Time for some none-airplane news, and focusing on the HMD Global’s biggest selling handset to date – the Nokia 3310.
Whilst the device has been selling well, there is a major issue with it – and that it will only work on 2G wavebands. This is a problem as countries are in the process of switching off their 2G networks to release bandwidth for 4G networks (so your wizzy smarphone can be more… well… wizzy.)
Well, we can now all breath a sigh of relief with the Nokia 3310 with 3G being released.
Nokia 3310 3G – Image, HMD Global/Nokia
The device will support 3G over 900/1800 MHz bands – making it usable for a lot of the world with 3G sim cards and providers. Fall-back to a Quad-band 2G network is still possible
So what does bringing 3G to a candy bar form factor bring? A few changes. The standby time has dropped a few days – from 31 days to 29 days, while talk time is takes a shave by offering 6.5 hours (from 22.1 hours on the 2G version).
Although that’s still a lot better than some glass paneled phones.
Those who need more connectivity will be happy to find Twitter, FaceBook and Skype accessibility have been baked into the product.
For those who are snap happy – there’s a 2 megapixel camera if you want something resembling an image
Oh, and there’s Snake too. But you guessed that already.
Lead in prices have been set at €69 – although and they should be hitting the shops in October.
For those who travel, this actually has an attraction – A good example is you’re heading out for the night and don’t want to take you glass encased smartphone with you in case it gets stolen. At least the cost of loosing this won’t be as bad as loosing a smartphone.
Another good use of this phone is for the traveller who needs to be end of the phone (e.g. engineers, sales reps etc, who need to do the majority of their work using voice. This thing will just go on and on.
And of course – for those with children, this could be a perfect first phone before they start demanding a glass faced thing they’ll smash in 10 minutes flat.
There’s something to be said about phones that have limited features – they force you to take the step backwards and think.
Oh yes. I should add Nokia also sells a series of Android based handsets too. But… there’s always a new classic.
Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.
Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!
Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European Frequent Flyer.