Smartphones must have become a really boring thing as a big hype was made at this year’s Mobile World Congress around the Nokia 3310 feature phone. It’s GSM dual band only (GSM is being phased-out in the US so why bother to include these frequencies) and its main purpose is to make phone calls and for SMS messaging. While most people wonder who would possibly buy such a phone who is in his or her right mind, …
Dean Bubley hits it right on the head: It’s the perfect secure (due to its lack of features) backup device for 2-factor authentication for online banking and shopping with companies that allow several devices to act as a second factor verification device. Personally, I think the phone is over-spec’d, I’d trade the color and resolution of the screen for more battery life any time (For those of you speaking German, here’s a great joke on the original 3310’s battery life). I’d insist on the snake game staying on board however.
Don’t buy a new Nokia 3310!
I have seen it at the MWC and there is not much left from the original 3310 in terms of quality and strength, at least from the look and feel (cheap colorful plastic) when I took it in my hands.
At 49$ recommended retail price, you pay for the marketing and the Nokia 3310 brand equity. Instead, there are plenty of 2G dumb phones we can get for below 20$ which will do exactly the same.
If you are looking for a device just to serve as a tool for authentication, then why not buy a second-hand mobile phone? A basic device can be obtained for much less than €49.