Back to future with the retro Nokia 3210, 25th anniversary edition, reviewed

We look at this well know model, now re-released for its 25th anniversary. We were also fortunate to have a Nokia-fanboy on the team for this one, someone who actually collects Nokias for hobby. Yes, we know, but we figure everyone needs to have a pastime don’t they.

Nokia 3210, 25th-anniversary edition, reviewed

Here goes, a deep dive, from someone who has a passion for retro Nokias.

I’m a niche user of this niche product, so I’m not sure of the value of my comments to a wider audience. What I would say about the Nokia you have……

If you want a phone that is simple and ready to go, it fits the bill.

Other models like the 8210 4G has more flexibility in how you can organise the options and set the display and shortcuts up the way you want to but if you don’t want that, you’re grand.

The operating system is much better than some of the Nokia phones. The phone I had with the Kaios operating system (the Nokia 6300 4G) struggled to write messages fluently, particularly when faced with certain punctuation or apostropies. This model has no such problems.

Silly little stuff

– You can set calendar events to repeat daily, weekly, monthly or yearly (but you can’t specify the length of the interval yourself, so no fortnightly, or every 10 days). Some of the Nokia calendars have very limited space to insert items and others don’t let you repeat yearly for some reason!)

– the stopwatch is simplified. There’s no option to use it as a lap timer (so the clock resets to zero at every split and you can see each lap clearly). It will let your record  your splits (so the time of each lap is recorded but then you have to work out the length).

– when you open settings, why do you have some setttings listed but others accessible through a settings wheel icon (predictive text).

– the “go to” shortcut button doesn’t have all the “apps” as options to list (on this 8210 anyway). So I can’t put the stopwatch in as an option with this short cut button. Why not? Seems mad.

If you ask me, the phones have lots of quirky little nooks and crannies, as opposed to a fluid experience. On the 8210 I have, you can organised the position of the menu options when they are in icon display but not when they are in list display. Why not? Some Nokia’s you can’t organise them at all, not sure about the one you have.

Worth testing

– The radio is likely to be good (it is on this 8210 4G)
– the internet
– the camera

I would also say I only flicked around with yours for a few minutes and I am referencing passed experience off the top of my head from using 5 different modern Nokias. So if I was going to print with tbis and my name was going to be on it, I’d double check those things first.

So they’re good, particularly if you’re not fussy (which you won’t be surprised to hear, I am!!!!)

More about the phone Nokia 3210

It’s the mobile phone that defined a generation. And now, 25 years on from its original release, the legendary Nokia 3210 is back in Scuba Blue, Grunge Black and Y2K Gold– brought to you by European mobile innovator, Human Mobile Devices (HMD), makers of Nokia phones.

‘Dumbphones’ are making a comeback as people look to return to simpler times. In 2023 Human Mobile Devices (HMD) saw sales of the iconic Nokia 2660 Flip phone, double; and HMD expects further feature phone market growth in 2024.

The devices offer a solution for a digital detox in a world where almost four in ten (38%) of 16-24 years olds worry they spend too much time on their smartphone. 1

Lars Silberbauer, CMO of Human Mobile Devices (HMD), comments: “The Nokia 3210, a cultural icon,  is back at the pinnacle of global dumbphone boom as consumers look to balance their screen time usage with a digital detox.  The Nokia 3210 has simplicity at its core, allowing consumers to be totally present. Forget dumbphone, this is 2024’s fun phone.”

A quarter of a century ago the Nokia 3210 was launched. It quickly became a smash hit, and it connected hundreds of millions of people. For 2024 it’s back. Only this time the focus is very much on disconnecting people from their screens.

Ben Wood, Founder, Mobile Phone Museum comments: “The original Nokia 3210 has a special place in many consumers’ hearts as one of the best-selling mobile phones of all time. It’s the perfect product to reimage for the modern era given its strong heritage and iconic design.”

“The Nokia 3210 is considered one of the most significant handsets Nokia ever developed and was loved by many for whom it was their first mobile phone. This modern twist on a design classic in its silver jubilee year is bound to grab people’s attention.”

The relaunch of a phone icon, the Nokia 3210 feeds into the increasing popularity and continued resurgence of feature phones as growing numbers of young people switch off and embrace the digital detox movement.

And where the Nokia 3210’s concerned, those wanting to take a break from social media, the internet and endless apps (whether that be for a day, a weekend, or indefinitely), can now do so in serious late nineties / early noughties style.

Updated for a new generation, the reimagined Nokia 3210 boasts a sleek retro design. It comes

loaded with all the essential features you’d expect from the OG feature phone, including a 2MP camera with flash (and torch!) and a long-lasting 1450 mAh2  battery that won’t die on you when you’re partying hard this summer. Because it’s 2024, this time round the Nokia 3210’s got 4G too for crystal-clear calls.

Just as it was back in the heady days of the early 2000s, the Nokia 3210 is set to be the must have lifestyle and accessory this festival season, and festival goers won’t just be choosing it for its robustness and no-nonsense functionality. They’ll be doing so to make a serious style statement too.

The trend for all things Y2K continues to go from strength to strength, and what’s more, and in keeping with all things late nineties and early noughties, the 3210 is only available in three bold colour-ways redolent of the era; Scuba Blue, Y2K Gold and Grunge Black.

And finally… the Nokia 3210 just wouldn’t be the Nokia 3210 if it didn’t have Snake – so that’s back too. Get your thumbs at the ready, tell all your mates, and see if you can’t just go get yourself a high score.

The Nokia 3210 – keeping it simple:

1. Design: back to 1999 retro design for a ‘nostalgia trip’ user experience
2. Powerful: a long-lasting 1450 mAh 2  battery keeps going for days with up to nine and a half hours of chat
3. Retro gaming: comes with snake – hit a new high score
4. Camera: snap away Y2K style with a 2MP Camera
5. Trimmings: a flash torch

And the best part? It’s just €79 Get yours now at https://www.hmd.com/en_ie/nokia-3210

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