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SpecEagle review · Motorola

Motorola DynaTAC 8000X review: 1983 first commercial cell phone.

SpecEagle Editorial·Mar 1983·$3995
Overall
50/100
Class rank
#1 of 1
Tier
Vintage
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

DynaTAC 8000X.

Motorola's 1983 DynaTAC 8000X was the FIRST commercial handheld cellular phone — $3,995 brick that started it all.

01Display

30/100

30/100 — right at the average for vintage phones of 1983.

TypeLED segment
Lines1 line

02Voice

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for vintage phones of 1983.

03Camera

0/100

0/100 — right at the average for vintage phones of 1983.

MainNone

04Battery

30/100

30/100 — right at the average for vintage phones of 1983.

Capacity30 min talk / 8 h standby

05Software

30/100

30/100 — right at the average for vintage phones of 1983.

What works
  • First commercial handheld cellular.
  • Memory for 30 numbers.
  • Historical landmark.
  • Defined the cell phone era.
What doesn't
  • $3,995 launch price (1983).
  • 794 g = 1.75 lbs.
  • 30 min talk time only.
  • AMPS analog.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 1-phone cohort of vintage devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .