It’s early 2000, and a younger man in his first 12 months of uni has realised that he has left his creaky outdated Nokia 5110 on the practice. Having simply began a brand new relationship, that is seen as a catastrophe, even in such benighted pre-social media occasions.
Flush with money (properly, credit score) from his quickly dwindling pupil mortgage, he rushes to the closest Vodafone store and indicators up for his or her newest and best cell phone: the Nokia 3210. And so a complete new relationship is kindled, one that will ultimately lead him to put in writing about cell expertise for a residing.
We’re taking this self-indulgent journey down reminiscence lane, pricey reader, as a result of HMD has simply launched a brand new and up to date model of the Nokia 3210. I’ve been utilizing it for a few weeks, so right here’s the way it compares to one in every of my favorite ever telephones.
Do I do know you?
Whereas 1 / 4 of a century is a very long time in, properly, something actually, it’s not onerous to recall what made the unique Nokia 3210 so particular. It set itself up for future Corridor of Fame standing by good old style nifty design.
This factor regarded like nothing else available on the market on the time, making even Neo’s Nokia 8110 really feel just like the clunky gimmick it was (come at me). It was the primary cellphone to function an inner antenna, creating an immediately iconic clear define that basically carried by to right this moment’s smartphone period, albeit by way of a big flattening-out course of.
pulling the brand new Nokia 3210 out of its field fully did not evoke any sense of nostalgia in me
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
The primary and maybe most pertinent factor to notice is that pulling the brand new Nokia 3210 out of its field fully did not evoke any sense of nostalgia in me. Reminiscences might be tough issues to pin down in fact, however there was solely the vaguest sense of familiarity right here.
That’s as a result of HMD, the Finnish producer that makes telephones beneath the Nokia license, hasn’t actually launched a brand new Nokia 3210 in any respect. It’s launched one other new Nokia function cellphone in its in depth Nokia function cellphone vary.
That’s proper, you possibly can nonetheless purchase model new Nokia dumb telephones, and have been ready to take action for years – the Nokia 3310 received the identical remedy 5 years in the past. This Nokia 3210 is much less a blast from the previous, and extra a case of enterprise as typical.
You’ve modified, man
Performing a Google picture seek for the outdated Nokia 3210 confirms that my powers of recollection haven’t fully deserted me. The 2 telephones look fairly completely different from all angles.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
The bodily keypad has the identical format, however above that there’s a brand new directional pad with a central choice button rather than the unique’s solitary central button. There are additionally devoted name and finish buttons every joined by two contextual menu buttons, slightly than a ‘C’ button and an up and down navigation rocker.
There’s the recent provision of a 3.5mm headphone jack on the highest of the cellphone which, along with Bluetooth assist, displays its potential to function an MP3 participant – one thing that the unique was incapable of doing. With solely 128MB of storage, nonetheless, you received’t have a lot area for music recordsdata – not with out slotting a microSD card into the hybrid second-SIM slot.
One other much more fashionable flourish is a USB-C slot on the underside of the cellphone for charging with the bundled brick, in addition to for knowledge switch. As is the way in which with all such easy function telephones, you possibly can depend the standby time in days, not hours.
One of many quirky, youth-leaning options of the unique 3210 was its interchangeable faceplates
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
The brand new cellphone leaves a equally sized ‘candybar’ footprint, however it’s about 40% thinner and lighter than its chunky predecessor.
One of many quirky, youth-leaning options of the unique 3210 was its interchangeable faceplates, which enabled you to customize the look of the cellphone. There’s no such provision right here, sadly.
Sight for sore eyes
One other key aspect that’s fully completely different to the unique Nokia 3210 is the display. It’s a essentially completely different beast right here, consistent with modern-day function telephones that proceed to be offered to older customers and people embarking on a smartphone detox.
Out, then, goes the tiny 1.5-inch backlit monochrome LCD of the unique, and in comes a 2.4-inch TFT show. It’s received a a lot taller facet ratio, a a lot sharper QVGA decision, higher brightness, and naturally precise color.
I sort of want HMD hadn’t bothered
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
It received’t be giving any vaguely fashionable smartphone a run for its cash, however it’s definitely extra nice to fireside off texts on than with the monochrome unique.
Flip the cellphone over and there’s one other aspect that speaks to fashionable occasions. There’s a teeny tiny single digital camera module, which wasn’t one thing that the unique Nokia 3210 featured.
I sort of want HMD hadn’t bothered. The standard of pictures captured by this meagre 2Mp sensor is nothing wanting horrible. There’s a flash right here, however actually you shouldn’t even be contemplating taking any pictures in less-than-optimal lighting.
Navigating the Settings menu is a little bit of an ordeal, as I found after I tried to mute the hideous boinks that accompany your each D-pad press.
One thing outdated, one thing new
Getting again to that show, it’s essential to run Nokia’s Collection 30+ working system. This can be a function cellphone OS that may observe its legacy again to 2013, however it’s nonetheless far more superior than the unique Nokia 3210’s Collection 20 UI.
The house display shows a rudimentary 3×3 grid of app icons that will likely be broadly acquainted to a contemporary smartphone-savvy viewers. There’s an FM radio app, which is kind of quaint, in addition to icons for primary features like Alarm, Messages, and Contacts.
Navigating the Settings menu is a little bit of an ordeal, as I found after I tried to mute the hideous boinks that accompany your each D-pad press.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Jon Mundy / Foundry
The one nods to web connectivity right here come from devoted Fb and Opera Mini browser apps. Browsing the net on the latter is an train in ache, even with entry to 4G community speeds. There’s no Wi-Fi provision in anyway.
Moreover that low-res non-touch show, a big a part of that sub-optimal internet efficiency (to place it mildly) comes right down to the common-or-garden Unisoc T107 chip that runs the present right here, in addition to a minuscule 64MB of RAM. We will usually neglect how succesful even the most affordable smartphone is lately, however telephones like this present a stark reminder.
After all, internet looking is about essentially the most intensive factor you are able to do on the brand new Nokia 3210, with no entry to fashionable purposes. There are some video games preinstalled, however they’re correctly old-school.
It’s received Snake, like the unique Nokia 3210, but in addition trials for Doodle Leap and a drastically simplified Crossy Highway. You should purchase the complete video games, however would you actually wish to in a time when many far more superior smartphone video games are completely free, and when you possibly can play a full-fat model of Resident Evil 4 Remake on a tiny smartphone?
I had such excessive hopes…
Reviving the Nokia 3210 truly makes numerous sense. Sure, there’s the same old baked-in market of nostalgic 30 and 40-somethings wanting again to less complicated occasions. However there’s additionally a portion of the youthful technology in search of to take a break from the fixed distraction that smartphones now present by getting primary telephones (aka dumb telephones).
The brand new Nokia 3210 definitely has potential for the latter group of individuals, with its lack of app entry and restricted on-line capabilities. However in that sense, it doesn’t actually supply something that hasn’t at all times been obtainable. The reality is that function telephones by no means actually went away, and you should purchase a cellphone that does the identical basic items for even lower than the £74.99 asking value of the Nokia 3210.
As for that nostalgia crowd, I don’t assume the Nokia 3210 serves them significantly properly both. Past a really imprecise bodily resemblance, this new Nokia 3210 is de facto nothing like its predecessor. Its key format is completely different, the tall color display is a very separate prospect, and the OS is from a distinct period fully – although nonetheless fairly restricted.
As a stripped-back function cellphone for contemporary people who need a compact gadget for calls and texts, the brand new Nokia 3210 is completely wonderful. It’s not a cellphone that my Y2K teenage self would have recognised, nonetheless.