Nokia unveiled its new lineup of phones, and there’s definitely some good stuff in here. The Nokia 3, 5, and 6 are very understated Android phones with modest specifications, but with one huge selling point: stock Android, with Google security updates. Nokia is really touting it as a feature, too, which is music to my ears. The phones are not extravagant, don’t come loaded with crapware or useless features, and do exactly what it says on the tin.
In addition, the company released a new Nokia 3310:
Nokia has sold 126 million of its original 3310 phone since it was first introduced back in September, 2000. It was a time before the iPhone, and Nokia ruled with popular handsets that let you play simple games like Snake. Now the 3310 is making a nostalgic return in the form of a more modern variant, thanks to Nokia-branded phone maker HMD. Like its predecessor, it will still be called the Nokia 3310, but this time it’s running Nokia’s Series 30+ software, with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a 2-megapixel camera, and even a microSD slot.
I’m a little underwhelmed by this phone – not because of its specifications or anything, because those are exactly as I expected and wanted from this phone. No, I miss one crucial thing: it doesn’t have WhatsApp (or WeChat, for that matter, for our Chinese friends), and you obviously can’t install it either. WhatsApp is the backbone – for better or worse, I didn’t choose this to be so, don’t blame me, etc. etc. – of mobile communications in The Netherlands and much of the rest of the world, and without it, I literally have no use for this phone, not even as a backup phone.
Very strange omission indeed, but other than that – it looks great.
So I’d love a phone like this to use as a spare. But the lack of 3G is a definite problem in Australia, where the 2G network is currently being phased out. Hopefully a 3G model will come out soon, even if it doesn’t have data.
I was going to make exactly the same comment about the lack of 3G
One of the $20 prepaid feature phones from Coles or Woolworths are probably better devices. .
Why on earth are you removing 2G in Australia of all places?
The advantage of 2G is that it has range in the order of 10s of kms where 3G has a range in the order of 100s of meters.
It is the fallback to have speech whenever you are far outside cities.
The Australian 2G networks used TDMA. This has a more limited range than 3G (WCDMA).
Telstra offers NextG on the 850 Mhz band covering 99% of the population at speeds up to 42Mbs.
https://www.telcoantennas.com.au/site/guide-to-mobile-networks
This phone is INTENDED for the Emerging World markets where 5 out of 6 humans live. Where Nokia DOMINATES as a brand. Where MOST phones sold are still dumbphones. And there 3G would add unnecessary cost where this phone is literally twice as expensive as the AVERAGE dumbphone.
IMO this phone is a gimmick to attract the fashion conscious. There are better feature phones available for around half the price.
The N6 looks like a great buy, but shame about the processor. A 400-series Snapdragon used to be insufficient to push Android comfortably with a full HD screen — with a 600-series processor I would be sold, for only a little more dough. But hey, they must know what they do better than I — maybe today’s 400-series is much better than it was a couple years ago, though surely 3D games better be very basic.
I hope they come up with an N7 that is a bit higher specced while still selling far below the 700€ or 800€ of a no-holds-barred top-of-the-line device. There is certainly room.
Put yourself in the shoes of a customer who has a bugdet limit of 300 dollars for the next phone and walks into the store in July. Compares the offerings from Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, LG; plus some local brands, and then the store clerk puts the Nokia 6 (with metal body) into that buyer’s hand. It will seem like the sales rep made a MISTAKE. It SEEMS rich and luxurious. And its a ‘genuine’ Nokia (and this new Nokia runs Android).
It doesn’t ‘need’ ANY ‘wow’ factor in SPECS – at this price, it is the most desirable phone when you feel it in your hand – simply because none of the rivals bother to make their mid-tier phones ‘this good’. They put all their design effort into the flagship.
At just 229 Eur (https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-6) I wouldn’t complain — except that 5.5″ is a tad too big for my taste. Also, how many Pure Android smartphones can you count in that price range?
Anyway, since this was about the 3310: instabuy for me! I know, it’s very limited and a lot of the things that we take for granted are missing, but… little old snob me can’t ignore the chance to stand out from the crowd. Yes, even for all the wrong reasons! 😉
RT.
Edited 2017-02-27 13:42 UTC
IMO this phone is a gimmick to attract the fashion conscious. There are better feature phones available for around half the price.
You are making a confusion between fashion and brand name. This are not the same thing. Not even close!
Indeed Nokia is using its brand to attract new customers and that is very good!
There are no feature phones in the emerging markets that are half of price and have such a strong brand name as Nokia!
I would suggest that Samsung has just as much (if not more) brand presence as Nokia in developing markets. The excellent Samsung feature phones are cheaper than the Nokia 3110.
I would also suggest that the Nokia brand was badly tainted by the Windows Phone fiasco.
The way WhatsApp is going, its omission may not be such a bad thing.
And, depending on what version of Symbian that comes with this phone, could run WhatsApp:
https://www.whatsapp.com/nokia/
Doesn’t run Symbian, though: Series 30+ is completely unrelated to Symbian S30 or S40 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_30%2B) and connectivity is just 2.5G (GPRS or 64Kbits (!!!) per second to you and me).
RT.
Not saying that old version of 3315 used Symbian. But this nostalgic remake could be running…
A revamped version of Series 30 OS, just need to read the technical description on Nokia’s web site.
That brings up a good question. What is the 3310 running as its OS?
My first thought was that it’s running a version of Android.
Nah. It wouldn’t get hardly any battery life if it were.
that can you know make great phone calls and send some texts.
You can keep all that Social Media stuff.
A perfect phone for travelling to places where smartphones are a magnet for thieves.
Could we get a E73 and/or N9 successor since Nokia reissuing older devices?
A new E73 with an eInk display might be pretty hot.
Since Nokia proclaimed its new versions of older mobile sets, people are getting more excited to see this and buy this. In China they have set a new world record by selling more pieces of phone in few minutes. Let’s see what they will do in rest nations. I would launch my new site when the launch it