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Nokia “Matrix Phone” is BACK – Just In Time For The Matrix 4
The OG Nokia 8110 phone – AKA The Matrix Phone – is back, just in time for The Matrix 4. And this time it’s got 4G…
If you’re old enough to remember 1999’s The Matrix, you’ll know they used some pretty badass phones in that film. The phones were Nokia phones – the Nokia 8110, to be exact – and they had slide-out bits that, at the time, were considered rather fancy.
Now owned by HMD, a Chinese company, and never one to miss out on a potential marketing angle, HMD is planning to re-release the Nokia 8110 – although don’t go getting your hopes up. This is not a smartphone we’re talking about here.
The new Nokia 8110 which HMD says was inspired by the original model features 4G connectivity, a 2.4-inch QVGA curved display, the Snapdragon 205 CPU (so, not a very good one), 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage.
With battery life, HMD says it will last around 25 days from a single charge, just like Nokia’s of old. It also features Nokia’s famous Snake game too, and because it has 4G connectivity you can tether it to your laptop or tablet.
The Nokia 8110 is available to buy now – via Amazon for $67 – and it is available in the following colors: black and yellow.
The new Nokia 8110 4G – AKA the banana phone – runs on Smart Feature OS powered by KaiOS, HMD’s feature phone operating system. This means ZERO access to apps like Instagram and YouTube, and pretty much every other app you’ve gotten used to using.
Does the Nokia 8110 4G run any apps? Yes, but not like iPhone or Android. It will run WhatsApp, however, so you can still IM. It has Bluetooth too. But with such a small amount of storage (4GB), it’s not going to be great for storing media and/or listening to music.
The Nokia 8110 – AKA The Matrix Phone
Initially launched in 1996, the Nokia 8110 cost $1000 and featured a monochrome graphic LCD display. I know what you’re thinking: The Matrix came out in 1999, not 1996. And you’re right. But back then, things moved slower – phones didn’t get refreshed every year.
And the Nokia 8110’s slide-out mechanism, the #1 reason it was used in The Matrix, was still completely unique three years after its initial release. As for specs, if you can call them that, the Nokia 8110 featured a 2.4in display, a rudimentary chip that allowed for WAP connectivity and it was the first phone to do SSMS (smart SMS).
Is the OG Nokia 8110 the same phone that was used in The Matrix? No, sadly. The Wachowski’s decided to modify the phones to make them, well, more cinematic looking. This involved altering the look of the phone’s exterior and making the slide-out mechanism more pronounced.
But the phone used in 1999’s The Matrix film was a Nokia 8110, although that phone cost $1000 and didn’t have 4G.
My how things have changed since 1999…