Hipsters rejoice! As a modernize model of the indestructible handset made by Nokia was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday. Rumors have been circulating for months, after mobile firm HMD Global licensed the Nokia brand last year.
“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, president of HMD. “That’s the unique opportunity we have here at HMD with the Nokia brand.”
Almost 17 years after it’s initial release, the iconic Nokia 3310 will be returning to stores, and it even has snake. It’s been well over a decade, but the phone that is better remembered as a brick rather than a means of communications hasn’t changed all too much aesthetically.
While the design is updated – with a slightly bigger screen, a camera and color variations – the new Nokia 3310 will continue to focus on durability, though it will be about half as thick as the original. But just because the brand is cashing in on everyone nostalgia for the phone doesn’t mean they haven’t made some important improvements.
The updated version will have 10 times the talk time, with 22 hours, and twice the standby time of one month. For those worried about having to use old chargers, fear not, as the Nokia will charge via a microUSB port, with a headphone socket at the bottom.
The Nokia 3310 will cost about €49 ($52) when released in the second quarter of 2017 – with the original cost in 2000 was £129.99 on pay as you go – with 4 color variations; warm red and yellow, both with a gloss finish, and dark blue and grey, both with a matte finish. While the current product won’t work in the United States, HMD chief executive Arto Nummela told USA today “We are listening to consumers, so let’s see.”
