Nokia gives a youthful twist to one of its flagship models and makes us feel old! Twenty-five years after its initial release, and while the segment of dumbphones seems to be thriving, the Nokia 3210 makes its comeback!
An icon for an entire generation, this old-fashioned mobile phone will not dominate the market as it once did. But that doesn’t stop it from having a number of arguments to put forward…
The Nokia 3210, before, it was this…
It’s a blow to write this, but we’re now talking about a time that people under the age of 20 can’t remember. Kylian Mbappé himself was only a few months old when the Nokia 3210 made its debut on the French market, on March 18, 1999 according to the official date. At that time, we certainly weren’t talking about smartphones yet, the “mobile phone” was still a fairly new concept for the general public.
Compared to the models of the time, the 3210 stands out with a radically different design, featuring funny curves, an integrated antenna, interchangeable covers (with a dozen different colors) and a superb monochrome LCD screen of 84×48 pixels and no more than 5 lines…
But what allows Nokia to differentiate itself is the possibility of customizing its ringtones (a revolution at the beginning of the 2000s!) as well as the intuitive writing system (or almost) T9, which greatly facilitates the writing of SMS. And to appeal to young people, this GSM also includes 3 games: Rotation, Memory and the cult classic Snake, this snake appeared on the 6110 became a must on all models of the brand.
Boosted by such a technical sheet, the Nokia 3210 sells like hotcakes, a 2024 study even placed it in seventh place for the most sold smartphones of all time, with 161 million units sold worldwide (between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 7, but far behind the indestructible Nokia 1100 from 2003 and its 250 million units sold).
And what is the Nokia 3210 of 2024 worth?
Twenty-five years later, Nokia has lost its luster and is no longer a major player in the smartphone market. The Finnish brand has chosen to refocus on telecom infrastructures, with the mobile branch coming under the umbrella of HMD Global in 2016. Since then, Nokia has been betting on the nostalgia of users to periodically revive its flagship models. We remember the revival of the banana phone, the famous 8110 or the reissue of the 3310. Today, it’s the turn of the 3210 to make a comeback, just as dumbphones are experiencing a new surge in popularity.
In contrast to modern smartphones, these “dumb phones” seem to appeal to users “wishing to go back to simpler times”. HMD, for instance, states that sales of its Nokia 2660 flip phone doubled in 2023 and that these figures should continue to rise in 2024. These devices can be seen as a “digital detox” solution, at a time when many young people (but not only) are concerned about spending too much time on their smartphone and are sometimes outright addicted.
If HMD suggests “a retro look straight out of 1999”, this new 3210 doesn’t really resemble the original model. Certainly, it retains a colorful design (but no interchangeable shell) and subtle yet elegant curves. While the size remains very similar, the screen gains a few centimeters, with a diagonal of 2.4 inches, a QVGA resolution of 320×240 pixels and of course color!
On the other hand, there is no Android system or multiple applications here, Nokia wanted to return to simple things, “when conversations mattered more than likes and shares”. The menu therefore remains basic and allows easy access to your phonebook or your messages. But since this 3210 also comes “equipped with all the essential functions expected from a traditional phone”, it inherits a 2 MPx camera with flash (of debatable quality) and even a flashlight! Silly, but not too much, this dumbphone also benefits from the presence of a double SIM card slot, Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and a USB-C port for charging.
But unlike most current models, don’t expect to recharge your 3210 too often. Equipped with a long-lasting 1450 mAh battery, this new Nokia boasts a battery life of several days and can even last nearly 10 hours in conversation! While 4G web access is possible, the phone does not support Wi-Fi: it will therefore be necessary to have a SIM card to connect to mobile Internet and to your email box, for example.
Finally, as mentioned above, the 3210 would not be what it is without the presence of Snake. The snake therefore wiggles more than ever on the screen and is likely to heat up your thumbs, other games are offered (including the addictive Crossy Road)… but unfortunately, they come with a cost.
In summary, our opinion on the new Nokia 3210
After several weeks spent in the company of this dumbphone, the Nokia 3210 has particularly impressed us on one point: the battery life. How pleasant it is to go on a trip or weekend getaway without fear of running out of battery!
This phone also has the advantage of reconnecting us to the essentials by doing what it is supposed to do: it has great reception and allows you to contact your loved ones or be contacted at any time. It might seem silly, but many people seem to have forgotten that this was the primary purpose of a mobile phone… Of course, even without mentioning social networks or VOD, we would have liked to have had a few more features (Maps, Waze or a better camera…), but we quickly get used to not being inundated with notifications.
Offered in several colors (Scuba Blue, Grunge Black and Y2K Gold for the model tested), the Nokia 3210 is as pleasant to look at as it is to hold. Solid, practical, versatile, enduring, easy to use, it even has the luxury of being affordable (although more expensive than other dumbphones), with a price limited to 79.99€. We won’t go as far as to say that it was better before, but the youthful update given to this phone that makes us feel old almost has something exhilarating about it!
