Nokia is releasing another of its classic phones, this time the 6310, mostly staying true to the original product with only slight improvements.
The old warhorse of a phone had a reputation for being tough and reliable, just like the 3310, and an entire generation grew up accustomed to typing out an SMS on its tacticle keypad buttons, usually without the classroom teacher seeing.
While technology has come a long way in 20 years, the new 6310 largely stays faithful to the old phone’s features. There are no modern games, but you can play Snake. There’s no fancy camera, only 0.3 megapixels.
There are some upgrades, though. It has access to FM radio channels and the screen is colour now. The main aspect that’s been improved is the battery life, which you can expect to last multiple weeks.
In fact, perhaps even longer, since in Australia you won’t be able to use this phone as a phone.
The 6310 lists GSM 900/1800 as its network frequencies, AKA 2G, which is obsolete in Australia. If Nokia were to release a 3G-compatible version, then you could romp around in all your hipster glory. (Even then, telcos are decommissioning 3G). But as it stands, the new Nokia 6310 is only good for novelty purposes. It won’t work as a phone in this country.
Back in 2017, when Nokia brought back the famously indestructible 3310, we had the same issue. It only supported 2G, and we were in the process of shutting off our 2G networks (though now there’s a 3G version), which meant its most effective use was creating Thor’s hammer.
The 6310 does support Bluetooth, just like the original. Could you work some dark sorcery with that to be able to use it for calls? I personally don’t see how, but if you do, I salute and support you.
It’s also more advanced than some modern smartphones in that it has a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
You can expect the Nokia 6310 to go on sale soon for around $66.
But if you want an old-school Nokia feel with the ability to actually make calls, the Nokia 2720 Flip phone is available now for $129. It has the same benefits as above (including the battery life), with the additions of 4G, apps, Google Assistant and a 2MP camera.