History's Best Selling Tech of 2011

Hats off to 2011! Few tech commanded as much fanfare and nationwide excitement as Motorola Droid Bionic. Alongside sensationally popular hits like HTC ThunderBolt and Samsung Galaxy S II, consumers eagerly embraced the Y2K fever and early digital revolution. Pioneering outfits from industry leaders like Motorola and HTC set the standard for quality, producing celebrated items that dominated airwaves and playground buzz alike. Browse our definitive retrospective below to rediscover the genuine articles of the era.

1. Motorola Droid Bionic

   Released in 2011 by Motorola

   On January 5, 2011, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha took the stage and unveiled a device intended to redefine smartphone performance: the Droid Bionic. This announcement was a pivotal moment in the early 4G era. At a time when single-core processors were standard, the Bionic's reveal as one of the first dual-core, 4G LTE-capable smartphones created immense buzz. It was presented as a superphone, a device that didn't just connect to the internet but did so at broadband speeds, backed by processing power that rivaled laptops from a few years prior. For the tech world gathered in Las Vegas, the Droid Bionic represented the bleeding edge of mobile technology and Motorola's aggressive push to lead the premium Android market.

2. HTC ThunderBolt

   Released in 2011 by HTC

   On January 6, 2011, the tech world's attention was fixed on Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Amidst a flurry of product announcements, Verizon Wireless and HTC took the stage to reveal a groundbreaking device: the HTC ThunderBolt. This wasn't just another smartphone; it was Verizon's very first 4G LTE phone, a device destined to be the flagship for a new era of mobile connectivity in the United States. Its unveiling was a pivotal moment, signaling the practical arrival of true fourth-generation network speeds for consumers and setting a new benchmark for what a mobile device could do with a high-speed data connection, promising a future of seamless video streaming and rapid downloads.

3. Samsung Galaxy S II

   Released in 2011 by Samsung

   On February 13, 2011, the mobile world turned its attention to Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress. It was here that Samsung officially unveiled its next-generation flagship, the Galaxy S II. In a market dominated by the Apple iPhone 4, Samsung's announcement was a bold statement of intent. The Galaxy S II was not just an iterative update; it was positioned as a true 'iPhone killer,' designed to outperform its rival in every key area, from screen technology and processing power to camera quality and physical design. This date marked a pivotal moment in the escalating smartphone wars, solidifying the Android-iOS rivalry that would define the decade.

4. Samsung Galaxy Note

   Released in 2011 by Samsung

   On September 1, 2011, at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Samsung unveiled a device that defied categorization. The Samsung Galaxy Note was introduced to a skeptical world, a gargantuan phone with a 5.3-inch screen that seemed impossibly large at a time when the popular iPhone 4S had a mere 3.5-inch display. Critics were quick to dismiss it, questioning who would ever want a phone that required two hands to use comfortably. However, this date marked the birth of a new product category Samsung dubbed the 'phablet,' a hybrid device that blended the portability of a smartphone with the expansive screen real estate and creative potential of a tablet, fundamentally changing the trajectory of the mobile industry.