Life

Here's What's Different About The New Nokia 3310

by Kiersten Hickman

The second you heard news that a new version of the Nokia 3310 is being released — the phone that defined your adolescence — you knew you had to have one. You suddenly couldn't wait to text "idk" to your BFF Jill and play the iconic game Snake that you used to love. And while it's perfectly normal to feel excited that the retro phone is making a comeback, before you buy one it's good to know about the differences and similarities between the new Nokia 3310 versus the original Nokia phone. They're not quite as similar as you may think.

Given that we’re in 2017, it’s obvious that the technology for the new Nokia 3310 has improved drastically. The battery life has increased tenfold since its former version, the screen is much larger, and in general it’s just easier to navigate and look at. But the creators of the new Nokia 3310 were determined to keep it true to its design, and many features still keep the same core Nokia 3310 values — the phone comes with zero apps.

One major improvement? The Nokia 3310 uses a micro USB charger, so if you have a few of these cords floating around from old smartphones or other digital gadgets, you're in luck. But, by the looks of it, you’ll barely need a charger at all with its battery life…

Here are the features of the Nokia 3310 that are the same, the ones that have changed, and the ones that are completely new.

Phone Screen

The new Nokia 3310 screen will look significantly different from the original. The size of the screen is 2.4 inches — and it's in color. This is very different compared to the small black and white screen you squinted at so long ago.

Phone Design

The phone design obviously looks different, but the creators of the new Nokia 3310 wanted the phone to stay true to its origin. The new phone is skinnier, comes in colors like red and yellow, has wider keys, and contains a send and hang up button.

Weight

The old Nokia 3310 weighs around 133 grams, while the new one cuts that number almost in half — it weighs 79.6 grams.

Internet Connection

The new Nokia 3310 has a 2G connection, without any Wifi. Nothing new there.

Snake

Yes, it’s true, the new Nokia 3310 does have the iconic game Snake that you tried to play under the table at school many eons ago. But the game is going to look a little bit different. It has been restructured by a company called Gameloft. Now the game is colorful and comes with graphics — quite different from the old version of the game.

Camera

This is a new feature for the Nokia 3310, but don’t expect it to take fancy photos like a smartphone would. The camera is 2 megapixels (MP); to give you perspective, the iPhone 6S camera has 12MP. I’m sure you can visualize the difference. Think Razr flip phone camera status (which was 1.3MP) — but at least there’s a camera at all, right?

Music

This is another completely new feature that the old Nokia did not have as well. There is a headphone jack that allows the user to listen to FM radio and music uploaded to an MP3 player.

Battery Life

This is where things get very, very, very different. The new Nokia 3310 lasts way longer compared to the former, with a battery that offers up to 22 hours of talk time, 51 hours of MP3 playback time, 39 hours of FM playback time, and get this, 30 days of standby time. The last Nokia wouldn’t even last two weeks.

Regardless of its new features, the Nokia 3310 is definitely a blast from the past. But, its streamlined design and simple user interface may be just the break you needed from your flashy smartphone. You can play Snake, you guys. It really doesn't get much better.