Back in February, HMD Global managed to send a slight tremor of excitement through the mobile tech world with the announcement of an updated version of Nokia's much-loved workhorse, the 3310, at Mobile World Congress. Now the nostalgic novelty is being made available with 3G cooked in.
HMD Global says that the new variant is being released in response to requests from 3310 fans across the globe, though the decision was also likely fueled by the start of a 2G network shutdown by mobile providers.
"Our reimagining of the Nokia 3310 has been a global and cultural phenomenon," the company enthused. "In a world dominated by smartphones, the mix of nostalgia and a beautiful phone that just keeps going has captured people's imagination. Our fans around the world have been asking for this iconic phone to support 3G. Fans asked, we listened, and today welcome the Nokia 3310 3G."
The new handset has the same 2.4-inch polarized color display as the 2G model we had our hands at MWC in Barcelona, though users will now be able to change icon colors and move them around to suit personal preferences.
Elsewhere the 3G phone offers a 2 MP rear camera with LED flash, 64 MB of storage (expandable up to 32 GB via microSD), FM radio and a built-in MP3 player, with Bluetooth 2.1 for connecting to powered speakers.
An ergonomic redesign is reported to offer users more space between the buttons of the new silver keypad out front. Battery life for talk time comes in at 6.5 hours, but the phone can do without a top up for 27 days on standby. And yes, the new handset will still include the insanely popular Snake game.
The global roll-out for HMD Global's Nokia 3310 3G starts in Australia mid-October for AU$89.95, with other markets following at an average price of €69 (about US$80). The handset is available in both single and dual SIM models. A cheerful main feature summary can be seen in the video below.
Product page: Nokia 3310 3G
