These are the most important Android smartphones of the decade

The 2010s have been full of huge advancements in technology and smartphones have seen a lot of improvements over the decade. As the year closes out, it’s a good time to look back not at the most popular or even most impressive smartphones of the past 10 years, but the most important Android smartphones that have come out this decade. Nomad case for Pixel 3 Nexus One (2010) – The start of Google’s smartphone ambitions Going back as far as possible in the 2010s, there’s the January 2010-released Nexus One. This device was notable for one big reason, it was the first device in the Nexus brand. The Nexus program took devices from partners, in this case, HTC, and provided hardware that Android developers could use to fine-tune their apps with the latest Android versions. The Nexus One was launched on Android 2.1, Eclair, and later was first in line for updates to Froyo and Gingerbread – the latter of which was also its last update. The device had an 800×480 display, 1GHz Qualcomm Scorpion processor, and even a Blackberry-style trackball too. Android Police took a fun look back at the Nexus One last year, even having an editor use the phone full-time for a while. Samsung Galaxy S2 (2011) – One of the first popular Android phones In the early 2010s, Android was still gaining steam. Gingerbread wasn’t exactly the most attractive platform for new users and, at the time, it was mainly Motorola’s Verizon-exclusive DROID brand leading the charge. In mid-2011, the Galaxy S2 really helped Android hit the mainstream. Samsung’s second Android flagship was released worldwide with a 1.2GHz Exynos processor, 1GB of RAM, and a WVGA AMOLED display too. It could capture 1080p video from its 8MP camera too! The Galaxy S2 also spawned several variants for different US carriers including the Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket with LTE. Customers were clearly interested in what Samsung had to offer with the Galaxy S2 as, within just 55 days, the device managed to sell 3 million units. 10 months later, the device hit a whopping 20 million sales globally ahead of the Galaxy S3’s debut a few months later, a device that only built on that success. Samsung Galaxy Note (2011) – Big screens change smartphones forever Perhaps the biggest change Samsung has ever made to the smartphone market is in terms of size. In 2011, the Samsung Galaxy Note was launched with its display which was “just too big” for the time. Boy, how times have changed. The original Samsung Galaxy Note offered up a display that measured in at 5.3-inches. At the time, most smartphones had displays between 3 and 4.5-inches in size, so the Note was a considerable step up. When it first launched, that step up was met with criticism. WIRED called the screen “comically huge to the point of shame” and The Verge asked if it was “just a 5.3-inch gimmick.” In our own review, Seth Weintraub said he was fine with the
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