Nokia 3210 relaunch celebrates the "dumbphone" – and yes, it does come with Snake

The latest Nokia retro relaunch has been revealed as the Nokia 3210.

Originally launched in 1999, the icon is back to celebrate its 25th anniversary, giving everyone the chance to switch off from the constant drain of modern smartphones and spend some time in the real world instead.

HMD – the company behind recent Nokia branded phones – sees this as the perfect device for a digital detox, allowing people to be connected, without the constant distraction of social media and other apps always demanding your attention.

It’s all about living in the moment rather than living through a screen, so the focus here is on the essentials: it offers 4G designed to give you clear calls, while there’s a 1,450mAh battery that will be good for up to 9.8 hours of talk time.

There’s a 2.4-inch display, a 3.5mm headphone socket, Bluetooth and an MP3 player.

You also get 128MB of internal storage, but via microSD you can boost this to 32GB, meaning you could carry around a lot of music. There’s an FM radio, too.

Charging is thoroughly modern thanks to USB-C, so you can use the same charger as you do for your flagship phone, or even your brand new iPad.

There will be three colours – Scuba Blue, Y2K Gold and Grunge Black – all evoking memories of the turn of the millennium, while the phone also comes with Snake, so you can try to beat that record you set in 1999.

The Nokia 3210 will cost £74.99 and it is available to order now.

((Image credit: Nokia))

Nokia: Connecting People

There’s a slightly more serious side to the Nokia 3210, as well. While the message is about digital detoxing for some regions, there are some parts of the world where this phone is about getting people connected. That was Nokia’s tagline for the last couple of decades in the industry and while it’s no longer used, that’s one of the things that Nokia’s devices have continued to do.

Nokia, under the licence granted to HMD, has focused on the affordable end of the market with devices. There were a couple of forays towards more premium models, like the Nokia 9, but the focus has really need on affordable.

These retro relaunches have appeal for those looking for a second phone, perhaps for a camping holiday or festival weekend where they want to switch off, but these devices are also available across Africa, India, Middle East and Asia Pacific countries where Cloud Apps provide more smart features.

In this case the Nokia 3210 becomes more of a feature phone and less of a retro fun phone.