Nokia 3310 Throwback Phone a Blast From the Past: Who Will Buy It?

The Nokia 3310 is a throwback to cell phone technology from the year 2000, including an updated version of the game Snake. But it remains to be seen whether consumers will want to buy a basic phone for $50 without any of the bells and whistles today’s smartphones have.

The 3310 was an iconic phone in its time, and Nokia has decided that nostalgia and some consumers’ need for simplicity may give it a boost, according to CNN Money.

The relaunch has a few updates, like a color screen and colorful body options that didn’t exist when the phone was first released 17 years ago. It also has a 2-megapixel camera, a microSD slot, and an updated software system to run it.

The feature-light phone can also outpace smartphones in battery life, lasting 22 hours of talk time and an entire month on standby, and the battery is removable and replaceable.

Nokia is hoping consumers who can’t afford smartphones, kids whose parents aren’t ready for them to have smartphones, or those needing a “backup” phone might be interested in the simplicity the 3310 offers.

Nokia does offer smartphones in its lineup, but parent company HMD says consumers have asked for something like the 3310, and they decided to see if they could recapture some of the feature phone market once again.

“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,” HMD President Florian Seiche said, The Guardian reported.

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