HMD, the new owners of Nokia mobile, wants you to know that the once-largest phone manufacturer in the world is back and better than ever.
The Finnish company announced a new version of the iconic 3310 on Sunday at this year’s Mobile World Congress. The revamped device is similar to its predecessor and therefore a “feature,” or budget-friendly phone by today’s standards.
No more waiting, here’s Nokia Retro. https://t.co/QgVv8Q7WLc
— Nokia (@nokia) February 26, 2017
The “candy bar” design is a smart step up from the iconic brick it closely resembles. Its convex shape looks something like a Russian matryoshka doll, and its thin plastic profile should make it easier to handle when compared to other options on the market.
The Nokia 3310 reboot runs on the Nokia Series 30+ operating system, first released in 2013. It won’t allow you to load apps, but it does have basic features like voice and text messaging, listening to music (it has a headphone jack!), browsing the web via a mini-Opera browser, and most importantly, the game Snake.
The phone comes with a 2.4-inch QVHS (240×320 resolution) color display, which HMD says is “polarized and curved.” It is not touch-enabled, so you’ll need to use the classic touch buttons to navigate around like the one from 2000.
You will be happy to hear the 2017 edition retains the older version’s impressive battery life. HMD rates it at 22-hour of talk time and a month on standby. The device charges via a microUSB cable.
The refresh also comes with two SIM card slots, Bluetooth 3.0, microSD card support up to 32GB, and a 2mp camera.
The new 2G-compatible Nokia 3310 will come in four colors: glossy “warm red” and yellow, and matte dark blue and gray. Expect countless durability test videos when the device is released in Q2 (April-June) this year for 49 euros, or around $52 U.S.
