Vinyl, 35mm film cameras, and – unfortunately – low-rise jeans have all made a comeback in recent years, as have numerous feature phone designs which harken back to the nineties and noughties.
On April 11 manufacturers of Nokia phones HMD revealed they will be releasing three new (or old depending on how you look at it) mobile phone designs dripping in nostalgia.
Expected to be on the market sometime in May are the Nokia 5310 (2024), the 6310 (2024) and the Nokia 230 (2024).
Also called 'dumb phones', all the models have a max network speed at 2G, a service that will be completely phased out in the UK by 2033 along with 3G services, while in the US the technology has already been dropped by all major carriers.
While most people who fondly remember the 2006 release of the original 5300 are possibly now too old to have the urge to blare out music from their phone on the top of deck of a bus, the new model does come with dual front-facing speakers.
In another revival, the 6310 model now has a clear, curved 2.8-inch screen with an improved 2.8" QVGA IPS display.
All three phones have an enviable battery life of 27 days if kept on standby, have 5.0 Bluetooth connectivity, and – of course – Snake for a pure hit of noughties nostalgia! The 6310 and the 230 also come with FM radio. None of the models are able to connect to Wi-Fi.
Prices and release dates have not yet been confirmed although previous re-releases have usually been priced under £100 or $125.
Digital Detox
In this high-tech age, it's hard to imagine not falling terribly behind and experiencing serious 'FOMO' (fear of missing out) by going back to basics with one of these feature phones.
However, that seems to be the appeal as more people opt for a temporary or permanent 'digital detox'.
This could include setting aside an hour a day to completely remove yourself from screens and technology, or making a lifestyle change to include less tech in your everyday activities.
Excessive screen time has been regularly linked with short attention spans, sleep dysregulation and anxiety as people feel under pressure to keep up with endless content and compare their lives to manufactured and unachievable standards.
“Modern social media is designed in such a way that you stay in the app, and even after that, notifications beep to draw you back into the app,” founder of Dumbphone.dk Arne Bangsgaard Mathiasen told HMD. “Messages, snaps, TikTok videos – they’re all tailored to steal your precious time. My own experience is that I think about everything online – even when I'm not online. I wonder what I'm missing out on. And my experience is that it particularly affects the young people in our society.”
Take a look at our top picks of the best dumb phones on the market, which includes a few other Nokia classics.
