Motorola DynaTAC – The First Cell Phone

The First Cell Phone – Meet Motorola DynaTAC, the cell phone that is also the grandpa of your favorite cell phone!

Have you ever seen the giant cellphone in those 80s movies? The ones that appeared as though a walkie-talkie had been duct-taped to a briefcase? 

And no, my friend, that wasn’t simply a Hollywood props, that was the dawn of the handheld cell phone, the first, the legendary Motorola DynaTAC!

Well, even though it’s not a sleek and slim mobile phone that we all know, but as they all said, something has to start somewhere, right?

Let’s take a deeper look at Motorola DynaTAC, the first cell phone to have ever existed!

Motorola DynaTAC 8000x The First Cell Phone Ever

The DynaTAC wasn’t some overnight invention that popped out of nowhere, some brainy dudes at Motorola, the company behind this invention, have spent over decades studying and developing the DynaTAC.

Martin Cooper the brilliant man that also the architect of this device had an idea for a portable phone, the result? DynaTAC which stands for “Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage” (catchy, right? Let’s just stick with DynaTAC).

So how did this brick work you say? Well, to put it simply the DynaTAC relied on a clever system of cell towers that divided the coverage area into smaller sections.

As you made a call, the cell phone would connect to the nearest cell tower, and it’s handing off the signal as you moved from one cell to another.

It was a complex system, and the early days of cellular technology were plagued with dropped calls and spotty coverage. But hey, it was a start!

Hey, as you can see this cell phone uses a signal, to be exact, a radio signal, which in most countries it uses is strictly regulated, including in Indonesia!

So, if you’re interested in such a topic, go check this link and learn about SDPPI Sertification! 

Specification of DynaTAC 8000x

• Size and Weight:
  • Height: 25cm
  • Weight: 1.1kg

• Network and Technology:
  • Technology: AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System)
  • Frequency Range: 824.000-849.000 MHz

• Cell Towers: Relied on a network of cell towers for dividing coverage into smaller areas and handing off signals as you moved.

• Battery Life:
  • Talk Time: 30 Minutes
  • Standby Time: Several Hours
  • Charging Time: 10 Hours

• Other Specs:
  • Display: LCD Screen
  • Keypad: 12-key telephone keypad with additional function keys like recall, clear, send and volume
  • Antenna

Well, despite its unusual size and specifications (for today’s standard) and a whopping $3,995 which translate to a staggering $11,700 today, the DynaTAC 8000x became the luxury standard for the high rollers.

As the time goes by this first ever cell phone has transformed and developed into the cell phone that we all know today!