If you were born early enough to reach half adulthood in 1999, you used to have a Nokia 3210. Okay, maybe you didn’t, but your friend or family member had one or a slightly later model. Maybe you’ve completely forgotten about it because, damn it, it’s been 25 years. But you would recognize the silhouette, the thick case, the thumbnail-sized monochromatic screen. New reports show that HMD-owned Nokia is working to tap into that core of nostalgia with the release of its old 3210, and it could be here within a week.
Finnish outlet Gigantti may have accidentally revealed the return of the Nokia 3210. According to pictures from Nokia mob, the next Nokia remake will be available in cyan or yellow and could be released on May 8th. This lines up with a recent Twitter post from HMD that suggested they would be releasing some sort of “Icon” phone this month. The product listing is now no longer available, but Nokiamob has indicated that the phone should cost 89 euros ($95). However, we’ll have to wait and see what the phone will be priced at when it launches in the US.
It is also consistent with previous evidence such as: Teaser The company announced this at a recent trade show and was reposted on Twitter and quickly removed. In the pictures it looks similar to the 3210, at least in silhouette. However, as Nokia fans were quick to point out, it actually looks a lot more similar Nokia 6310, another reboot phone that features a larger 2.8-inch screen compared to the old tiny monochromatic display. Nevertheless, according to the teasers, the new 3210 will have a “retro interface”. Will it play snake? Yes, at least according to the teasers, but now it will also have a microSD card slot, Bluetooth and 4G connectivity.
The old 3210 didn’t have a camera. There wasn’t even a headphone jack. There were three games and text messages. If the new 3210 is to be at all similar to the 6310, then the new phone will have Bluetooth 5 and MMS messaging. According to the listing, it will also feature a rear-facing camera. However, if you’re looking for the real 1999 experience, you should ignore the 2MP F2.8 lens completely. Additionally, it also supports USB-C to charge the 1450mAh battery.
HMD has released the Nokia 3310 again More than seven years ago, it was, in every way, exactly the kind of device you wanted if you were desperate to escape the tyranny of smartphone distractions. Since then, the brand has released countless retro phones, including slim flip phones like the 2660 Flip.
The “dumb phone” hype has brought with it some pretty interesting setbacks, but perhaps too many companies are spending money to capture even an inch of your stripped-down nostalgia. Take the Boring phone This was a partnership between Heineken and the online marketplace Bodega. It was an exclusive phone shown at Milan Design Week last month, but aside from the transparent shell and big buttons, it also had a hideous, vomit-green screen that was probably trying to evoke the colors of every local’s second-favorite beer in the store doesn’t have Samuel Adams. It was marketed to the “Zillennials” (those who fall between Generation Z and Millennials) who are clearly fed up with the trappings of social media and all-round devices.