First affordable touchscreen smartphone in India, not Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Motorola

Touchscreen smartphones are everywhere nowadays and many from the younger generation are not even aware of the phones with trackpads and buttons. The Apple iPhone is the most popular smartphone across the globe and most of us have seen it as the pioneer for technological advancements in the smartphone industry. It is widely believed that the Apple iPhone was the first affordable touchscreen smartphone in the world and in India, however that is not the case. The first affordable touchscreen smartphone in India was the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and it was launched back in 2008 by the Finnish tech giant. The launch came almost 1.5 years after Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone to the world. 

Although Nokia 5800 was the first affordable touchscreen smartphone in India, it wasn’t the company’s first touchscreen device. Before the 5800, Nokia made a couple of touchscreen smartphones. To recall, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic had a  3.2-inch display with a resolution of 640x360 pixels, and has many features standard to the Nokia Nseries. It has features such as GPS, HSDPA and Wi-Fi support. As per the reports, Nokia was able to sell around 8 million units a year after release. The device was criticised for camera and software issues but was lauded for the stylus and low price.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic paved the way for other touchscreen smartphones in the country and can be considered as a stepping stone for Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones in India.