No, Tex, you did not. Read what the quote you cited said: ". . . fully functional computer. . ." and grasp what that meant. Not a phone with a few pasted on applications with a barely functional interface. The browsing of the internet on those earlier "smartphones" was a crippled mobile experience, that only permitted the use of crippled mobile versions of webpages, the apps were only those supplied by the carrier, and even the users complained about the need to reboot their phones daily to get them to work consistently (If they were Windows phones) if you want to talk about reliability. They were usually quite limited in functionality. . . they were basically what is called today a feature phone.
As for ". . . easy to use," the Blackberry phones came with a 237 page manual that one had to wade through to merely learn how to use one's phone. Others were almost as obtuse in their interfaces. That is not "easy to use."
So, no, Tex, you did not have "all that, and actual reliability years before" the Apple iPhone.