10 Amazing Facts About The Nokia 3310 (AKA The Brick Phone)
The Nokia brick phone – AKA the Nokia 3310 – was one of the most popular mobile phones ever created – here are 10 cool facts about the Nokia 3310…
The Nokia 3310 was one of the most used, most loved mobile phones of all time. Created by Nokia, the Nokia 3310 essentially redefined the mobile phone in the space of a few years, paving the way for Apple’s iPhone and the thousands of Android phones we now own and love.
The history of the Nokia 3310, as well as its total sales figures, makes for pretty interesting reading, especially from the vantage point of 2020 – two decades after its first came to market. So much so, we decided to put together a list of 10 amazing facts about the Nokia 3310…
10 Things Everybody Should Know About The Nokia 3310
1. The Nokia 3310 Was Invincible
Most modern smartphones, while usually waterproof, are still incredibly fragile. A drop from a small height is all it takes to crack or, worse still, smash a display and make a phone completely unusable. Back in the early-2000s, however, this was not an issue. The Nokia 3310 was basically indestructible.
The Nokia 3310 has survived being dropped from 1500 feet, being run over by a train, shot by a shotgun, and being crushed by a hydraulic press. And in all instances, it still worked perfectly. This is why people refer to the Nokia 3310 as the indestructible phone.
2. Snake is The Most Played Game of ALL TIME
Triple-A games and things like Angry Birds are great, but when it comes to the sheer numbers of players, NOTHING compares to Snake – a game featured on all of Nokia’s old brick phones.
Over one billion people have played Snake, earning the game a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most played game of all time. Not bad for a game that was essentially a pixel that grew in length as you progress. And, yes, contrary to popular belief, Snake can be completed as well.
It’s just REALLY hard to do. More people have landed on the moon than have completed Snake, apparently…
3. The Nokia 3310 Was The First Phone With An Internal Antenna
Prior to the release of the Nokia 3310, all mobile phones had protruding antennas. The Nokia 3310 was the first mobile phone to come with an internal antenna, paving the way for smaller, more attractive phones and, of course, the modern phones we now use like Apple’s iPhone.
4. The Nokia 3310 Boots Up Faster Than An iPhone
Think your iPhone is powerful and super-fast? Think again! The Nokia 3310, now 20 years old, will still boot up faster than an iPhone or Android phone. Granted, the Nokia 3310 has less stuff to load, but it is still impressive.
The Nokia 3310 will power on and boot up in under eight seconds. With an iPhone, you’re looking at almost double that time. Ditto for Android phones.
5. The Classic Nokia Ringtone We All Know Was Inspired By Chopin
The CLASSIC Nokia ringtone that everybody knows wasn’t a completely random jingle, as many think. In fact, the ringtone was inspired by Chopin and was a carefully crafted composition designed to be immediately recognizable and also pleasant to listen to.
Nokia engineers also took influence from Spanish guitarist Francisco Tárrega when putting together the now-classic ringtone for the Nokia 3310, a ringtone that you can still download today and run on your iPhone or Android phone.
6. Nokia Sold 126 Million 3310 Phones In Total
Back in the day, Nokia was the KING. It sold more phones than anyone else. Even by today’s standards, Nokia’s sales were off the charts. Only Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus came anywhere near the sales numbers regularly posted by Nokia (over 220 million shipments in 12 months).
Collectively, Nokia has sold hundreds of millions of phones. And the Nokia 3310 was one of its biggest, shifting around 126 million units in total.
7. Bank Robbers Loved Nokia Phones
Back in 2009, a bunch of bank hackers used old Nokia brick phones to access people’s bank accounts and steal money. These hacked Nokia phones were sold on the black market for more than $32,000 because they could circumvent a bank’s online security.
Predominantly used by gangs in Russia, Morocco, and Romania, the phone of choice for these guys was a hacked Nokia 1100 brick phone. In this context, the Nokia 3310 managed to keep its nose clean, however…
8. You Could Compose Your Own Ringtones on The Nokia 3310
Did you know that you could compose original music on the Nokia 3310? Well, you could. The phone had an app that let users compose their own, custom ringtones. You had built in support for three octaves and notes were accessed by using the Nokia 3310’s T9 keyboard.
You could make tones sharp using the # key and also set the duration of each note too. I had the Nokia 3310 back in the day and I had NO IDEA you could do this. I would have loved to had played around with this back in the day. Shame I missed it!
9. The Nokia 3310 is The International Emoji of Finland
Nokia is a Finnish company and a source of pride for all those that hail from the country. Because Nokia was such a huge deal back in the day, and the 3310 was such a classic phone, Finnish people decided to elevate the phone to GOD STATUS by using an emoji of the Nokia 3310 as the national emoji of Finland. Pretty cool, right?
10. People Still Use The Nokia 3310 In 2020…
The Nokia 3310 is now 20 years old; the phone was originally released WAY back in 2000. However, because the phone is essentially immortal and runs a removal battery, plenty of people are still using the Nokia 3310 today.
You can even buy the new version of the Nokia 3310 too – this one isn’t quite as iconic as the original but it is still a very good feature phone for those that don’t want to use smartphones.
The New Nokia 3310 w/ 3G – The Classic Mobile Phone Reinvented…
Who? People that do not want their details tracked by Google and Apple. People that want to live off the grid, away from social media. It’s not a lot of people but there are plenty of people out there that prefer to use old mobile phones instead of always-connected smartphones.
And with the NEW Nokia 3310, you now have a more modern option to choose from as well. And it’ll only cost you $44!