The Nokia 3310 returns at Mobile World Congress

[Shawn Knight]

It’s another win for serial leaker Evan Blass who earlier this month revealed that a rebooted version of the classic Nokia 3310 handset would break cover at Mobile World Congress 2017.

That device, as well as a collection of other new Nokia-branded handsets, was just revealed by Nokia and HMD Global during a press conference at the mobile industry’s top trade show in Barcelona.

The Nokia 3310, originally launched in 2000, was an industry game-changer. Although not marketed as a “durable” device, the handset proved incredibly rugged and offered excellent battery life, support for extended-length SMS text messaging and the immensely popular game Snake II.

More than 125 million units were sold worldwide, a colossal figure for that era.

The refreshed 3310 has a lot in common with the original with upgrades where it counts. The overall design has been modernized a bit (there’s now a color screen and a 2-megapixel rear camera, for example). You also get a micro-USB charging port, microSD storage, Bluetooth, 16GB of storage and a headphone jack.

That said, it’s still an ancient phone in the fact that it doesn’t include GPS, Wi-Fi or an app store. While battery life is still great at 31 days of standby time and 22 hours of talk time per charge, the fact that it doesn’t run Android will no doubt keep a lot of prospective nostalgia-influenced buyers at bay.

The Nokia 3310 is scheduled to go on sale in the second quarter priced at 49 euros (around $52). It’s not going to displace your Galaxy or iPhone but if you’re looking for a basic backup or a cheap burner phone, it may be worth a look.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/68299-nokia-3310-returns-mobile-world-congress.html

 

[bazz2004]

A dinky and new fangled device like the Nokia 3310 will never catch on. We are still using a Nokia 5110 from 1998.

 

[mcborge]

They've turned it from a reliable spare phone into a first phone for kids.

 

[captainload]

Opportunity missed, just like Blackberry with the overpriced Key One or whatever the hell their calling the Mercury now. What kind of *****s are running these companies?

 

[dcnc123]

I will get one! hahaha

 

[Jeff Schmidt]

If it works on the carriers here it would be a good phone for older people or people that don't want/need a smartphone. Especially with the price. Since selling service with no data should be very profitable for the carriers here.

Or if we have the option to buy one at $50. I would get one just so I can take a phone with me to places I normally do not want to risk having my smartphone damaged.

 

[bazz2004]

I think it's a good move. It's always useful to have a phone handy but it's very much a generation thing with smartphones. I use public transport quite often and I'm baffled by the number of young people who obviously have no money but sport a smartphone that they are glued to. They get off the bus and light up a cigarette which also costs them mega money. When out walking, which people with smart phones probably do little of, or driving in case of breakdown the 3310 has a role to play. I hear it even has a game onboard. If I had a teenager who was out for the evening I'd feel far happier if they had a dependable no frills phone for emergency use rather than a magnet for muggers.

 

[petert]

Nokia == stupidity all around. I remember in around 2010 I had bought the Nokia 5230 and was looking to install a file manager and a pdf reader. Managed to buy the pdf reader but their system declined repeatedly my attempts to buy the file manager. So I wrote them an email only to be contacted by phone next day. They were like - try with Mastercard, we had issues with Visa. And I replied - but I am using Mastercard. Their reply was brilliant - well, try again next week.

I was around when nokia 3310 was cool. I used to own a siemens a50 and motorola c115 back then, they were much smaller and they did the job nicely. And today I can buy a 50£ rugged phone from banggood with 3G, android, crazy battery life and doubles as a power bank too. Why should I buy nokia's crap?

 

[bazz2004]

There will be a decent market for it. The older generation like myself may use the internet but are not yet totally onboard with smartphones. I can see parents wanting a 3310 for teenagers to carry when off the leash. No more excuses about the battery dying would be acceptable. The basic phone could be included as part of a package with a smartphone. This could turn out to be a very clever move by Nokia given the right publicity.

 

[Kibaruk]

If it has whatsapp, I would keep one handy as a feature phone for emergency situations, specially with the micro usb charging, a battery pack and it can last a long long time.

 

[Jon William]

I would buy one for my parents. Really awesome!

 

[Makson]

If it works on the carriers here it would be a good phone for older people or people that don't want/need a smartphone. Especially with the price. Since selling service with no data should be very profitable for the carriers here.

Or if we have the option to buy one at $50. I would get one just so I can take a phone with me to places I normally do not want to risk having my smartphone damaged.

Good one, my wife did that with a AUD$20 Telstra Cruise T126, a slim, light 'phone and the Samsung 4 is buried in a drawer.
All computer operations are done at home on a lao-top with a sensible-sized screen.

 

[Jeff Schmidt]

Good one, my wife did that with a AUD$20 Telstra Cruise T126, a slim, light 'phone and the Samsung 4 is buried in a drawer.
All computer operations are done at home on a lao-top with a sensible-sized screen.

But I doubt many of the carriers are smart enough to either:
A: sell it here
or
B: Offer it at a good price.

 

[Kibaruk]

But I doubt many of the carriers are smart enough to either:
A: sell it here
or
B: Offer it at a good price.

Get any chinesse phone from amazon, like the Blu feature phones are about $20.

 

[Jeff Schmidt]

Get any chinesse phone from amazon, like the Blu feature phones are about $20.

Those don't work on Verizon. Though

 

[Kibaruk]

Those don't work on Verizon. Though

The other one works on the same GSM bands so... wouldn't work either, get the next one that's around $50 that works on LTE.