GSMArena.com GSMArena.com

Tip us

2.0m
150k
RSS

EV

Merch

Log in

Login

I forgot my password
Sign up
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Featured
  • Phone Finder
  • Deals
  • MerchNew
  • Coverage
  • Contact
ADVERTISEMENT

Counterclockwise: naming things  is hard,  so every new phone is called the "One"

  • Post your comment
  • Comments (48)

Peter 07 April 2019

Counterclockwise Featured

People made many jokes when Microsoft named its third-gen console the "Xbox One". It doesn't make much sense for the third product in the line, but it gets worse - "one" could be the most overused name for a tech product ever.

For example, Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service, so is Google One. But don't confuse it with Android One, that's something completely different. And, of course, there is a long list of Android phones named "One".

HTC One OnePlus One XOLO One Motorola One (P30 Play)
HTC One • OnePlus One • XOLO One • Motorola One

Sony Xperia 1 Realme 1 Nokia 1 Microsoft Kin One
Sony Xperia 1 • Realme 1 • Nokia 1 • Microsoft Kin One

We didn't even include phones like the LG G7 One or HTC One M9, the list could have been much longer. We're including names with a digit or written out, since it can be hard to remember which one it was (e.g. it's "OnePlus 2", not "OnePlus Two").

At least tech companies are consistent in their inconsistencies. As already established, "One" is never followed by "Two" (maybe by "2", but not always). Also, once you get past 9 all bets are off. Samsung kept things as they were while Apple went with roman numerals.

Apple iPhone X Nokia X OnePlus X Sendo X
Apple iPhone X • Nokia X • OnePlus X • Sendo X

Okay, it's not a huge surprise that single digits are reused as names - there's only 10 of them and some are avoided for specific reasons (e.g. 0 and 4). A common name template is letter+digit(s) and for some reason "Z3" is quite popular.

Samsung Z3 BlackBerry Z3 Sharp Z3 Motorola Moto Z3
Samsung Z3 • BlackBerry Z3 • Sharp Z3 • Motorola Moto Z3

vivo Z3 vivo Z3i Motorola RIZR Z3 Acer Liquid Z3
vivo Z3 • vivo Z3i • Motorola RIZR Z3 • Acer Liquid Z3

V10 comes up fairly often as well, plus other letter+digit(s) combos. It gets overwhelming, so we've put a long list of examples at the bottom.

LG V10 Honor View 10 ZTE Blade V10
LG V10 • Honor V10 (aka Honor View 10) • ZTE Blade V10

You'd think that a word would be a safe pick - after all, dictionaries are thick tomes with so many words to choose from. But you want a strong, positive word for your device, like "Hero" for example.

alcatel Hero HTC Hero Plum Hero BLU Hero
alcatel Hero • HTC Hero • Plum Hero • BLU Hero

Or how about "Magic". Everyone loves the Arthur C. Clarke quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

HTC Magic Honor Magic BLU Magic
HTC Magic • Honor Magic • BLU Magic

Phones need to be fast, right? Like a "Flash" of light:

alcatel Flash ZTE Flash Dell Flash BLU Flash
alcatel Flash • ZTE Flash • Dell Flash • BLU Flash

Or maybe they are premium products, a digital "Diamond":

HTC Touch Diamond Archos 50 Diamond Archos Diamond Vertu Diamond
HTC Touch Diamond • Archos 50 Diamond • Archos Diamond • Vertu Diamond

A successful phone is a hot-seller, one could say these phones are on "Fire":

Amazon Fire Phone Motorola Fire alcatel Fire E
Amazon Fire Phone • Motorola Fire • alcatel Fire E

Just don't get us started on the Wildfire, Quickfire, Fireweb, etc., only some of which are based on Firefox OS.

Before we finish up, we should make it clear that some of these names are anything but a coincidence - it's a way to game search engines and people's memories. With a similar name, phones from low-visibility makers will show up alongside their popular namesakes.

And a confused non-techie might not be able to tell the difference until it's too late (it doesn't help that phones these days look so much alike.

As promised, here's a long list of namesakes, just for fun.

Realme 2 Nokia 2 OnePlus 2 Honor 2
Realme 2 • Nokia 2 • OnePlus 2 • Honor 2

Nokia 3 alcatel 3 Realme 3
Nokia 3 • alcatel 3 • Realme 3

Honor 3 OnePlus 3 alcatel 3 (2019)
Honor 3 • OnePlus 3 • alcatel 3 (2019)

Gionee A1 Celkon A1 QMobile A1 Oppo A1
Gionee A1 • Celkon A1 • QMobile A1 • Oppo A1

Samsung A100 Amoi A100 Micromax A100 LG A100
Samsung A100 • Amoi A100 • Micromax A100 • LG A100

Panasonic G600 Pantech G600 Samsung G600
Panasonic G600 • Pantech G600 • Samsung G600

Sony Ericsson M600 Philips M600 Samsung M600 Eten M600
Sony Ericsson M600 • Philips M600 • Samsung M600 • Eten M600

"There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things"
- Phil Karlton

Related articles
  • Counterclockwise: water resistant phones Counterclockwise: water resistant phones
  • Counterclockwise: the rise of OLED smartphones and why it happened Counterclockwise: the rise of OLED smartphones and why it happened
  • Counterclockwise: periscope cameras are old news, optical zoom dates back to 2004 Counterclockwise: periscope cameras are old news, optical zoom dates back to 2004
  • Counterclockwise: remembering the classic mobile games Counterclockwise: remembering the classic mobile games

Reader comments

D
  • AnonD-1046991
  • G}T
  • 15 Jun 2022

According to my satirical humor, somewhat phone models named after Peanuts, for example. Nokia E63 Snoopy and Nokia E71 Snoopy Silver.

  • Reply
D
  • AnonD-1046991
  • G}T
  • 14 Jun 2022

It's look like a math here

  • Reply
J
  • Josh Stickz
  • CGH
  • 29 Jul 2021

Xperia for instance makes these things worst with it naming system. :/ Xperia 1, Xperia 1ii, Xperia 1iii.... Very confusing :(

  • Reply
  • Read all comments
  • Post your comment
Total reader comments: 48

ADVERTISEMENT

Phone finder

  • Samsung
  • Apple
  • Huawei
  • Nokia
  • Sony
  • LG
  • HTC
  • Motorola
  • Lenovo
  • Xiaomi
  • Google
  • Honor
  • Oppo
  • Realme
  • OnePlus
  • Nothing
  • vivo
  • Meizu
  • Asus
  • Alcatel
  • ZTE
  • Microsoft
  • Umidigi
  • Coolpad
  • Oscal
  • Sharp
  • Micromax
  • Infinix
  • Ulefone
  • Tecno
  • Doogee
  • Blackview
  • Cubot
  • Oukitel
  • Itel
  • TCL

All brands Rumor mill

ADVERTISEMENT

Top 10 by daily interest

  Device Daily hits  
1.Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max52,001
2.Xiaomi Poco F7 5G40,199
3.Samsung Galaxy A5626,299
4. Trump Mobile T1 Phone24,915
5.Xiaomi Redmi K80 Ultra 5G21,051
6.Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra20,526
7.Xiaomi Redmi Turbo 4 Pro18,503
8.Huawei Pura 80 Ultra 5G18,483
9.Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max16,680
10.OnePlus 13S 5G16,625

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Tesla pauses Model Y and Cybertruck production at its Austin Gigafactory Tesla pauses Model Y and Cybertruck production at its Austin Gigafactory The 2026 Nissan Leaf is a tale of two EVs in one bodyThe 2026 Chevy Silverado EV is even better now
ADVERTISEMENT

Home News Reviews Compare Coverage Glossary FAQ RSS Youtube Instagram TikTok Facebook Twitter

© 2000-2025 GSMArena.com Mobile version Android app Tools Contact us Merch store Privacy Terms of use Change Ad Consent Do not sell my data