When Phones Were Fun: Motorola PEBL (2005)

If you were old enough to know what a cellphone was in the year 2004, then you remember Motorola's iconic RAZR flip phone. But what you might not remember is that the RAZR was just one in a series of "4LTR" releases throughout the mid-oughts. These included, among others: the super-slim SLVR; the substandard ROKR; the ultra-premium AURA (covered in episode 2 of this series) … and a phone that looked nothing like any of its siblings, yet blended perfectly into the 4LTR family – because it looked like nothing else on the market, either. On this episode of When Phones Were Fun, we’re heading back to the latter half of 2005 to unpocket the plump, pudgy and perfectly precious Motorola PEBL U6!

[SPECIAL THANKS]

Avi Greengart:

Techsponential:

Andrew Martonik:

[SUBSCRIBE TO MRMOBILE]

[ABOUT WHEN PHONES WERE FUN – MOTOROLA PEBL U6]

This is the tenth in a series of MrMobile videos exploring the mobile tech world's most vibrant period in design and experimentation. In “When Phones Were Fun,” Michael Fisher re-reviews cellphones from the golden age of mobile, the decade-long span from the turn of the century to approximately 2009.

When Phones Were Fun: Episode 10 features a Motorola PEBL U6 press unit on loan from Avi Greengart, President and Lead Analyst at Techsponential. No company paid a fee or otherwise offered compensation in exchange for this coverage, nor did any company preview or approve this content before publication.

[LINKS]

Motorola PEBL U6 Review [Cnet]:

Retro Phone Review: Motorola PEBL [TechRadar]:

Stickiness: The Insulting Reality of Rubber Reversion [Polymer Solutions]:

[SOCIALIZE]

[DISCLOSURES]

#motorola #pebl #motopebl #u6 #tech #vintagephones #oldphones #whenphoneswerefun #2005 #moto

[SuperAceCrusher]

I'd definitely watch an episode about earpieces. This series is one of my most favourite here in YouTube.

[uzairrampage]

2005 was the last pre-depression year for me. I feel like crying every time I see something from then. Still struggling today, but I have to keep fighting. Thank you for the nostalgia sir! Means the world!

[darshpanchal]

I love how there is one YouTuber who literally dedicated a segment of his channel to cover older phones just for the sake of nostalgia. Kudos to you Mr.Mobile.

[ChristopherBibbs]

I remember stopping by the T-Mobile store and being blown away that you didn't have to train the voice dial for the PEBL. It was the first phone where I'd seen such magic. If you didn't live through the era of training your phone for the handful of names you thought you'd want to voice dial, you don't know how amazing modern voice recognition is.

[ericgrant]

I love how this series has taught watchers why things like this become sticky over time. Every time I see rubber reversion in real life I think of this channel.

[goompo]

Everyone’s favorite recurring MrMobile character: Rubber Reversion™️

[chap]

"From the age messages were instant, hinges were automatic and phones were fun..." Ooooh that was smooth like a butter, Mr. Mobile! Just like the butter..

[SudeennnSam]

Mr. Mobile, thank you for reaching out to us fellow international subscribers by including proper English subtitles. It’s the little details that made your videos watchable, apart from the amazing editing

[omari]

These phones have a lot of memories in my heart.

[iancuk]

So SLVR was read "Sliver" while I thought it was "Silver" until this very moment 😅

[otherssingpuree]

I wanted this phone. I still remember the advert of a girl walking on the beach, picking up a pebble, opening it, calling someone and putting it down on a stack of pebbels.

[ToniCorvera]

That hinge mechanism is absurdly cool, kinda surprised I didn't hear a thing about it back in the day.
The RAZR had all my attention (and most everyone else's) while the PEBL felt uninteresting to me, but that neat trick shouldn't have gone unnoticed.
Someone bring it to a modern flip phone and I'll be in trouble...

[karenranem]

Motorola PEBL - was my dream phone during that year. Darn. Simpler times i think.

[TheFightQueen]

The Motorola Slvr is probably the phone I have the most fond memories of out of every device I’ve ever owned in this category (and I’ve owned A LOT). I know the phone doesn’t fit this series to well and it leans towards the more unique products but if ever do a a straight up retro orientated show, I’d love to see you cover the Slvr!

[AustinAllen]

Don’t forget the KRZR! That was my favorite 4 letter Motorola phone from the 2000s
UPDATE: I spoke too soon! My fav was name dropped a little over 6 minutes in 😊🧡

[manmikey]

One of my favourite mobiles ever, and I've still got it, it still works and occasionally I get it out of the "old phones" box and marvel at that Mr Mobile your channel is so much more than a review channel, we your viewers are true fans of you and your work, never stop and stay safe.

[group]

2:26 Of course we'd watch you review old earpieces. Your reviews are always entertaining

[sillygooseLLC]

I absolutely love this series. I have absolutely zero nostalgia for any phones, seeing as I grew up in the age of the glass slab. But the odd design choices, marketing, and left field chaos that came from the wild west of tech is enough to make an amazing series. I love your channel. Keep it up 👍. (Regarding the pebl, the hinge is by far my favorite part of the phone. Satisfying hinges are a personal favorite of mine).

[RebornAudio]

This has been said to death, I’m sure, but this genuinely is the best channel for retro phones.

[jjunture]

Such a great series. I worked at a wireless carrier from 2001 to 2005, and miss it so much. We were a GSM carrier, and the RAZR was the ‘it’ phone to have.