The Legend Is Back! Nokia 3310! All You Need To Know.

Nokia has sold 126 million of its original 3310 phone since it was first introduced back in September, 2000.

It was a time before the iPhone, and Nokia ruled with popular handsets that let you play simple games like Snake.

Nokia's new 3310 (left) vs the 17 year old original 3310

Now the 3310 is making a nostalgic return in the form of a more modern variant, thanks to Nokia-branded phone maker HMD.

Like its predecessor, it will still be called the Nokia 3310, but this time it’s running Nokia’s Series 30+ software, with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a 2-megapixel camera, and even a microSD slot.

Those specs are still fairly basic by our modern phone standards, but that’s the beauty of such a basic featurephone. Unlike the brick-like sturdiness of the old 3310, the modern variant is a little smaller, thinner, and lighter all round.

It’s also a lot more colorful this time around, with glossy yellow and red colors, and matte grey and dark blue models. It’s instantly recognizable as a Nokia, and HMD has even included a modern Snake game on the handset just to play on the nostalgia.

Opera Mini is bundled for basic web surfing, but the real selling point is battery life. Just like most featurephones, standby time on the Nokia 3310 is 31 days, alongside a talk time of 22 hours.

That’s a massive amount of battery life, but as the phone is so basic you’re hardly going to be wasting battery away on Snapchat or Facebook.

The 3310’s poor resolution ensures battery life doesn’t disappoint. This thing can be charged and left lying around on standby for a month before it needs juicing up again, and you can talk for an entire day without needing to reach for the micro-USB cable.

It’s also got a 3.5mm headphone jack for MP3 playback, something even the latest iPhone doesn’t have. There’s also MicroSD card slot under the battery inside the phone’s casing.

Verdict -

Nokia (via HMD) has stayed true to the traditions of what made the original 3310 great. It hasn’t tried to reinvent it into a cutting edge Android smartphone, it has keep it compact, practical and extremely long lasting. And that price tag makes it tempting even for smartphone owners as a backup.

The only major misstep I see is the omission of globally usable phone frequencies. I realize that impacts battery life, but I’m sure a compromise of a week between charges would’ve been acceptable to most for a phone that could be used anywhere.