warranty replacement for the 6P when it died)
Pixel 3 XL
BTW my wife also had a Nexus 4. I had to pull it out a year ago and was able to get Google Pay working on it.
My first smartphone was Htc touch diamond. My first android was galaxy spica then galaxy s2, lg 4hd, galaxy 551, galaxy note 2, galaxy s4, xperia sp and now redmi 3
Google Nexus One. Still working fine and running MIUI (Xiaomi) custom ROM! What an amazing phone!
Started off with Asus Garmin Nuvifone I think that was called, was basically a GPS with phone functionality running on Android at its early stage. Now I’m using Xiaomi MI8 with Pixel Experience.
HTC legend
HTC desire z
HTC one x
HTC m8
Samsung note edge
Moto x style
Huawei p9
HTC u ultra
Huawei mate 10
2011 Phone – LG P500 Optimus One – Gingerbread 2.2.2
2011 Tablet – Telstra T-Tab Touch – Eclair 2.1
2013 Tablet – Aldi Bauhn WL101GQC – JellyBean 4.1.2
2013 Phone – Huawei Ascend Y320 – JellyBean 4.2.2
2015 Phone – LG G3 – KitKat 4.4.2
2017 Tablet – Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 4G with S Pen – 6.0.1 Marshmallow
All my tablets can be used as ordinary Android phones.
Just remembered one phone I missed.
2013 Phone – LG Optus L7 II P713Go – JellyBean 4.1.2 but heavily carrier screwed over and dumped within a month.
New device
2019 Phone – Nokia 6.1 (2018) – Pie 9.0 Android One
Came into the game late, but it’s been an interesting mix of brands and type of phone.
Sony xperia play – Not a bad phone but the play part was a complete gimmick.
Nexus 4 – Great phone apart from the camera.
Huawei P9 – the first great Huawei phone?
Pixel 3 – very slick, shame about the sub standard build quality (paint chipping off the USB-C jack on the 3rd day)
Mine was the HTC desire, then the S2, S3, S4, OnePlus One, S6, S8plus, and currently the Note 9.
HTC Legend.
My first to current:
HTC Magic
HTC Desire HD
Nexus 4
Nexus 5
Nexus 6
Nexus 6P
Pixel XL
Pixel 2 XL
Pixel 3 XL
You used Windows Phone? Ha! That was always destined to fail since the day of its release.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MUUERKq0IA0
Lol. Funny video. No, I had a windows phone running Android. HD2. Was an amazing phone.
I have to say, mine was the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini (which I still have and still works), which I still have. About 6 or so months later, updated to the Samsung Galaxy S2 and loved it, till touchwiz made me get frustrated with it 2 months later :p
Motorola Droid
US version? That was a while back…
My first android was the HTC Magic, from Hutchison 3. From there I think I went Nexus One, original Galaxy S .. and it been a blur since then. Basically used them all.
But I loved the Nexus One. I’d love to have a 4G capable one today.
Do you even Android? Lol…
Nope
Remember that time Geoff F bought an iPhone 5C?
My first android phone journey (to the best of my memory)
Samsung Galaxy S (used)
HTC Desire HD
Samsung Google Nexus S
Samsung Google Galaxy Nexus
Samsung Galaxy S3 4G
LG Nexus 5
LG G3
Motorola Moto G 4G
Motorola Moto X Play
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
HTC 10
LG V30
What a journey! Nice variety of android phones!
I used to have a Asus Garminfone as my first Android phone. Quite okay as a budget phone, plus the Garmin GPS software was included. Unfortunately, didn’t survive a dunk in seawater.
Right now, a Pixel 2 XL.
Long way from the Asus to the pixel 2 xl…
HTC Sensation back in 2010 or 2011. I’d had a couple of iPhones before that but was keen to make the shift. Since then I’ve been Nexus 4,5,6,6P (plus a couple of 7 tablets), then Pixel 2XL and now Pixel 3XL.
Always liked messing with ROMs and mods in the early days but haven’t felt the need to flash custom ROMs for a long time now. My 3XL isn’t even rooted.
Same for me wrt mods etc. These days I just root for basic stuff like titanium backup and to install magisk so I can still use Google pay with unlocked bootloader (for flashing updates etc. Not a heap though. You were right, not needed these days
Sony Ericsson Xperia Active <3 Loved that little waterproof brick until the 6th month when it died for seemingly no reason and never started up again… Glad I stuck with Android despite it 😊
Water logged?
I remember wanting a HTC Dream so bad, but it was just so expensive (compared to most phones back then). I ended up jumping on a Vodafone branded HTC Magic (second hand), and was soon followed by my wife. I was on XDA early, getting AOSP to build for my device. Things have changed over the years though… * I spend much more on phones now. * I don’t build my own OS anymore. * I (usually) don’t even root my devices. I went through a very similar path… (From memory) this is my household… HTC Magic (aka Google ION)… Read more »
So. Many. I like your Nexus and Pixel journey though
Incredible S as well! However I had the very weak wifi problem, wifi range was like 2 metres. Then got LG G2 > Nexus 6P > LG V10 > Honor 6X and now Pixel 2 XL.
Samsung Galaxy S1, 2, 3 & 4. All still working, rooted and running different variants of resurrection remix. S4 is still my daily driver.
That’s a good innings for a phone. Always loved ressurection remix…
Motorola Milestone 2 with landscape orientation slide out keyboard, because I couldn’t bring myself to make the jump to on screen keyboard, then Nexus 4 from late 2013 to late 2016 when I got Moto X Play. Carried that through to about October last year (2018) when I switched to my current Moto G6 Plus.
Also a huge fan of near stock android experience after a rough start on the Milestone 2. Motorola keep hitting that sweet spot of style, value and reliable stock performance for me.
Very good point re Motorola. I loved the Moto X style I reviewed
HTC Desire Z with the fold out keyboard. It was a fantastic device and loved the fold out keyboard that worked very well. It’s a pity they don’t make these kind of phones anymore.
Always wanted one of them!
I was a super early advocate of the Android operating system. Back when we first got them, I was operating an Allphones mobile phone Shop, and I sold one of the first HTC Dreams (with the slider keyboard) to a customer. She promptly returned it because it didn’t have video camera, so I ended up with it, as it couldn’t be resold on the network and we absorbed the cost. Best thing that happened to me from a phone perspective. I used that phone, and loved it! Had it for ages actually, and the slide out 5 row keyboard is… Read more »
I was a super early advocate of the Android operating system. Back when we first got them, I was operating an Allphones mobile phone Shop, and I sold one of the first HTC Dreams (with the slider keyboard) to a customer. She promptly returned it because it didn’t have video camera, so I ended up with it, as it couldn’t be resold on the network and we absorbed the cost. Best thing that happened to me from a phone perspective. I used that phone, and loved it! Had it for ages actually, and the slide out 4 row keyboard is… Read more »
Now that is a handy perk for the job!
Galaxy S2, swapped an iPhone 4 for it, flashed lightning rom to it, down clocked it, could squeeze 2 days put of it. Mostly Google maps was kept me on it then. been Android since.
4 different Sony phones, the acro s (waterproof) was excellent and cheap 2nd hand. Under water photos were excellent and I could keep it in my pocket at wet and wild while swimming.
Crazy. Underwater photography! Tell us more!
HTC desire. I had a iPhone 3gs first and it had terrible reception where I lived, sold it and got the desire. My first and last iPhone 😁
Mine too was the the HTC Incredible S. I remember the first set up, it seemed actually so straightforward. Great first Android.
HTC incredible S
My first android phone was the Samsung galaxy s2 now I have a one plus 6.
Props for the OnePlus 6.
You can remember back that far? My first phone was in 1997 – probably was a motorola- had an antenna that you folded up. Then when you really wanted good reception you screwed in a 6 inch antenna!
The Magic was mine. Bricked it real good. Not what the kids these days call “bricked”, proper flashed-the-wrong-bootloader type of brick.
ouch .. I knew someone who did the same thing with their magic – i think it was anyway- far too many sku’s and different bootloaders etc back then
My first Android phone was a cheap ZTE smartphone, the ZTE T81 otherwise known as Telstra Frontier 4G. Wasn’t a too bad phone, had close to stock Android. Also one of the earlier 4G phones available on the Telstra network back in 2012 if I remember correctly.
Then, after the screen broke, onto a Google Nexus 5 which I owned for about 3.5 years. Now using a Nokia 7 Plus.
that’s some good value from your Nexus 5 mate. Battery life would have been about 15 minutes by then? 😀 I loved my N5.
How’s the Nokia treating you? Thoughts on Android One?
Yes by that time the Google Nexus 5’s battery was well below capacity I think. It was never huge in the first place, only 2300 mAh. The Nokia 7 Plus battery is a huge 3800 mAh so a big difference. I really like Android One, being possibly the first device after Pixels and the Essential Phone to get upgraded to Android 9 Pie was pretty cool. Still waiting on the February security patch but I imagine it will come by the end of the month.
HTC HD2, a Windows Mobile phone, but running Cyanogenmod from its SD card
I did that too! Although after a bit you could flash it to the internal memory couldn’t you? Long time ago. Was a great phone though. big display in those days.
HTC Desire. Bought it, rooted it, loved it.
the HTC version of the Nexus One. Great phone too.
Stil have my Nexus 5 as a backup. Was quite fond of that phone.
Ah . . stick an extra ‘L’ on that first word up there, wouldja?
HTC Desire. Pretty sure I purchased it from JB Hifi on a $30 per month plan with something like 1-2Gb of data.
it’s amazing how little data we used back then.