These Are the Most Iconic Samsung Phones From the Past 20 Years

An image of the Samsung SCH-W789 - 2012.
An image of the Samsung SCH-W789 - 2012.

Even though today is all about Samsung’s big Galaxy S24 event, it never hurts to take a moment and think about its past. Now, as much as I love a shiny new phone with a great camera and tons of features, there’s always something special about these old phones that I’ll always enjoy. So, let’s do just that and check out the most iconic Samsung phones over the past two decades.

SPH-N270 — 2003

An image of the Samsung SPJ-N270.
An image of the Samsung SPJ-N270.

For the early 2000s nostalgia’s sake, let’s start with the SPH-N270. This is what Samsung looked like before it befriended Android. This phone from 2003 is iconic because it was featured in The Matrix Reloaded. In fact, it wasn’t even introduced as a phone for everyday use; it was marketed to fans of The Matrix series and is alternatively known as the ‘Matrix phone.’

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A collage of four images of the Samsung Galaxy Note from 2011.
A collage of four images of the Samsung Galaxy Note from 2011.

A year later, Samsung introduced the concept of a ‘ginormous phone with a stylus’ with the Galaxy Note. Later referred to by the term “phablet”, the Note was known for its unusually huge (for that time) form factor. Its 5.3-inch display and the accompanying S Pen gained considerable hype.

Galaxy S3 — 2012

A photo of the Samsung Galaxy S3.
A photo of the Samsung Galaxy S3.

In 2012, Samsung dropped what was officially its most-sold S-series phone: the Galaxy S3. This phone was the S series’s third phone and was received incredibly well. Fun fact: it was referred to as the ‘iPhone killer.’ Florence Ion can probably attest to that, as it was the S3 that brought her from iOS to Android.

SCH-W789 — 2012

An image of the Samsung SCH-W789 - 2012.
An image of the Samsung SCH-W789 - 2012.

Released in 2013, the SCH-W789 was a flip phone with Android on it. Truly ahead of its time, this phone became pretty popular and was touted for its sturdy and robust build. It sported two 3.3-inch screens: one on the front and one on the inside.

Galaxy S5 — 2014

A photo of the Galaxy S5 - 2014.
A photo of the Galaxy S5 - 2014.

2014 saw the release of the Galaxy S5. While the S5 was appreciated for its battery life and camera, it was mostly critiqued for excessive bloatware. Its software was regarded as much less user-friendly than HTC and Motorola at the time.

Galaxy Note Edge — 2014

A photo of the Galaxy Note Edge - 2014.
A photo of the Galaxy Note Edge - 2014.

The same year, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Note Edge—the phone with a curved screen— which was extremely fascinating for that era. People appreciated the extra real estate on the edge of the device and referred to it as a second screen. Eventually, this spilled over to the Galaxy S6 and S7 with their own versions of the Edge.

Galaxy S6 — 2015

Photo: Darren Orf / Gizmodo
Photo: Darren Orf / Gizmodo

A year later, in 2015, we got the first phone to offer Gear VR support when VR was billed as the next big thing: the Galaxy S6. The S6 was also praised for its premium aesthetic and how much it resembled the iPhone 6.

Galaxy Note 7 — 2016

A photo of the Galaxy Note 7 - 2016.
A photo of the Galaxy Note 7 - 2016.

Revealed as a successor to the Note 5, the Galaxy Note 7 was the sixth phone in the Note series and the last to sport a physical home button. The Note 7 was a big hit until it was recalled just two months later due to some cases of exploding batteries.

Galaxy S8 — 2017

A photo of the Galaxy S8.
A photo of the Galaxy S8.

Samsung introduced the plus size with the Galaxy S8 and S8+ release in 2017. The S8 received appreciation for its design and was even deemed ‘the most beautiful phone available’ at the time.

Galaxy S20 Ultra — 2020

A photo of the Galaxy S20 Ultra - 2020.
A photo of the Galaxy S20 Ultra - 2020.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra from 2020 is another note-worthy Samsung release. Priced at a staggering $1,400, this was marketed as the brand’s ‘super premium’ phone and was the first to do 100x zoom/Space Zoom. Its powerful specs and big display were received well, but the Space Zoom felt gimmicky to consumers.

Galaxy S22 Ultra — 2022

A photo of a person holding the Galaxy S22 Ultra - 2022.
A photo of a person holding the Galaxy S22 Ultra - 2022.

Samsung officially said bye to the Note series in 2020 and began to bring some specs from those phones into its S series Ultra models, starting with the Galaxy S22 Ultra released in 2022. The Galaxy S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra phones got Samsung into a controversy when a user on Reddit exposed the Space Zoom moon shots to be fake and claimed that it’s AI doing all the work instead.

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