What is the Golden Era of Smartphones?

It’s easy to look back on memories with rose tinted glasses and rewrite history but as smartphone enthusiast veterans, what period was the most impactful? Which devices stood out? And what is the golden era of smartphones?

Was it the original iPhone and Galaxy S, or did the LG G3 and HTC One and One M8 era feel the better balanced? How about the OnePlus 3 and Huawei P20 Pro? Let's talk about that.

[muhsinatras]

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.

[vince_c]

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.

[cmh]

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

[mark_u]

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.

[vedanshchn]

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

[kpeterrafael]

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.

[OmegaWolf]

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!

[Healtsome]

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

[rezhossain]

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

[BrtoLopz]

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

[eddiestilll]

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.

[JunJun]

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.

[zdanee]

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.

[ChristianEllenberg-vjhc]

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 :/

[majtechtings]

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.

[scottmcsherry]

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.

[akhyarrayhka]

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

[AnishSomawar]

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

[oneplusaim]

OnePlus 7 Pro hands down best phone ever

[keonxd]

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