First impressions: Five minutes with Nokia's rebirthed 3310

Barcelona - At first glance, you feel as though you're looking at an ex after 17 years. 

It’s that feeling of the happy moments together, but then again the sad as well. 

But with the Nokia 3310, at first sight there’s no escaping the feeling of nostalgia. 

The device was announced as part of Nokia’s new offerings at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday.  

A very small section of the Nokia stand at the congress exhibition centre was cordoned off and dedicated to Nokia’s new mobile devices, including the 3310. 

READ: Here is what the relaunched iconic Nokia 3310 looks like

Albeit a small space, the booth drew throngs of guests and passersby, anxious to see the rebirth of an icon.

The first thing that meets the eye when being introduced to the new Nokia 3310 is that iconic blue-grey shell, which encased the device almost two decades ago. 

It offers a strikingly similar look and feel.

The buttons of the new device have been slightly tweaked to accommodate an all-new keypad. 

One thing that is certain, is that the device’s interface is more complex than before. 

The grid menu is littered with unfamiliar icons and the colour screen diminishes the nostalgia - but only by a little. 

When camera phones were first released, thinking of a 3310 with such a feature might have been laughed off.

But it’s 2017 and today it can be said the that the 3310 definitely has a camera. 

No selfie camera - but with a 2 megapixel rear camera, it’s something. 

There’s no way anyone in 2000 could have picked up a 3310 and not opened up the 2-bit Snake game. 

READ: The iconic Nokia 3310 set to be relaunched

Today it's no different. Snake on the new 3310 is a bit disappointing, given that the game in the format and design on the phone can probably be played on a flash player, somewhere on the internet. 

Yes, older folk might see the 3310 as an easier device to use but with Android, iOS and Windows mobile having dominated mobile operating systems for the past decade, the OS on the 3310 might taking some getting used to for those who are buying it as a secondary device. 

But why a secondary device? The 3310 likely won't meet the expectations of today’s smartphone users; buying one would mean using it alongside a more capable device or as a collector's item - if you still have the unbreakable 2000 model. 

HMD, which now owns the branding licence for Nokia, has opted to release a series of ‘dumb phones’ and new Android smartphones with a vanilla version of the OS on the devices. 

Nokia seem to have taken the opportunity to launch yet another ‘dumb phone’, repackaged it as one of the best-selling mobiles of all time and is banking on the nostalgia of fans to sell the new 3310.