SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Motorola

Motorola StarTAC review: 1996 first true clamshell phone.

SpecEagle Editorial·Jan 1996·$1000
Overall
60/100
Class rank
#3 of 4
Tier
Vintage
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

Motorola StarTAC.

Motorola's 1996 StarTAC invented the true clamshell phone — sold 60 M+ units, defined flip era.

01Display

40/100

40/100 is one of the weaker display results among vintage phones of 1996 — 7 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

TypeMonochrome LCD
Lines4 lines text

02Voice

70/100

70/100 trails the 75-point cohort average for vintage phones of 1996.

03Camera

0/100

0/100 — right at the average for vintage phones of 1996.

MainNone

04Battery

60/100

60/100 is one of the weaker battery results among vintage phones of 1996 — 11 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

Capacity~6 h talk

05Software

50/100

50/100 is one of the weaker software results among vintage phones of 1996 — 12 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

What works
  • First true clamshell phone.
  • 88 g featherweight.
  • First vibrate alert.
  • Sold 60 M+ units.
What doesn't
  • $1,000 launch price.
  • Analog AMPS network.
  • 4-line LCD.
  • No camera/data.
Cross-shop it against
Nokia 9000 Communicator
$1500 · score 64/100

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 4-phone cohort of vintage devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .