The Nokia 3310 is Back!!!

Another one of the worst kept secrets, certainly in the technology world, was revealed and it is true, the indestructible Nokia 3310 is back with us, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday. Finnish Company HMD hopes that the licensing of the Nokia brand, together with the 3310 will bring in a completely new segment of consumers, and no doubt many seeking the nostalgia of getting the much loved Nokia 3310 back after abandoning it for shiny all singing and dancing smartphones.

We imagine, that if people dig around in cupboards or drawers, we are sure that many will come across the once loved 3310, the writer certainly can find the one that he had in the early part of 2001; the battery is out of charge though!

So is this just a trip down memory lane then, or is there an underlining purpose behind the re-release? Well, a lot has changed from the original. There is a web browser now, but not through    Wi-Fi, you have to access a 2.5G internet connection, forget the video downloads then, but you can download basic apps and games if you wish, but the 3310 does have Snake, slightly upgraded we understand. The possible target market will probably be as a second phone, or as one which can be taken to building sites or workshops, where dropping the mobile will still ensure that a phone call can be made or received, which is what mobiles were originally designed for, unlike the “mini work station” smartphone of today.

So what if anything is the differences between the 3310 introduced in late 2000 and the latest one to be released in the second quarter of this year? The price for a start, the old one would have set a person back £129.99 on a pay as you go contract, the latest version is priced at €49.00 or approximately £41.00. No camera on the original, but a 2MP on the latest, and it weighs in at just 79.6g against 133g for the original. Battery life for the latest model is claimed to be a month on standby with up to 22 hours of talk time, charged through a USB. For the original, as any previous owner will confirm, up to 2weeks, if you were very lucky!