Over the years, smartphones have become an indispensable digital tool as it is used for many activities including connecting with people from across the world, education, remote work, access to the latest information, and even taking the most beautiful pictures and making money. 

With the numerous brands of smartphones out there since a decade ago, people are often overwhelmed and stuck in choices when purchasing a new or used smartphone from the store or online. 

Some brands of smartphones have been popular among consumers for a long time and they’ve been perceived as the most used smartphones. Brands like Nokia, Samsung, and the iOS smartphones fall into this category. 

In this article, we’ll look at ten of the most used smartphones of all time.

1. Apple iPhone 6: 222 million sold
2. Nokia 5230: 155 million sold
3. Apple iPhone 11: 102 million sold
4. Apple iPhone 8: 86 million sold
5. Samsung Galaxy S4: 80 million sold
6. Apple iPhone 7/ 7 plus: 78.3 million sold
7. Apple iPhone XR: 77 million sold
8. Samsung Galaxy S3: 70 million sold
9. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: 55 million sold
10.  Apple iPhone X: 64 million sold.

1 Apple iPhone 6: 222 million sold.

The iPhone 6, 6s, and 6 plus release in 2014 made its users believe that it was the coolest and classiest phone ever used by man at that time. And yes, it was. The release of the iPhone 6 in 2014 made it categorized as the pioneer iOS smartphones in the phablet form. The launch of the first Samsung Note in 2011 must have triggered this.

It’s physical features which are lightweight, slim, and large screened made it an attractive feat for its users from 2014-2015. If you used the iPhone 6 then in 2014, you probably must have felt what it is like to own an iOS smartphone in that period— a phablet at that! It was really amazing, wasn’t it? 

Although, iPhone 6 doesn’t stand a chance to be compared with its latest counterparts like iPhone 12 and 13, yet it was one of the most expensive smartphones in 2014 pricing at over $750.

Because of its smartphone-like features like camera (8MP), screen size (5.5 inches), large internal memory, network and connectivity (3G LTE), and other features, it became one of the most used smartphones of all time. Its launch resulted in approximately 222 million sales.

2 Nokia 5230: 150 million sold.

Nokia 5230 Nuron is perhaps one of the oldest smartphones used before 2010. And because of its features in the early modern smartphone period of the late 2000s, it was seen as one of the most used phones in 2009. 

Although not pictured as a smartphone anymore, yet millions of people used it in 2009-2010. After all, Nokia has been a big name in the phone manufacturing industry for over two decades. 

It operates on Symbian OS, has display size of 3.2 inches (touchscreen), RAM of 128MB, and an internal memory of 70MB with a Micro SDHC reader.

3 Apple iPhone 11: 102 million sold.

The Apple iPhone 11 shouldn’t get you surprised. It is definitely one of the top ten used smartphones of all time. As you can see above, it has sold 102 million pieces. And it’s still making sales big time in the market! 

Although it’s a recently outdated iOS that was released in 2019, it is still increasing sales everyday mostly at a fairly-used price. 

iPhone 11 operates on iOS 13 and has a display size of 6.1 inch, 4GB RAM, 12+12 MP camera for great photoshoots and a 256GB internal storage. 

4 Apple iPhone 8: 86 million sold.

Apple iPhones are no doubt one of the most used smartphones of all time. Yes, that’s right! People love the iOS and would spend a lot of money to buy the latest iPhones once released. 

At the time of release in 2017, the iPhone 8 and its 8 plus immediate successor in the series cost over $600 to $700. Yet, as expensive as it was, it sold over 86 million. In fact, it is still purchased at the markets for a fairly-used price till today. That’s because it has satisfying features a little lesser than the features of its latest counterpart iPhone 13.

5 Samsung Galaxy S4: 80 million sold.

Finally, an android phone appears on this list. But, it’s a Samsung; one of the most expensive and classiest smartphones in the world. It is arguably the boss of Android phones as the tech giant has been releasing high-end smartphones emerging from the S series since 2010.

Talking of Android smartphones that reigned as the first choice of smartphone consumers throughout 2013 and 2014, Samsung Galaxy S4 should be the subject of the argument. It really made that much sales as a top choice android phone as soon as it was released. It sold over 80 million units as one of the most used smartphones.

It operated on Android 4.2.2 JellyBean.

6 Apple iPhone 7/ 7 Plus: 78.3 million sold.

Apple has made its iPhones in such a manner that one can conclude that they’ll be the most bought, popular and used smartphones throughout the 21st century. We can almost conclude that they’ll never go extinct or wane. Almost all Apple smartphones from the iPhone 6s up until the latest have earned massive sales from across the globe in millions.

Now the iPhone 6 successor iPhone 7 is number 6 on the list of most used smartphones of all time.  

The iPhone 7 release in 2016 has room for an upgrade in the iOS smartphones. It was rated high in 2016 as one of the most expensive smartphones with its features: water resistant, bigger internal storage space, and an improved battery as well. These were good reasons it sold so much as launched.

7 Apple iPhone XR: 77 million sold.

iPhones just have a way of being eye-catching whenever new models are released. Apple is known to launch new models yearly and regardless of how expensive they still get massive sales. Meanwhile, recently previous versions are still being sold at a lesser price or sold at fairly-used form. 

The iPhone XR launched in 2018 and has over 77 million units sold and still counting. It is undoubtedly one of the most bought and used smartphones currently. You still get that iPhone-owner feeling when you even buy it today for a lower price than it was when it was still new in 2018.

8 Samsung Galaxy S3: 70 million sold.

Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone is the eighth of the 10 smartphones used of all time and the second android phone that has the most sales across the globe as regards to this list.

Until it gradually got older in the market while new versions were being released, it had over 70 million sales from 2012-2013. And android smartphone lovers still fancied it up until 2014. Samsung is known as the android rival of iPhones. 

9 Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: 65 million sold.

Generally speaking, Samsung smartphones are rivals to the iOS in all features. For android users, Samsung is king even if we are now seeing new dope releases such as Tecno, OnePlus, Oppo, and Infinix. 

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge was released alongside 2 other S7 counterparts S7 and S7 Active in 2016. As of 2016, the Android 7.0 Nougat was in vogue and the Samsung Galaxy S7 was the ideal android phone for anyone who loves quality. 

Beta critics kept good reviews of it till it waned in the market in 2018. It was one of the top phones in 2016 to operate on the 4G network, its 3G is extraordinary, and has all the features of a smartphone you would want to have at that time. In fact, it is still making big sales now in the 2020s for a cheap price. New ones are not in store anymore, you can only get used ones for a lesser price. 

10 Apple iPhone X: 64 millon Sold.

iPhone X also called iPhone 10 was the beginning of the iOS smartphone future for iOS users. It succeeded the iPhone 8 plus in November 2017 and was just a dollar less than a thousand dollars at the time of launch. 

iPhone X was succeeded by iPhone XR, iPhone 11, 12 and the latest 13. But it is still rushed to the market for a lesser price of fairly-used price. 

Since its inception, Apple iPhones have always figured out how to make the most sales in the market. Well, this doesn’t mean other smartphones are not making big sales, In fact, in some parts of the world like West Africa, iPhones and Samsung smartphones are not used by many people. They have budget-friendly smartphone brands like Tecno, itel, Infinix, and more recently, Oppo and Redmi.

Conclusion 

While there are lots of new, popular phone brands being built every year, you want to be careful of the phone you get to avoid getting a spoilt, stolen, or fake phone. 

To get your neatly-used second hand phone in India in 2022, you’ll want to shop with us at Mobitrade. Simply send us a message of the device you want and you can be on your way to owning it as soon as possible.