Do you ever wonder which phone has sold the most? Let’s check out the 10 best-selling phones of all time (as of February 2023 as this is an update from our list back in 2020).
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10. Nokia 6600
Clinching 10th place is the Nokia 6600 and you may be wondering how did it grow to sell 150 million units despite costing about 700 USD?
Well back in the early 2000s, the term “smartphones” was just starting to pop up with Nokia and Blackberry leading the way.
And at the time, they offered features that weren’t seen on most phones back in the day like a music player, video player, camera, an internet connection, Bluetooth, and expandable storage via memory card.
That makes the Nokia 6600 definitely one of the most influential phones, paving the way for all the smartphones we know today.
9. iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max
The iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max combined for 151.1 million total units sold. However, the original iPhone X didn’t do too badly itself as it sold 63 million units by itself.
The reason behind their success may be due to the fact that they collectively offered a choice to a wide range of customers.
Want the biggest phone available? XS Max. Want the premium, flagship iPhone that isn’t too big to hold? Get the XS. Got a smaller budget but still need a solid iPhone? The XR.
They still remain a solid pickup since it was also at this time that iPhones began to switch over to the design with a notch on top.
What’s more, is that people still praise the budget iPhone XR for being a great value to this day with the word of it being a better buy than modern iPhones being sold today.
8. iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max
But those phones would be outdone by its successors in the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max with them selling over 159 million units total.
Well, it’s clear to see why a lot of people loved the iPhone 11 lineup since at the time people wanted the latest and greatest. And with the iPhone 11, Apple changed the camera setup.
This not only changed the design so you could show people you had the new iPhone 11! But also introduced the Ultrawide camera, which impressed users by getting a bigger, wider shot.
This was also when Apple got rid of the -R lineup and simply made the iPhone 11 its base model and the more premium versions the Pro and Pro Max offerings. Which is the setup we see Apple following til this day.
7. iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
But not to be outdone, was the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus also ironically coming in 7th place with roughly 160 million units sold.
Personally, we’re quite stumped to see it make the Top 10 since this was when iPhone infamously took out the headphone jack and people were saying you’d be better off getting an iPhone 6 model.
Nonetheless, the iPhone 7 saw notable improvements like better dust and water resistance, a haptic feedback touch ID button, a bigger base storage configuration, a bigger battery, newer colors, and a secondary telephoto camera on the iPhone 7 Plus.
6. Nokia 3210
In 6th place, we got the daddy of all phones in the modern era, the Nokia 3210. Which since 1999 has sold about 161 million units.
Back then, it was popular due to the fact it was the first widely affordable phone with an internal antenna, and not to mention it had the best game ever in Snake.
But nowadays, it’s popular for being an absolute tank of a phone! With people saying how its battery would last weeks and how durable it is compared to modern smartphones today.
5.iPhone 5S
Breaking the top 5 in the list is, ironically, the iPhone 5S with roughly 164.5 million units sold. The original iPhone 5 didn’t too bad either with around 146 million sold.
But why was the iPhone 5S more popular? Well, our guess is that it introduced notable upgrades over the iPhone 5 but most importantly, it was the first iPhone to feature touch ID.
It also featured an updated Apple A7 chipset over the previous A6, a new gold colorway, and a slightly improved camera with true-tone dual-LED flash.
4. iPhone 6S and 6S Plus
Just missing the top 3 is the iPhone 6S and 6S plus with a little over 174 million units sold.
Its popularity was due to the fact that for many years to come it has remained a solid device since its launch in 2015. In fact, it was only named a “vintage iPhone” by Apple last year.
Especially with iPhones getting more expensive through the years, the iPhone 6S remained a solid choice that stood the test of time, with it becoming widely known to be the best value iPhone to get if you were on a tight budget.
Its design was still very much usable for most people with even the latest iPhone SE today still carrying its design cues and a camera that was still pretty adequate for most users. Not to mention it was the first iPhone to have Live Photos and 3D touch.
3. Nokia 105
Making its way to the Top 3 is the Nokia 105 which sold over 200 million units.
What’s quite interesting is that you’d think that it must’ve been sold during the mid to late 2000s. But the Nokia 105 was originally launched not too long ago in 2013 and 2015, both being the most popular models.
In fact, there continue to be newer models of the Nokia 105 with a 4G model launched back in 2021.
Costing just around USD 20 or just below a thousand pesos at the time, no wonder it was a popular choice for those looking for an inexpensive phone to simply make calls.
2. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
In 2nd place, we got Apple’s most popular iPhone ever in the iPhone 6 series. This includes the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus which are estimated to have sold over 222 million phones over their lifetime combined.
It was so popular that it sold 71.5 million units within just 3 months of its release.
That actually makes it the best-selling smartphone ever which makes sense since even today we see people using it as it has pretty much stood the test of time and we’re sure Chris Evans would attest to that.
1. Nokia 1100 / Nokia 1110
The number one selling phone over the past two decades is still the Nokia 1100 with over 250 million units sold.
Back in the early 2000’s, it’s easy to see why this was such a popular choice since it was such great value for the money.
It had features such as a flashlight, a dustproof case, and 400 hours of standby! And most notably, it had that super addicting Snake game.
Likewise its sibling, the Nokia 1110 which was released two years after also saw similar success in units sold with around 250 million units.
It had some upgrades such as a 4-way scroll key, speakers, animated screensavers, and most importantly a 200 message capacity, up from 50 on the original 1100.
So there you have it! All these phones have been super popular throughout the years and if let us know your experience with any of them!
And if you’re wondering where is Samsung on the list, their most popular Galaxy device was the Galaxy S4 selling about 70 million units, and also the Galaxy S3 and S3 Mini both selling also around 70 million units combined.
Where’s the Motorola Razr?