Many of us have a few old phones tucked away in drawers, or perhaps even a special device kept in its box from a past upgrade. But no one can hold a candle to the man who now holds the Guinness World Record for the largest mobile phone collection: Wences Palau Fernandez of Barcelona, Spain. Fernandez boasts an incredible 3,615 mobile phones in his collection.
His journey into phone collecting began with a Christmas gift in 1999—a trusty Nokia 3210. Fernandez’s passion for collecting Nokia phones ignited in 2008, driven by a desire to acquire models he couldn’t afford in his youth. His initial collection, housed in display cabinets, soon outgrew its space, reaching a staggering 700 Nokia phones within a decade. Today, his collection has grown even further, dwarfing any other collection in the world.
What makes Fernandez’s collection truly unique is its accessibility. He has dedicated a website showcasing photos and videos of his Nokia phones, providing a fascinating journey through the history of this beloved brand. Notably, his collection features nostalgic models like the Asha series, which included some of Nokia’s first touchscreen phones; the Communicator series, the folding smartphone of its time; and various analogue Nokia phones, including the unusual Nokia 5130 Star Wars model released for ‘Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace’.
While Nokia phones form the core of his collection, Fernandez’s passion extends beyond this iconic brand. His collection also includes phones from a wide array of manufacturers, encompassing recognizable names like Apple, Samsung, LG, and Sony, alongside less common brands like luxury phone maker Vertu and Yezz, which once aspired to create modular phones. He even has old favorites from BlackBerry and Palm.
Fernandez’s monumental collection dethroned Andrei Bilbie Argentis from Romania, who previously held the Guinness World Record with a collection of 3,456 mobile phones. Fernandez remains actively collecting and expanding his collection, which he now envisions as a museum. Given his dedication, it seems that only another, even larger public collection could potentially dethrone his reign as the world’s foremost mobile phone collector.
