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Nokia 3310 hands-on: The brick phone is back

It’s back. The legendary Nokia 3310, first released at the turn of the millennium, has been reborn. There are some changes – a colour screen and a camera – but it is instantly recognisable.

The announcement triggered a wave of nostalgia from millions who owned the original, bringing back memories of predictive text, that ringtone, and of course, Snake. But is the reboot faithful to the original? And would you ever want to trade in your gleaming smartphone for it?

Holding the new 3310 in your hand, it feels unmistakeably Nokia. It’s remarkable how easily clicking on those row of buttons comes back. The layout isn’t exactly faithful to the original 3310 – there’s a rectangular D-pad in the middle rather than the up and down keys of its predecessor – but it feels pretty much the same except for being a little lighter and thinner. And that famous battery life is back – it will last a month on standby.

HMD, the company that has built the 3310, hasn’t completely recreated the old Nokia system of menus, either. The new phone runs on Series 30+, an operating system for feature phones with colour screens, but it's easy to pick up. The old text message system remains – press the 2 button for a, then b, then c, and so on. In a world of touchscreens that have full QWERTY keyboards, it feels like it takes an age to type out words: I’m not sure if it was always this way or if I’ve lost the magic touch.

A lot has changed, though. For one thing, there’s a web browser, so if you must you can access stripped-down versions of Facebook, Twitter and email, although the 3310 has no Wi-Fi and only a 2.5G internet connection, so don’t expect to be downloading videos. You can download basic apps and games, but unfortunately there’s no WhatsApp.

And speaking of games, yes, there’s Snake, but not as you remember it. The version you’ll know and love, in which the Snake could only move up, down, left and right, has been replaced by a multi-directional colour version, in which you move the snake left and right by pressing 4 and 6. Sadly, it’s just not the same.

Compared | Nokia 3310 new and old

There’s also a camera, but at 2 megapixels it’s only capable of taking the most basic of snaps.

The 3310 was also famous for its interchangeable covers. Unfortunately, on the new version only the back cover is removable, so it remains to be seen whether a new wave of garish fascias will appear at market stalls across the country. But taking the back cover off reveals the battery with a SIM card underneath, just like the good old days, although this time there’s also a micro SD card slot for storing music and photos, and a headphone jack for listening to music or an FM radio.

The new Nokia 3310 has been described as a “digital detox” phone, and if you’re tempted to buy one in a wave of nostalgia, that’s what you’ll get. If it had WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, it could well be the perfect festival or holiday phone, and it’s annoying that HMD didn’t build a classic version of Snake for it. But there’s just enough here to bring the memories flooding back, and of course, that’s the point.

Play classic Snake

  • Use the arrow keys to direct the snake around the screen and eat the dots. 

  • The more dots the snake eats, the longer it grows and the higher your score.

  • Avoid causing the snake to eat itself, and use the arrow keys to start the game again.