The year was 1997, and Frank Nuovo was told by his bosses at Nokia to design a new phone, but without giving him clear instructions. He decided to get creative – he was already creative with the famous 8110 in the movie ‘Matrix’ – so he made some controversial decisions like eliminating the external antenna – remember, previously all mobile phones had it ‘outside’ – and integrating it inside the phone.

Two years later, the company dominated the mobile phone segment with an iron fist and would continue to do so for another decade. Nokia 3210. This mobile phone was notable for this feature as well as for including the T9 predictive text system, customizable ringtones, or interchangeable cases.

And now, 25 years after its launch, HMD wanted to pay tribute and present a new version of the Nokia 3210, adapted to new times, trying to offer a simple but fun alternative to our smartphones.

The device, offered in three different colors (dark grey, yellow and blue), has a 2.4 inch screen and QVGA resolution. The rear camera has a 2 MP sensor and LED flash. battery (removable of course) 1,450 mAh offers up to 9.8 hours of talk time and charges via the USB-C port.

The new Nokia 3210 allows you to get some freedom from social networks, but not completely: it is possible to access YouTube Shorts or TikTok, for example.

We have 4G connectivity (but no Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, dual SIM, and we also offer a microSD slot for cards with a capacity of up to 32 GB. And yes, it comes with a modern version of the legendary video game Snake, which was also featured in the original version and offers more advanced graphics in full color.

Those responsible for HMD themselves explain how perfect the Nokia 3210 is for those who “want to take a break from social networks, the Internet and endless applications.” Moreover, they state that they can do this “in the style of the nineties”. Even so, as we will discuss later and see in the image, the deadline is not full.

We don’t have replaceable cases this time, but we do have an FM radio and microphone socket. The operating system it is based on is Nokia Series 30+ (S30+), a very old platform that was released in 2013 but was revamped in 2023 to offer applications in the cloud.

Exactly this makes it theoretically possible to access YouTube or TikTok from these screens, which in a way is completely contrary to what “dumb” mobile phones represent.

The new Nokia 3210 is offered for sale on the HMD website for 2,500 TL. 79.99 euros.

in Xataka | Freeing us from our mobile addiction has now become a job. Last example: Boring Phone