Nokia 3310

There is currently a hype about the new Nokia 3310 on the internet, in particular in social media.
It is a relaunch of an old phone, because a variant of Nokia 3310 did exist already 16 years ago and was very popular back then. It is praised as an alternative to the battery hungry smart phones, as it is said that the battery of Nokia 3310 can last longer than any phone. It has an entertaining snake game in it, that you can play anywhere, anytime, since it is independent from the internet. The phone is very affordable, and can get in four colors as of the moment.

Honestly, I cannot follow this hype. Sure, nowadays phone batteries die too quickly when you keep using it for facebook, whatsapp and internet browsing. But, this Nokia 3310 is very different than the other mobile phones, because ... you cannot do any internet stuff at all. It is not a smartphone, hence the phone has no wifi, no 3G or 4G support, no touch screen, no fancy apps, nothing of all those things that are a matter of course in modern phones. Strictly speaking, it has an internet browser, but browsing over 2G on a tiny screen is essentially a unusable feature. Hence, you cannot do any of the battery draining things, that's why the battery lasts so long. So what can you do with it then? You can do the most basic things: call a friend, or send a phone text message ... and play the snake game. That's about it!

The new Nokia 3310 has its purpose: It is good for emergency use, when you need a reliable phone to call police or ambulance. It is probably also good to fight your addiction of 24x7 internet browsing, as it forces you to stop staring with square eyes at the screen and instead talk ... yes, real talk, with your own voice, not with whatsapp or messenger ... to your friends.

On my side, I am not sure I need it. My first phone was a Nokia 1100 given to me by my mom. Already my next phone was smarter and had a touch screen. It's been years since I used a phone with a keypad. For emergencies, I have a PowerBank now! And for my addiction to stare at screens ... well, that is a different story!