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Disposable-like phones – Nokia 3310’s new way to go?

March 2, 2017

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Lately a lot of buzz surrounded the re-issuing of the Nokia 3310. In a sentimental coup, the company decided to bet on its most famous phone’s comeback. Which company, one might ask. Well, it’s not Nokia that re-launches the (once) beloved model, but HMD Global. For a while, I admit I resisted the temptation of clicking the links. I didn’t even assume the new 3310 would be a smartphone, nor did I have the opposite impression. Just to be clear, we are not dealing with a smartphone. The new Nokia 3310 is just a re-vamped version of the classical phone.

However, the nice, simplistic design of the new 3310 kept filling the top side of the trending pages. So curiosity finally stepped in, and here are the basics on the 2017’s Nokia 3310.

The re-launched Nokia 3310 – features

The new phone looks and tries to feel like a modern phone, but it comes only with a camera, a color screen and an mp3 player. What links the 2017 model with the sturdy Nokia 3310 from years ago is, of course, the battery life. Apparently in standby this model’s battery should last up to an entire month.

The phone kept its button rows – how do you feel about that? Could there be an exciting element by clicking phone buttons again, or is this just an outdated, uninspired feature? Most of our colleagues revealed they would not go back (or try in premiere, for that matter) old-school phone buttons.

We screened The Telegraph’s hands-on review for other important specifications. The new Nokia 3310’s Operating System is called Series 30+. Users also have a bare-bones Internet connectivity feature at their disposal. They can download basic applications via the phone’s 2.5G Internet connection. A 2 mega pixels camera ensures the same stripped down type of functionality when it comes to taking snhapshots.

On the (extra) downside, the once famous Snake game is seemingly not at all the same on the new phone. Also, another classic Nokia 3310 feature lacks – its ability to stand interchangeable covers.

What is the new Nokia’s 3310 target?

Although some reviewers estimated that such a phone could prove useful for kids up to a certain age, the phone seems to target mainly those who look for digital detoxification.

Nevertheless, the discussion on digital detoxification is a sinuous one. Do people want to be constrained into regaining their personal time from technology by owning simplified versions of the common technologies, or not? With enough will power, someone could detox just by silencing a normal smartphone. Throw a firm schedule in, that you would respect, and you get the same results as you would with the new Nokia 3310. Or, for the ones who find it hard to resist temptations., there is this another way to go. Buy an extremely simple phone, like this new Nokia, and shut off all extra-call actions, specific to smartphones.

Nevertheless, it always comes down to peers, in a great percentage. Could someone maintain the necessary business-level connectivity with a phone that only allows proper handling for the calls? Or is this just an utopia? We estimate that the second option wins.

Even for kids, such a niche/weird phone could represent an impediment. Whether we like it or not, smartphones are a common standard now, therefore all, from children to adults, all of us own and display them as a proof of belonging to the modern, digital community.

What to make of the new Nokia 3310?

This new awkward phone inspired us the comparison with disposable cameras. No one would ever assume they could compete with modern digital cameras, yet they are fun. They are also appropriate in some situations. Perhaps not enough to drive an important revenue for the specialized manufacturers. But they do not try to pretend they are something they are not.

Depending on how Nokia 3310 would resolve its identity issues, it may find a place on the market. For now it surely created quite a buzz. Yet it did not manage to explain what is it that it aims for – in a plausible way.

Marketing may do wonders to that regard – if it manages to catch the moment created by the natural initial buzz. We’ll just have to see how the new Nokia 3310 succeeds or falls.