Can you have too much of a good thing? Not if you’re Peter Chomanič, the man with 670 Nokias.
In the last few months, we’ve showcased the favourite five Nokias of some of the world’s biggest collectors of Nokia devices. To add another voice to the ongoing debate about which of Nokia’s smartphone are the greatest, we’re joined by Peter Chomanič. Peter’s had a very passionate relationship with mobile technology for over a decade. In fact, he’s so passionate he working to create the world’s first mobile phone museum. So, what does this curator of top tech consider Nokia’s fab five? To find out, read his thoughts below. Over to you, Peter.
I’m a big mobile phones fan and well known in Slovakia and The Czech Republic as a Nokia fan. I’ve been collecting phones for about 12 years and now have almost 2200, 670 of those are Nokia devices made up of 200 different models. One day I’d like to create a mobile phone museum.I love the designs that Nokia created and amazing technology that it packed into them. Looking into the past, it’s hard to choose only five. Even more so when you consider all the communicators from theNokia 9000 to the Nokia E90. Then you have the famous monochromatic display phones such as the Nokia 3310 or 6310i and even the amazing E & Nseries phones, such as the E50 or N80.
As for the more recent Nokia devices, I’d choose the Nokia Lumia 925. I used it for weeks and liked it the most. It’s made from a good choice of materials, with the right weight and a nice camera performance. What’s more, with the latest Windows Phone updates and apps it can even show time on a low power screen. This is something thing I loved much on E7 and N9 too. And if I might choose from non-smartphone devices that are still in shops and not only my museum :) it’d definitely be the Nokia 515. Again, because of its design and materials. .
Nokia 7650 – Launched 2002
Why did you get it?
Bought as my first smartphone, packing every technology I could imagine that time. As one person said: “7650 existed when other brands were still in stone age!”. I can only agree with that.
What did you love about it?
I used it as my only camera, voice recording device, TV control with IrDA (now pretty modern again!), using dozens of apps and still a phone with nice design and slider construction. I love sliders since then and I still own that phone, in working condition. Anyone remembers where the SIM card slot was? There was a smile face under the cover :)
Nokia 6103 – Launched 2006
Why did you get it?
One of few clam shell phones I ever used. It looked good with black matte finish, had really fine keyboard for fast typing.
What did you love about it?
I enjoyed it in times when I had no money for the latest flagships, but still needed something to chat online, so appreciated that amazing keyboard and adptive T9 function. Oh, and replaced 3 slim batteries each day which I had always in my pocket. Nice memories. Now I have that phone in black and even in red in collection, working, of course.
The Nokia N95 – Launched 2007
Why did you get it?
It was the smartphone that every Nokia fan dreamed of. And it was a slider, so no surprise I loved it :)
What did you love about it?
The 5 megapixel camera was still the only image taking device I had, but this time, it really did some amazing work. Wi-Fi enabled me to use less of my data plan. GPS helped me not to get lost in cities I visited for the first time, while used Sygic, well-known Slovak navigation software. Still in control of air-conditioner, Hi-Fi or TV even in friend’s home, as it was infra enabled too and I had some real fun with that. Matte finish of back side had warious color, I used plum and red one, but I have few more of them now in my museum.
The Nokia E7 – Launched 2011
Why did you get it?
I remember I was on Nokia’s press event in Prague and that phone amazed me. I had N8 that time, but I loved keyboard even more than the camera, it was joy to write on, so I had to have it.
What did you love about it?
The ClearBlack Amoled display, aluminium body and USB On-The-Go support with HDMI out. I used it almost instead of computer in many cases with wireless mouse. Latest generation of my beloved Symbian had many apps accessible on Ovi store and some really fine modding options on forums I moderated. You can imagine how fast, functional and reliable that phone became in few months with some updates and modding. I miss QWERTY keyboards now, as almost no phones have it now.
The Nokia N9 – Launched 2011
Why did you get it?
As I had pretty close to some Nokia developers in the past, I know that N950 could have been the N9 until some changes have been done. Even if I was sad that final N9 lacks QWERTY keyboard, I loved the design and polycarbonate material.
What did you love about it?
The MeeGo UI looked so good on that curved AMOLED ClearBlack display. I love to use it even now with no USB OTG or HDMI function. The system was fresh, fast, innovative, nice looking, with all I wanted from modern OS, even with possibility to satisfy the modder/developer part of me. So I did alphanumeric keyboard, did some changes to system in command line and became more friendly with Linux. Of course I did many things wrong and had to restore my data :) so don’t try this at home, or with it’s developer twin – N950 which I also have, but I’m too afraid to use it as daily phone.
I think we can all agree this is a fantastic selection of some of Nokia’s most iconic devices. These five not only show the amazing evolution of smartphone design, but how much smartphones’ capabilities have changed in such a short time. Of course, the million dollar question is whether you agree with Peter’s choices. If not, be sure to share yours in the comments below.