红极一时

hóng jí yī shí

all the rage for a while

Character by character

红hóng
red

极jí
utmost

一yī
one

时shí
time

BP机在九十年代红极一时，后来很快就被手机取代了。

Pagers were all the rage in the nineties, but phones soon replaced them.

Tone: neutral.

红 here means popular. The phrase hints that the fame later faded. Close: 风靡一时; 盛极一时 is more about power and prosperity.

Learn this in Lesson 84 · HSK 6–7: 九十年代 (The 1990s)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.