Why We Loved the Nokia Phones of Yore

Why We Loved the Nokia Phones of Yore

Reports that HMD Global was expected to launch four Nokia devices hit the tech beat yesterday, and while some are looking forward to what the future holds for the once highly sought after mobile device maker, it was the news that they were pulling off a major throwback with the pre-release of the Nokia 3310 that really caught our attention. It really brought back some awesome memories of the Spartan like devices that the Finnish brand used to make, so we thought it would be fun to look back at some of the more memorable things we loved about the Nokia phones of yore.

Tank Like Build Quality

Being the Titos of Manila that we are, we can’t help but think about how much joy owning a Nokia 3310 brought us. It was the equivalent of owning an iPhone 7 Plus or a flagship device from <Insert Your Preferred Smartphone Brand Here>. Unlike today’s smartphones, however, the Nokia 3310 and much of Nokia’s phones back then we’re built like tanks. Oops! You dropped your phone? No problem. Pop the battery back in, snap the case back together, and you’re good to go. Spill water on it? The phone can survive, without issue, after spending the night chilling in a zip lock bag full of rice.

The Hours Spent on Snake

Who could ever forget about Snake? Before Clash of Clans, before Candy Crush, and before all the graphically intensive games we can now enjoy on the current crop of smartphones we have in our pockets or purses, there was snake; a rectangular bunch of pixels that got longer every time it “ate” more pixels. As simple as the game was, we clearly remember spending recess or lunch breaks trying to fill the 5110, 3210, or 3310’s screen to complete the game. Sure. It’s nothing compared to the games we can all enjoy now but, back then, it was the s#!7.

Customizability

People often pick Android due to the fact that you can customize the device to your liking by adding widgets and whatnot, compared to just being able to change the wallpaper on an iPhone. Back in the day, if you really wanted to make your 3310 your own, it would take a quick visit to Greenhills; quick kasi di pa masyado traffic ‘nun. Aside from switching cases, you could change the color of the LED backlights, you could change your keypad, and who could ever forget about putting acetate on the screen as a wallpaper. Now that’s how you customize your smartphone.

Numpad Texting and Shortcuts

Do you remember how many button presses it took to send out a simple message that just said: “Hello! Where are you?” or better yet, because it was a peso per text and Nokia phones were stricter with the number of characters you could send via SMS, the fabled shortcut to that question: “WRU?”; minsan wala pang question mark! We admit that the virtual qwerty keyboards we now enjoy on our devices are a lot more convenient but, thinking back, there’s something oddly satisfying about being able to busty out a SMS quickly using the old method; plus who could forget about the clicking sounds. It’s pretty much the same satisfaction you get from sweet Cherry MX switches on mechanical keyboards.

Making Your Own Ringtone

Did you or one of your friends make a small business out of making ringtones from the built-in midi maker on the old Nokia phones? MP3s? Unheard of on a mobile device back then! Once you were sick of hearing the iconic Nokia tune as your ringtone and were in someway musically inclined, you could make your ringtone straight from your device. We even remember opening up magazines that had pieces you could copy if you were having trouble re-creating a song on your own.

That’s pretty much it for our trip down memory land. ven the reported price tag on the 3310, which was set at €59 or Pho 3123, it’s definitely going to be a feature phone that will call upon the power of nostalgia to make it fly off the shelves once it’s been made available. We can expect a few changes here and there, but we really hope that HMD stays true to the Nokia 3310 we once knew and loved. I guess, we’ll see once it has been relaunched in the halls of Fira Gran Via at Mobile World Congress.

Let us know what your favorite memory of having a Nokia phone from the past was and what was your favorite from back in the day. Kahit na ibang brand! Nakakaaliw Lang mag-reminisce!

Read:

Nokia 6 Review: Return of the King?
HMD to Unveil Nokia N-Series Device at MWC 2017?
Four Nokia Phones Confirmed for MWC 2017

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