Meet the Nokia 3310. It's the 2017 refresh of what is considered one of the greatest phones ever made. The 3310's nostalgic return stole all attention at the Mobile World Congress trade show this year, surpassing search interest for the BlackBerry KEYone, LG G6, and even Nokia's other smartphone offerings at the show (that being, the 3, 5, & 6 Android phones). But the big question is; why? Why would a simple little dumbphone, or more kindly, feature phone, be the center of attention at a trade show where the focus is the "future of mobile?" The simple answer to this whole equation is that MWC 2017 wasn't a very exciting show this year. Samsung dropped it's Galaxy S8 launch slated for the show to allow for more time following the Note7 debacle, the general public has pretty much lost interest in LG following the disappointing G5, and consumers in the West have no idea what Huawei is. That leaves only BlackBerry, who's KEYone phone was already shown off in less detail at CES in January. It was refreshing to see Nokia swoop in and drop a nostalgia nerd's dream phone, which comes complete with the old 3310's trademark ringtone and even a reincarnation of Snake. Nokia's new owners, HMD, chose the perfect time to re-release a classic at a trade show which offered no real competition this year, creating what YouTuber Michael Fisher called a "public relations grand slam." The feature phone no one saw coming was a sweet release from the rectangular slabs with big screens everyone else announced at Mobile World Congress, and took the tech world by storm. It will be sure to find it's way into the hearts of tech aficionados when it comes out for €49 in the second quarter, and most likely soon after in the United States (right now the 3310 won't work on American 2G bands). Expect some more Nokia 3310 coverage in the near future. Roan Thibault is the editor-in-cheif of Mirror Journal.
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