The Nokia 3310 has made a comeback, 17 years after its first launch. The phone was reintroduced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday, and you can play the legendary Snake game on it, just like in the old times.
The phone is making a nostalgic return with a more modern variant, which has better battery life and some basic Internet.
Before it was discontinued in 2005, five years after its launch, it had sold more than 126 million units, making it the most popular feature phone then. It was known for its long battery life, indestructible nature and popular Snake game.
The new version phone, which will start retailing early next quarter, will have a battery that lasts a month on standby mode – up from around 11 days in the original.
It will also have 22 hours of talk time, which is 10 times more than the original came with.
The phone is produced by new mobile firm HMD Global, which licensed the Nokia brand last year. The firm is filled with key ex-Nokia staff.
“This is what consumers have been asking us for, and so we decided that we’d just do it and have some fun with it,” said Florian Seiche, the president of HMD. “That’s the unique opportunity we have here at HMD with the Nokia brand.”
The phone will run on Nokia’s Series 30+ software. It has a 2.4-inch display and a single camera, which is restricted to two megapixels. The phone even has a microSD slot.
However, the phone relies on 2.5G connectivity to provide basic Internet facilities, and has no wi-fi capabilities. It will allow web browsing, but has a much smaller range of apps than Android or phones on Apple’s operating system. This updated version will cost Sh5,355.
The phone comes in the original navy blue, as well as in red, yellow and grey.
The Finnish handset maker once dominated the mobile phone market, but was overtaken by Apple and Samsung as its popularity waned.
In 2014, Nokia sold its then struggling handset operations to Microsoft for $7 billion (Sh724 billion) at current exchange rates).
In December, HMD, a firm backed by ex-Nokia executives and Chinese electronics giant Foxconn, took over the Nokia feature phones business. It also struck a licensing deal that gave it sole use of the Nokia brand on all phones and tablets for the next decade.
At the MWC event, the firm also launched a new line of mid-range modern smartphones, including the Nokia 6, which the company released in China at the start of the year, and a limited edition gloss version called the Arte Black. The company hopes the new phones will boost its fortunes.
