Nokia 1000 and 2000 Series: Complete Guide — The 1100, Best-Selling Phone in History, the 2110 and the Origin of the Nokia Tune, the 2600 and All Basic Models 2026
Share
Behind the luxury phones, the Communicators and the fashion designs lies a part of Nokia history often overlooked but incredibly significant: the basic models of the 1000 and 2000 Series. Here we find the Nokia 1100 — not just Nokia's best-selling phone, but the best-selling consumer electronics device of all time, with over 250 million units. Here we find the Nokia 2110 from 1994 — the phone that first introduced the Nokia Tune, the most recognised ringtone in the world. And here we find the Nokia 1011 from 1992, the world's first commercial GSM phone. This is the most complete guide ever written in English on these two foundational series — the base on which Nokia built its global empire.
1. History of the 1000 and 2000 Series
Not Luxury, Not Design — Pure Global Reach
While the 7000/8000/9000 Series tell stories of niche design and innovation, the 1000 and 2000 Series tell a different and in some ways more important story: how Nokia conquered billions of people worldwide with simple, robust, affordable and reliable phones.
The Numbers That Change the Perspective
| Model | Year | Units sold | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nokia 1011 | 1992 | — | World's first commercial GSM phone |
| Nokia 2110 | 1994 | — | First Nokia with the Nokia Tune |
| Nokia 1100 | 2003 | 250+ million | Best-selling phone in history |
| Nokia 1110 | 2005 | 250+ million | Tied with the 1100 |
| Nokia 2600 | 2004 | 135 million | First colour+polyphonic in entry-level |
| Nokia 1208/1200 | 2007/08 | 100-150 million | Successors to 1100/1110 |
| Nokia 1600 | 2005 | 130 million | Direct heir to the 1100 philosophy |
Perspective: the Nokia 1100 (250M) outsold Sony's PlayStation 2 (138M), Apple's iPod (220M) and the Motorola RAZR (120M) — becoming the best-selling consumer electronics device in human history up to that point.
2. Nokia 1011 — The World's First Commercial GSM Phone (1992)
Available: 10 November 1992 | Meaning of the name: "1011" refers to the launch date (10/11)
Before talking about the 1000 and 2000 Series as we know them, we must start from the absolute origin: the Nokia 1011 was the first commercially available GSM phone in history — the device that opened the GSM era to the public.
Historical Context
- 1 July 1991: the world's first call on the GSM G2 network was made in Helsinki by Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri, using a Nokia GSM prototype
- 10 November 1992: the Nokia 1011 becomes commercially available — the model number literally celebrates this date
For collectors: a working Nokia 1011 in good condition is one of the rarest and most historically significant pieces in the entire Nokia collecting world — literally "GSM phone zero" in history.
3. Nokia 2110 — The Origin of the Nokia Tune (1994)
Available: January 1994 | Predecessor: Nokia 1011 | Significance: first Nokia with the Nokia Tune
The Nokia 2110 is one of the company's culturally most important phones — the first device to include the Nokia Tune, the ringtone that would become one of the most recognised sounds in the world, heard literally billions of times over the following decades.
Regional Variants of the 2110
| Variant | Market/Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2110 | GSM 900 | Base version |
| 2110i | — | Updated variant |
| 2110 (Orange UK) | 1800 MHz | Slightly less bulbous design, for Orange (now EE) |
| 2190 | GSM 1900 (USA) | For Pacific Bell Mobile Services and Powertel |
| 2120 | D-AMPS | Variant for the US Digital AMPS standard |
| C6 | Analogue C-Netz | 1997 variant for Germany's analogue C-Netz |
The 2110 in Non-Phone Devices
A curious detail: the HP OmniGo 700LX, a palmtop PC with a built-in Nokia 2110 — one of the earliest examples of "convergence" between phone and portable computer, years before smartphones.
The Evolution of the Nokia Tune — A Complete Musical Story
| Period/Model | Nokia Tune version |
|---|---|
| Nokia 2110 (1994) | E major, sawtooth oscillators |
| Nokia 3110 (1997) | Change to A major — becomes the most famous version, used on the 3310 and 1100 |
| Nokia 3210 (1999) | A major, one octave higher |
| Nokia 7110 (1999) | C major |
| Nokia 6210 (2000) | G major |
| Nokia 9000/9210 Communicator | A major, higher octave, sine wave oscillators |
| Nokia 1100 (2003) | Last phone with the classic monophonic version (NRT/RNG format) |
| Nokia 9500 Communicator | First "modern" version — MIDI/AAC/MP3 |
| Nokia 2600, 1200, 1650 | MIDI version of the "new era" — most recognised today |
| Nokia 2630, 6280 | Live-recorded MP3 version — more natural sound |
| Nokia 8800 | Exclusive, more "mellow" version — not on any other model |
| Nokia N78 | Acoustic guitar version — reflecting the nu-folk trend of the era |
The Nokia 1100 = the last of the old guard: the Nokia 1100 (2003) was the last Nokia to use the original monophonic version of the Nokia Tune in NRT/RNG format — a detail directly connecting it to the 2110 from 1994, closing a circle of almost a decade.
👉 View Nokia 2110 available at Infosate
4. Nokia 1100 — The Best-Selling Consumer Electronics Device in History (2003)
Available: 27 August 2003 | Discontinued: September 2009 | Launch price: $35-55 | Sales: over 250 million units | Manufactured in: various plants including Bochum (Germany)
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Series 30 (simplified version) |
| Display | Monochrome, basic |
| Camera | No |
| IrDA | No (removed compared to the 3310 to cut costs) |
| FM radio | No |
| Built-in flashlight | Yes — activated by pressing the "C" key |
| Durability | IP54 — dust resistant (not waterproof) |
| Organiser functions | Calculator, stopwatch, timer, alarm, reminders |
| Ringtones | Composer with 7 slots, monophonic (no polyphonic) |
| Smart Messaging | Yes — sending ringtones/images via SMS |
| Predictive text (T9) | English, Spanish, French, German, Finnish (no Arabic/Hindi/Chinese) |
| Interface | Simplified Series 30, single softkey (Navi-key) like the 3310 |
| Battery | BL-5C |
The Built-In Flashlight — The "Killer Feature" for Emerging Markets
The Nokia 1100 was explicitly designed for emerging markets — India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan — where reliability, battery life and durability mattered more than any multimedia feature. The built-in flashlight (activated by holding "C", or lockable with a double-click when the keypad was locked) was often the most-used feature in areas with limited electricity access.
The Billionth Nokia Phone — Sold in Nigeria
An extraordinary fact: the billionth Nokia phone ever sold (of any model, in the company's entire history up to that point) was a Nokia 1100, purchased in Nigeria. A perfect symbol of Nokia's strategy in emerging markets.
The $32,000 Nokia 1100 Scandal
One of the strangest stories in mobile phone history involves the Nokia 1100. In early 2009, news emerged of a firmware flaw in a specific batch of Nokia 1100 phones manufactured at the Bochum, Germany plant.
The flaw: certain units from that specific batch could be reprogrammed to receive messages and calls intended for a different phone number — potentially allowing interception of mTAN banking authentication codes sent via SMS for online transactions.
The absurd price: according to news of the time, some units from this specific batch were sold for over $32,000 on the black market — an insane price for a phone that launched at $35-55, justified by the bank fraud potential.
Note for collectors: this story, while reported by sources like Ultrascan, has a single primary source and deserves historical caution — but remains one of the most cited anecdotes about the Nokia 1100, and an example of how even "the simplest phone of all" could have unexpected security implications.
What the Nokia 1100 Doesn't Have — And Why It Matters
- ❌ No camera, voice recorder or FM radio (only on successors 1110/1200)
- ❌ Not waterproof — only dust resistant (IP54)
- ❌ No "5G" or "4G" version exists — any "Nokia 1100 2025" listing is misleading marketing
- ❌ Predictive text limited to 5 European languages — no Arabic, Hindi, Chinese
- ✅ Exceptional mechanical robustness, very long battery life, total simplicity
How to Check a Used Nokia 1100
- Insert a genuine BL-5C battery (not a generic clone)
- Power on — if the screen flickers or fails to initialise within 5 seconds, the battery is dead beyond recovery
- Test the flashlight — press and hold the "C" key
- Check
*#06#for IMEI
👉 View Nokia 1100 available at Infosate
5. Nokia 1110 — Tied With the 1100 (2005)
Available: 2005 | Sales: over 250 million units — tied with the 1100 as best-selling phone in history
The Nokia 1110 was the direct successor to the 1100 and reached the same milestone of 250+ million units sold — according to Wikipedia, the Nokia 1100 and 1110 are co-record-holders for best-selling phone of all time, both over 250 million.
1100 vs 1110: the 1110 maintained the 1100's philosophy (robustness, simplicity, battery life) with small incremental improvements — proof the 1100's formula wasn't a one-off but a repeatable strategy.
6. Nokia 1200 and 1208 — The Colour Evolution (2007-2008)
Nokia 1208 — announced: May 2007 | Available: January 2008 | Sales 1208: 100 million | Sales 1200: 150 million
The Nokia 1208 and Nokia 1200 were nearly identical — the main difference was the display.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Display | CSTN, 65,000 colours, 96×68 px, 29×23 mm |
| Difference from 1200 | The 1200 had a monochrome LCD, the 1208 a colour display |
| Covers | Interchangeable |
| Sales | 100 million (1208) + 150 million (1200) = 250 million combined |
1200/1208 together = another 250 million: combining 1200 and 1208 sales, Nokia reached another 250-million-unit milestone — confirming that the "reliable, affordable basic phone" formula kept working even 4-5 years after the original 1100's launch.
7. Nokia 1600 — Heir to the 1100 Philosophy (2005)
First released: May 2005 | Available: June 2005 | Discontinued: Q1 2009 | Sales: 130 million | Successors: Nokia 1208, Nokia 1650
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Networks | GSM-900/1800 or GSM-850/1900 |
| Form factor | Candybar |
| Weight | 85 g |
| Operating system | Series 30 (2005-2013) |
| Platform/SoC | DCT4, UPP2M (ARM7TDMI) |
| Memory | 4 MB, 200 phonebook entries |
| Battery | BL-5C 970 mAh — standby 450h, talk time 5h |
| Display | 96×68 px CSTN, 65,536 colours |
| Ringtones | 20-voice polyphonic, composer, speaking alarm |
| Connectivity | Picture messaging |
| Input | 4-way scroll key, alphanumeric keypad, T9 |
| SIM | Mini-SIM |
1600 — bridge between 1100 and 1208: introduced polyphonic ringtones (absent on the monophonic 1100) and colour CSTN display, bridging the 1100 generation to the 1208/1200 generation.
👉 View Nokia 1600 available at Infosate
8. Nokia 2100 — The 3310's Sibling with a Hidden "Photo Holder" (2003)
Announced: 4 November 2002 | Available: Q1 2003 | Rebranded: Nokia 3610 (in some markets) | Successor: Nokia 3510
The Nokia 2100 shares the button layout, firmware and compact dimensions of the Nokia 8310 — positioning it as an affordable, accessible option for new GSM users, especially in emerging markets.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Display | Black and white, low resolution |
| Pre-installed games | Space Impact, Snake II, Link5 |
| Graphics editor | Yes — for MMS images |
| Hidden photo slot | Yes — on the back cover |
The Almost Unknown Detail: The Photo Slot
On the back of the Nokia 2100 there was a hidden slot under the back cover where you could insert a small photograph or thin object — visible through a small window in the plastic cover. Essentially a "photo holder" built into the phone itself, decades before smartphones allowed personalised wallpapers. A physical customisation detail unthinkable today.
Space Impact — Better Graphics (But Slower)
A technical curiosity: the version of Space Impact on the Nokia 2100 had better graphics than the version on the Nokia 3310 — but with a noticeably slower frame rate, making the game visually more detailed but less fluid.
👉 View Nokia 2100 available at Infosate
9. Nokia 2600 — First Colour and Polyphonic Entry-Level Phone (2004)
Announced: April 2004 (Asia), 14 June 2004 (Nokia Connection Conference, Singapore/Helsinki) | Predecessor: Nokia 2300 | Successor: Nokia 1650 | Sales: 135 million
The Nokia 2600 (along with the flip Nokia 2650 announced alongside it) brought colour displays and polyphonic ringtones to the Nokia entry-level for the first time — democratising features previously reserved for mid-range models.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Series 30 |
| Dimensions | 108×46×20 mm, 80 cc |
| Display | 128×128 px, colour |
| Camera | No |
| Expandable storage | No |
| Battery | Nokia BL-5C Li-Ion 850 mAh |
| Pre-installed games | Bounce, Mobile Soccer, Nature Park (some models: Millennium Mission instead of Nature Park) |
| Spreadsheet function | Yes — surprising given the low-resolution display |
2600 = "easy to use": Nokia positioned the 2600 explicitly as an "easy to use" phone — offering a huge visual (colour) and audio (polyphony) leap over the monochrome 1100/1110, while keeping price and simplicity identical.
👉 View Nokia 2600 available at Infosate
10. Nokia 2610, 2630, 2690 — The Series 40 Evolution of the 2000 Range (2006-2010)
Nokia 2610 (March 2006)
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Nokia OS (Series 40 interface) |
| Networks | GSM 900/1800 (EU) or GSM 850/1900 (North America) |
| Display | 1.5" CSTN, 128×128 px, 65,536 colours |
| Memory | 3 MB |
| Connectivity | GPRS |
Nokia 2630 (3 May/July 2007)
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Thickness | under 1 cm — thinnest Nokia of its era |
| Weight | 66 g |
| Display | 1.8" TFT, 128×160 px, 65,536 colours |
| Camera | 0.3 MP (640×480), 4x digital zoom, 128×96 video |
| Ringtones | 24-voice polyphonic + Real Tone (MP3) |
| FM radio | Yes |
| Memory | 11 MB, no card slot |
| Manufactured in | Romania and China (EU/Asia), Mexico (USA) |
2630 — Nokia Tune in MP3: as noted in the Nokia Tune evolution table, the 2630 was one of the first models with the live-recorded MP3 version of the iconic ringtone — an important audio quality jump for the entry-level segment.
Nokia 2690 (November 2009 / March 2010)
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Series | Nokia 2000 series |
| Operating system | Series 40 5th Edition Feature Pack 1 |
| Dimensions | 107.5×45.5×13.8 mm |
| Memory | 25 MB |
| Camera | VGA 0.3 MP |
| Display | 1.8", 262,144 colours, 128×160 TFT |
| Battery | BL-4C, 860 mAh |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, USB |
2690 — the last of the pre-touch line: released late 2009/early 2010, the Nokia 2690 represents one of the last "purely basic" models before even Nokia's entry-level segment began integrating more smartphone-oriented features in subsequent years.
👉 View Nokia 2600/2610/2630/2690 available at Infosate
11. Nokia 1000/2000 Series Secret Codes
Series 30 Models (1100, 1110, 1200, 1208, 1600, 2100, 2600)
| Code | Function |
|---|---|
*#06# |
IMEI |
*#0000# |
Software version |
*#92702689# |
Warranty Data — serial, production date (where supported) |
*#7780# |
Reset settings |
*3370# / #3370# |
EFR on/off (where supported) |
Series 40 Models (2610, 2630, 2660, 2690)
| Code | Function |
|---|---|
*#06# |
IMEI |
*#0000# |
Firmware version |
*#92702689# |
Warranty Data |
*#7780# |
Reset to factory settings |
*#67705646# |
Remove operator logo |
*#2820# |
Bluetooth MAC (2690, where supported) |
Important note: Series 30 models (1100, 1110, 1208, 1600, 2100, 2600) have a much more limited code set than Symbian or advanced Series 40 models — many "advanced" codes (WiFi MAC, hard reset via physical keys) do not exist on these models, given their extremely simplified hardware.
12. Complete 1000/2000 Series Comparison
| Model | Year | OS | Display | Camera | Sales | Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1011 | 1992 | — | — | No | — | World's first commercial GSM |
| 2110 | 1994 | — | Mono | No | — | First Nokia Tune |
| 2100 | 2003 | Series 30 | Mono | No | — | Hidden photo slot on back |
| 1100 | 2003 | Series 30 | Mono | No | 250M+ | Best-selling phone in history |
| 2600 | 2004 | Series 30 | 128×128 colour | No | 135M | First colour+polyphonic entry |
| 1110 | 2005 | Series 30 | Mono | No | 250M+ | Tied with 1100 |
| 1600 | 2005 | Series 30 | 96×68 colour | No | 130M | 20-voice polyphonic |
| 2610 | 2006 | Series 40 | 128×128 colour | No | — | GPRS |
| 1208 | 2008 | Series 30 | 96×68 colour | No | 100M | Interchangeable covers |
| 1200 | 2007 | Series 30 | Mono | No | 150M | Mono variant of 1208 |
| 2630 | 2007 | Series 40 | 128×160 colour | 0.3 MP | — | <1cm, FM radio, MP3 Nokia Tune |
| 2690 | 2009/10 | Series 40 5th FP1 | 128×160, 262K col | VGA | — | Bluetooth, microSD 8GB |
13. Nokia 1000/2000 Series Collector Value 2026
| Model | Good condition | Mint with box |
|---|---|---|
| Nokia 1011 | €150-400+ | €500-1000+ |
| Nokia 2110/2110i | €40-90 | €100-200 |
| Nokia 2100 | €15-30 | €40-70 |
| Nokia 1100 | €10-25 | €30-60 |
| Nokia 2600 | €10-20 | €25-50 |
| Nokia 1110 | €10-20 | €25-50 |
| Nokia 1600 | €10-25 | €30-55 |
| Nokia 1208/1200 | €8-18 | €20-45 |
| Nokia 2610/2630/2690 | €10-25 | €30-55 |
Most valuable models:
- Nokia 1011 — "GSM phone zero", practically unfindable in good condition, absolute museum piece
- Nokia 2110/2110i — origin of the Nokia Tune, enormous cultural importance, increasingly sought after
- Nokia 1100 — despite huge sales, mint examples with original box are surprisingly rare (it was a "used" phone, not preserved)
- Nokia 2100 — for the photo slot detail, a curious and little-known design piece
14. Why the 1000/2000 Series Matter to Collectors
Unlike "trophy" models like the 8800 or 7600, phones from the 1000/2000 Series tell the story of mobile telephony's global spread — not luxury, but access. The Nokia 1100 in particular represents a historic turning point: for hundreds of millions of people in Africa, Asia and Latin America, it was the first phone they ever owned.
For a collector or technology historian, completing a collection with a Nokia 1011 (the origin), a 2110 (the origin of the world's most famous sound) and a 1100 (the peak of global reach) means owning the three pillars of mass GSM history — not just Nokia products, but artefacts of global telecommunications history.
Original Nokia 1000 and 2000 Series at Infosate
At Infosate you'll find a selection of original Nokia 1000 and 2000 Series phones — 1100, 1110, 2110, 2100, 2600, 1600 and other historic models from Nokia's mass-market telephony, all verified before shipping.