Few devices have seen such rapid and dramatic evolution in the past few decades as the humble mobile phone. From 1983, when the first commercial wireless call was made on Motorola DynaTAC, to today’s ultra-smart mini PCs, it’s a technology that’s defined a generation.

Take a look under the hood of a Motorola Independent – a classic “brick” phone launched in 1992 – and a modern Samsung Galaxy S5, and find out just how much things have changed inside and out.

Samsung

Galaxy Series

Modern

Motorola

Independent

Classic

On The Face of It

At first glance, it’s hard to believe that these devices were made just 22 years apart. It’s not just the size and shape that’re different: almost everything about mobile phones has changed radically in the last two decades.

Galaxy S5

1
  • 1 5.1-inch capacitive touchscreen A Super AMOLED 1980x1080 HD display, protected by toughened glass, also serves as the phone’s primary input.

Motorola Independent

1 2
  • 1 LED display The 7-digit LED display shows the number currently entered into the phone.
  • 2 Push-button membrane keypad A total of 21 buttons are used to control the phone: 12 are numeric and 9 control functions such as making calls, adjusting volume and storing numbers to memory.
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Under the covers

Beneath the housing, the differences go on and on – the S5 fits a much more sophisticated package onto a smaller, slimmer footprint.

Galaxy S5

1 2
  • 1 Casing The S5’s casing is mostly lightweight plastic, designed to be waterproof and dustproof.
  • 2 Synaptics S5100A Touchscreen controller This module processes input commands for the S5, including the fingerprint sensor.

Motorola Independent

1
  • 1 Casing The Independent’s heavy-duty casing was probably designed to protect the rather fragile build quality of the electronics inside, although it did nothing to make the phone lighter.
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The Nuts & Bolts

Even in the nuts and bolts that hold the two devices together, a whole era of difference in electronics design can be seen.

Galaxy S5

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  • 1 Vibration motor The flex ribbon vibration motor is – you’ve guessed it - what makes the S5 vibrate.
  • 2 Cable connectors These connectors help to link internal components together.
  • 3 Home button The S5 has just a single button to return the user to the home screen – most other input is handled on-screen.
  • 4 Bolts These tiny bolts help to hold the casing together.
  • 5 Internal Speaker This tiny but important component produces sound, such as the voice of the person you’re talking to.
  • 6 Plastic panels These panels are part of the phone’s external casing.
  • 7 Micro USB port cover This helps to protect the device from dust and water.

Motorola Independent

1 2 3
  • 1 Bolts The bolts that hold the Independent together are considerably longer and heavier than the S5’s.
  • 2 Plastic clips These clips help to hold and separate the internal circuit boards.
  • 3 Metal panel This panel is designed to protect important chips from damage.
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Say Cheese

Modern smartphones come equipped with sophisticated digital cameras for snapping and sharing on the go.

Galaxy S5

1 2
  • 1 16-megapixel rear camera The S5’s rear camera uses an ISOCELL sensor and is the first phone camera to use phase detecting focusing as well as contrast detection.
  • 2 2.1-megapixel front camera Front cameras on modern smartphones tend to be lower in quality compared to rear cameras – although they’re great for video calls and taking selfies.

Motorola Independent

I don't think so

Nil points for the Independent here – phone-mounted cameras weren’t developed until the year 2000.

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Get Connected

Mobile phones are all about connectivity – but the way they send and receive data has changed dramatically with the advent of the digital age. The Independent would have used the first automatic analogue system for cell phones – sometimes called "1G" – that was talk-only, with no text messaging capabilities. Meanwhile, the S5 is 4G-enabled, meaning it’s capable of fast data transfer for web browsing and streaming.

Galaxy S5

1
  • 1 Antenna Like most modern smartphones, the S5 uses an antenna that’s embedded in the casing, meaning it takes up next to no space.

Motorola Independent

1
  • 1 Antenna The Independent comes with a detachable, 8cm-long sleeve dipole antenna – the kind still used on wireless LAN access points.
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Stay Juiced

Balancing battery life with functionality has always been one of the biggest headaches for mobile phone designers. Even in modern phones, the battery is always one of the bulkiest and heaviest components.

Galaxy S5

1
  • 1 Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery Improvements in lithium-ion chemistry allow batteries to (mostly) keep pace with the demanding requirements of modern smartphones. The S5 boasts around 21 hours of talk time and 390 hours on standby at full charge, and includes battery-saving features like Ultra Power Saving Mode.

Motorola Independent

1
  • 1 Nickel-Cadmium battery The nickel-cadmium battery that powers the Independent took ten hours to fully charge, which allowed for around 60 minutes of talk time. These batteries also had a nasty tendency to heat up and cause interference with the phone.
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Good Foundations

Early phones were quite primitive in terms of hardware, but modern smartphones pack quad-core processors, GPUs, audio codecs – everything you’d expect in a desktop PC.

Galaxy S5

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  • 1 2GB RAM Less than ten years ago, two gigs of RAM would have been impressive in a desktop computer; now it’s pretty standard in a smartphone.
  • 2 CPU – 2.5Ghz Quad Core The S5’s processor runs at 2.5 billion cycles per second – around 625 times faster than the microprocessor the Independent probably used.
  • 3 Maxim Integrated MAX77804K (System PSoC) The system-on-chip is a sophisticated integrated circuit that allows for great computing capability on a tiny footprint.
  • 4 Micro USB connector Another notable feature of modern smartphones is the ability to receive data from other sources, either wirelessly or via USB.
  • 5 MIMO antenna The S5’s MIMO Wi-Fi module allows it to receive wireless signals from up to two separate transmitters.
  • 6 Qualcomm WTR1625 RF transceiver The S5’s transceiver converts is capable of transmitting and receiving both analogue and digital signals.
  • 7 Avago ACPM-7617 multi-mode, multi-band power amp Modules like these allow smartphones to connect with 2G-and-later networks around the world.

Motorola Independent

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
  • 1 Printed circuit boards Motorola was one of the world’s biggest chipmakers at the time the Independent was made – most of its chips are Motorola-branded. With no system-on-chip technology yet, all processors are separate ICs.
  • 2 Ringer The ringer alerts users to an incoming call – although there’s no way to choose a new ringtone on this phone.
  • 3 Speaker The Independent’s speaker is much larger than the S5’s, although its sound quality was probably much lower.
  • 4 Dual op amp Amplifiers like these increase the power of an electrical signal.
  • 5 Seven-segment LED display module This controls the phone’s LED display.
  • 6 Microphone The Independent’s speaker and analogue microphone are rather chunky by today’s standards, and take up a fair amount of the PCB’s footprint.
  • 7 RF duplex filter These allow transmissions and receptions through the same antenna at once – (in non-technical language, that’s what happens when you make a call)
  • 8 RX IF demodulator This processes incoming information from radio signals.
  • 9 PLL frequency synthesiser This generates radio frequencies that are used by the phone.
  • 10 Tx modulator This processes outgoing information from radio signals.
  • 11 National Semiconductor 64-kbyte EPROM This memory chip contains the firmware that tells the phone how to operate.
  • 12 Tx audio processor This alters and processes outgoing audio signals.
  • 13 Microprocessor It’s hard to determine the exact speed of this microprocessor, but based on similar technology of the time it likely runs at around 4-8 Mhz.
  • 15 Power management module Helps to reduce energy consumption and prolong battery life.
  • 16 Power management module Helps to reduce energy consumption and prolong battery life.
  • 17 Quad op amp Amplifiers like these increase the power of an electrical signal.
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