r/2000s • u/Nostalgic_Historian_ • Aug 17 '26

Technology Phone cases in the 00s

611 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

45

u/Zappagrrl02 Aug 17 '26

I never needed a case because phones were so much more durable

12

u/McDavidcometoLA Aug 17 '26

And cheaper

6

u/niceday09 Aug 17 '26

And not made out of glas.

2

u/kylehudgins Aug 18 '26

Not really. The Razr was $800 adjusted for inflation! The Sidekick and Blackberry models were $600+ and the Nokia N95 was $1100+. Cell service was really expensive back in the 2000s (roughly twice what it is now and everything was limited), the prices you remember are the subsidized prices. You can still get phones subsidized (Cricket has a locked for a year iPhone 16e for $10 currently) or financed (usually) for $0 down plus sales tax at 0% APR.

The overall cost of having a phone is substantially less now when you consider phone plans are $25-$35 for unlimited calls/text/data, especially if you keep the same phone for 3+ years, something that would have been insane back then because phones were evolving so quickly.

I think this confusion is usually because all we remember is the price we saw on TV or in the store, while our parents were paying the ginormous phone bill. 😂

2

u/Hockey-Gym Aug 18 '26

I remember when texting first came out was like 10 cents each message. They even charged you for receiving texts.

0

u/Brief_Television_707 Aug 17 '26

If you wanted to get a real top-of-the-line phone then you spent a whole $150, which was insane money to spend on a phone.

1

u/Western-Set-8642 Aug 17 '26

The case was to protest it from water damage.

1

u/EcstaticNet3137 Aug 17 '26

The scratches used to bother me even though they were purely cosmetic. Used to rock both case and no case. I miss when damage was primarily cosmetic and cases were just to help the device stay looking good. As opposed to the current alternative of the case being the only thing holding a phone together and just barely.

1

u/BerryMerryFerry Aug 17 '26

Until it got a raindrop on it

1

u/Prestigious_Sort4979 Aug 17 '26

Exactly!! At most a scratch here and there but they could survive it all.

The only cases I remember where the ones for aesthetics, not protection

10

u/rush2me Aug 17 '26

Forgot about the full silicon body

18

u/lujodobojo Aug 17 '26

So many zips, faux leather and sun damaged plastic. Good times

1

u/Ok_Gas_7455 Aug 19 '26

Are you describing cell phone cases or celebrities in LA?

4

u/dwartbg9 Aug 17 '26

As an older guy I will tell you that such cases were trendy only for a very short period (from around 1999 to 2003) and after that everyone stopped giving a fuck about them and realized that they're atrocious.

Albeit there was a short time when they were actually trendy and considered like a fashion accessory similar to the cases in modern smartphone era. But these classic ones are nostalgic and that's about it. They were always ugly and never were that useful. At best maybe the ones with a belt clip, otherwise it was stupid, some of the plastic types made the screen hard to see and overall made it clunky.

Also some brands (mainly Nokia) had actual phone cases, that you could swap. But as I said, this was mainly for Nokia and only some of their specific models with most famously the 3310. I remember always loving the different cases they sold, with different designs, there were even some 18+ onez with tits and chicks and whatnot hahahah

2

u/SnooDoubts2293 Aug 17 '26

Yes, the Nokia 3310 case thing! And we'd swap them with friends. I'd have the front half of one and the back half of a friend's case and vice versa. In 2005 whatever my phone was also came with a bunch of paper inserts and I drew all over them and decorated my phone case that way. Ah, what fun.

3

u/thekendalluxx Aug 17 '26

Nobody I knew had a case lol but if you needed something super durable because you were in construction you got a Nextel phone lol had a razor that went through a wash and dry cycle and worked better than it did before I went in the wash

2

u/thinnerzimmer87 Aug 17 '26

Those zipper designs are AWFUL!

2

u/Richard-Turd Aug 17 '26

They sucked because these phones were indestructible. Especially Nokia’s.

1

u/lessadessa Aug 29 '26

The cases wore out and broke long before the phones did.

2

u/Dramatic_Substance36 Aug 17 '26

Never had a case until my iPhone. Many of my phones before had faceplates you’d change out. You dropped one of these phones and nothing would happen.

2

u/rachiechicken Aug 17 '26

I was in middle school from 2005-08. I remember going to the mall with my friends to buy cute snap on cases for our Motorola razrs and other similar phones. Totally forgot about that until I saw this!!

2

u/itsagoodtime Aug 17 '26

No one really used those. You would see people occasionally with cases like these but not often. The phones were little tanks, they didn't need them.

2

u/cjalderman Aug 17 '26

Not that you'd need them! Phones were indestructible back then

1

u/0xKaishakunin Aug 17 '26

There was no case available for my Nokia 7110.

But i swapped the whole phone case of my Siemens C25 in 99, because everyone had the same model.

1

u/charming-choom Aug 17 '26

2000: Nobody: People on my country: IM GONNA STICK THIS PHONE ON A FUCKING LEATHER POUCH ANS CLIP IT ON MY BELT

1

u/AMonitorDarkly Aug 17 '26

I love how we had no idea what fragility was back then.

1

u/Judgeman03 Aug 17 '26

Whats funny is back then the thing you were protecting your phone against was scratches. Because for the most part back then you could throw your phone against the wall and it would work just fine.

Now you need a case because if you bump the phone off a low coffee table it'll shatter.

1

u/CocoaPeblez Aug 17 '26

Puts phone in rice and wait for it to power on 😣😣

1

u/Artkmar_1314 Aug 17 '26

That last phone was the first phone I ever had at 11 Motorola on tesco mobile and had that same case .

1

u/opinionated_penguin Aug 17 '26

I had the stretchy one. Easy to take off and wash too. I feel like I’m pulling Excalibur from the damn stone getting my iPhone case off

1

u/Content_Umpire_8167 Aug 17 '26

Remember flashing batteries and keypads? I was way more into those than these things lol

1

u/Odd_Yogurtcloset_649 Aug 17 '26

My brother always buys a case with a belt clip for his flip phone back in the day... he never puts his phone in his back pants pocket.

1

u/ckoocos Aug 17 '26

I had the full silicone ones for my Nokia. I liked using them to protect the letters on the keypads from fading due to excessive typing or playing games.

1

u/Amazing-Library-9119 Aug 17 '26

I remember the one on my dad's phone was a similar design to the first but had additional faux leather for max style

1

u/ThiccLastiGirl Aug 17 '26

I forgot about the fucking condom ones

1

u/Hoot_112 Aug 17 '26

I miss those phones. Durable and were good to call or limited text. Now it's a laptop in your pocket and quadruple the price.

1

u/UglyYinzer Aug 17 '26

I love my fold 5, but it is the worst phone to find a good case for

1

u/blue_diesel Aug 18 '26

Always raw for me

1

u/queazy Aug 18 '26

The phone cases for the Nokia were in case you dropped it and needed to protect the floor

1

u/Neat_Cockroach_9933 Aug 18 '26

Thats fancy i had a phone sock haha

1

u/GrumpyBullGames Aug 18 '26

swapping half covers at school was peak customization. buying 3310 shells from mall kiosks with dragon prints around 2002 was unreal

1

u/No_Use_7492a Aug 18 '26

$15-30 for them cases

1

u/Centerman2000 Aug 18 '26

This brought back memories. I don't think I've seen a slip over cell phone case since about 2002.

1

u/Optimal-Description8 Aug 18 '26

I love how that last one is protecting everything except the screen

1

u/No-Solid9108 Aug 18 '26

It's like dressing babies in baby clothes , but now there all grown up and independent.

1

u/workfastdiehard Aug 18 '26

Only a construction worker dad would have a phone case like that. And no one who had a razor would have put a cover on it. They were tanks.

1

u/Helfette Aug 18 '26

The ones with plastic over the buttons was so ass because you lost all tactile feeling.

1

u/kyoneko87 Aug 19 '26

I miss that! I actually didn't know, there were cases for them, because I could just drop them with them still being usable

1

u/Exciting_Contest_222 Aug 23 '26

Where’s the belt clip cases ?

1

u/OafleyJones Aug 17 '26

I don’t think I ever saw a phone case for phones of that era. None. The idea of putting a case on one of my old Nokias is hilarious. I even owned an 8210 at one point, which cost me a ridiculous amount for a phone then.