
The new Nokia phones are here: Nokia 6, 5, 3 & 3310 - lumannnn
http://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones
======
untog
I really, really wish someone would make a smaller Android device. I was
hoping the Nokia 3 would be it, but alas.

Surely I'm not alone and there is a market out there? The iPhone SE sells
well, and will be my next phone after I lost my trust in Sony's compact
Android devices.

~~~
archvile
I have the SE. Amazing phone, highly recommended, and I'm sure it will
continue to get updates for several years, the same can't be said for most
Android devices especially from Sony.

~~~
aphextron
5/5s/SE will forever remain Apple's greatest phone in my opinion. I have had
my 5 since 2013, and dropped it too many times to possibly count. The metal
body is completely worn down and scratched from years of abuse, yet the screen
is flawless. I just ordered an $8 battery on Amazon, replaced it in 5 minutes,
and my phone is now back to working like new condition. It's the _perfect_
phone.

~~~
ctack
It's an amazing phone. But I brought the 16gb version and lack of space is
wearing on me. I really want to listen to music on it without streaming.

So I'm going to ditch it soon :/ Terrible feeling ditching a perfectly
functional thing, I wish I had the foresight when I purchased it get the
larger HD.

------
zbuf
Am I the only person who was hoping for an actual re-vamp of the 3310? ie. a
b/w screen (always on, easy to read in direct sunlight). Perhaps updated for
3/4G networks and modern chargers, and maybe without some of the bugs.

Right now I'm rocking an ageing 8310; the buttons are worn out and, one of the
more interesting problems with running a 'classic' phone is that the contacts
erode a modern SIM card every 6 months or so.

Today we got a curvy 'featurephone' with a camera, which is valid, but feels
like that's something already out there.

~~~
ivix
I was hugely disappointed when it turned out that it's not remotely similar to
the 3310.

They've basically created a generic featurephone and piggybacked on the glory
of the 3310, which was anything but generic.

I highly doubt the new 3310 will be even slightly as durable as the old one.

~~~
deevious
It has more in common with Nokia 6300 than with the 3310, IMO.

As zbuf said, I was also hoping for a 3G or newer modem, 2G networks are being
shut down in many parts of the world and will continue to go down in the next
couple of years.

------
kirse
Why does every phone these days come out looking like the standard rounded-
corners slate? Have companies stopped innovating on phone design anymore...
are rounded-corners superior for deflecting drops or something?

I yearn for the days when we got unique designs like the Nokia 6820/E70/N95,
the Sony Ericsson M600i, Moto Razr (as junky as that phone was), etc. Even the
Nokia Icon was an edgier but classy design. I just went with a Sony Xperia XZ
recently because it's one of the few smartphones that seemed like the
engineers bothered to apply a modicum of creativity/differentiation to the
physical design.

~~~
pavlov
In this case, the explanation is simple: these new Nokia-branded phones are
made by Foxconn, the company that manufactures iPhones. After years of working
with Apple, they already have the equipment and process set up to manufacture
unibody aluminium devices. Building anything else than iPhone clones wouldn't
really make sense: it would be a substantial extra investment for a dubious
return.

Nokia used to innovate with phone design because they had their own factories.
Those days are long gone.

~~~
bobsam
I am sorry, that is the worst "explanation" I have ever seen on HN...

~~~
pavlov
Why? The company that makes these phones, HMD Global, is part-owned by
Foxconn. They wanted to create a line of affordable phones quickly, so of
course they use their existing expertise and manufacturing lines.

Experimenting with design has very limited payoffs in the phone market these
days (ask HTC), and retooling at Foxconn's scale is very expensive. Design
innovation wouldn't be worth it.

~~~
bobsam
You are making things up.

According to people who seen the phones the are similar to the old Lumia line
by Nokia. Guess why that is??

------
Nokinside
The best thing in these new phones is vanilla no-clutter Android with tight
integration (both directions) with Google/Android. These get just as fast
updates, upgrades and fixes as Pixel phones.

~~~
Pxtl
That was the promise with Motorola too, but since Lenovo bought them they've
been a little weaker on that. I'm skeptical on promised upgrades now.

~~~
Mandatum
Yeah 6 month delay on 7.0 for some versions of Moto Z? The phone isn't a year
old.

------
nextos
They should revive the N900 platform by offering Maemo/Meego in Nokia 6, 5 or
3. Would cost little and bring in tons of loyal followers.

It's an antifragile plan. They would have to invest little to port and keep
Maemo running on these new terminals. But if it takes off it can give great
ROI. Also, it buys them independence and differentiation.

They should also provide AOSP for these phones, so that we don't get yet
another Android terminal that gets no updates past a few months. It'd be nice
to have alternatives for pricy Pixels to run CopperheadOS.

~~~
XtalJ
I had the N9 with MeeGo, best OS for phones I have ever used. Also very
beautiful and easy to use.

~~~
rzr
Yea N9 is still best, only N950 can beat it :)

------
pavlov
So, three generic aluminium-clad Androids made by Foxconn, and one more cute
basic phone on the rather awful Series 30+ platform [1]. I wasn't expecting
anything else, really, but still feeling a bit disappointed...

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_30%2B](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_30%2B)

~~~
gaius
I was hoping for literally the old Nokias with modern batteries and bigger
memories. Surely the entire point of these was for people who wanted a
feature- rather than a smartphone?

~~~
pavlov
Well, Nokia/Microsoft has been making those for years. This new one has been
branded 3310 to bank on some assumed nostalgia, but it's just a direct
continuation of recent devices like the Nokia 105:

[https://www.cnet.com/products/nokia-105-2015/preview/](https://www.cnet.com/products/nokia-105-2015/preview/)

The Series 30+ operating system on these devices is kind of weird. It's
basically a generic clone of the old familiar Nokia Series 30/40 phone UI, but
made by MediaTek instead of Nokia itself. I guess what happened is that the
internal featurephone OS teams were terminated when Microsoft acquired the
business, and they just picked up the closest replacement from the Chinese
clone masters at MediaTek.

~~~
onli
But does the OS matter much for a feature phone? One does not even really want
to write mails with that, those are phones too call someone, write a text,
maybe listen to some music (radio) and play some snake. A basic OS might just
be okay for that.

Now, the atrocity that was the OS for the Nokia Asha phones, that is a
completely different story.

------
d--b
€49, 1 month battery, no distraction.

$600, 12 hr battery, tells me every 10 minutes how the world goes down the
drain.

Mmmmh...

~~~
Nokinside
It's technologically possible to combine $600 smartphone and dumb phone and
make smartphone that has has 1 month battery and all day speaking if you don't
activate smartphone features (you might want to add low power dummy display on
the backside).

Consumers might like it but everybody else would hate it. It cuts into profits
and teaches wrong habits to consumers.

~~~
oblio
The truth is, nobody wants that. I got a Sony Xperia Z5 Compact. I turned on
"stamina mode", where almost everything is disabled. In that case the battery
lasts more than 1 week.

However friends want to messsage me on Whatsapp (ergo wifi or mobile data), I
want to use the GPS from time to time, I want to google things from time to
time (ergo more wifi or mobile data), etc., etc.

~~~
Nokinside
>nobody wants that.

>I want to

I agree. It's important to direct wants of the consumer into frequent use. The
real value in marketing is creating cultures where people must consume to
participate.

Consumer needs are path dependent, so it's important to not allow avenues for
countercultures or ways to avoid traps.

~~~
oblio
I'm not sure I understand your comment.

Are you saying they're guiding/tricking me into wanting/using the GPS?

------
satysin
I am impressed with the prices. Sure the core specs are nothing amazing but if
it has the excellent Nokia build quality I think I will pick one up.

~~~
mdasen
I'm not that impressed because they're based off the Snapdragon 4xx series
processors.

The Nokia 5 has the same basic hardware as a Moto G4 Play, but costs twice as
much ($200 instead of $100). You're paying double for a possibly better camera
and a metal back.

Similarly, the Nokia 6 is a $242 5.5" 1080p phone. The Moto G4 is a 5.5" 1080p
phone, but has a Snapdragon 6xx processor rather than 4xx - and costs less.
Again, the Moto is lacking the metal design.

The Nokia reputation doesn't really have anything to do with these devices.
They're certainly playing it up in marketing, but I think that's yet to be
seen. It's possible they'll have good build quality, but looking at the Nokia
6, it's not going to be more durable than an iPhone. In the video, they
clearly want to leave you with the impression that they're somehow more
durable than other smartphones, but the display is just Gorilla Glass (of
unknown generation) completely unprotected (there's no lip or anything to
deflect some falls).

The Nokias definitely look cool, but are they offering a better option? In
addition to the Motos, you can get a Huawei Honor 5X with a Snapdragon 6xx for
well under $170 unlocked on Amazon. That has a better processor for $70 less.
Again, they definitely look good, but they also seem expensive (42% more
expensive) compared to, well, more powerful options.

When put in the perspective of 42% more expensive, they don't look as great.
It's like, "yea, they're fine, but if I'm being cheap, I should get a Moto G
or Huawei Honor. If I'm not being cheap, I should get something with a better
processor than a Snapdragon 4xx series." I mean, a OnePlus X is $200 with a
Snapdragon 8xx series processor. The OnePlus X isn't a great option for
Americans since it doesn't support enough of the North American bands to get
good coverage, but the Nokias don't really support North America at all. I
have nostalgia for Nokia too and the phones do look pretty, but I'd definitely
take a $200 OnePlus X over a $242 Nokia 6. Similarly, a Huawei Honor 5X or
Moto G4 looks to have a better processor than a Nokia 6 and they cost less. A
Moto G4 Play has similar specs to a Nokia 5 for half the price. And I think
Motorola/Lenovo are coming out with a G5 this Spring (which might be before
the Nokia gets into customers' hands). LeEco and ZTE also have devices with
more power.

The thing about the mobile industry today is that it's reasonably saturated
with good options. The Nokia devices look nice, but they're in the "get
notified when you can actually get one" stage. Let's say you can get your
hands on one in June. By then a whole slew of new Android slabs could be out -
possibly with better specs and prices. I do love CNC machined aluminum like
the Nokia 6, but I also like a phone that has enough performance to be great
to use for a while.

I'm guessing that Nokia is going to push these in cheaper markets. There are
European countries like Poland and Greece that have lower GDP per capita,
markets like India where Nokia has been historically strong where people might
be willing to shell out an extra $75 for the Nokia, and China where the cachet
of having a Nokia could play well (Volvo, another Scandinavian brand, plays
well there). But it's a hard market that's saturated with plenty of good
options and it's hard to one-up anyone given that all players (other than
Apple and maybe to a small extent Samsung) are essentially pulling from the
same parts (and OS) bin.

They look like fine devices, but they're not a value you can't already get for
multiple manufacturers today and given that they aren't available yet, it
remains to be seen what this Spring will bring from competitors. I mean,
they're super pretty and that almost makes me want to cast off all my cynicism
aside and say "screw-it, I want a pretty blue or copper metal Nokia", but the
practical side of me notes the Snapdragon 4xx processor (and the fact that the
device won't work where I live). I kinda wish that Nokia had decided to go
high-end. I think Nokia could have done well with a $650 device if their build
quality is actually what they claim in the videos. Why not stick a Snapdragon
8xx in there with the latest LTE and a display to match. I mean, we all miss
Nokia and the Nokia 5/6 look nicer than most Android phones out there. Why not
go after the profitable part of the market? Even if you don't want to deal
with CDMA, there are a lot of people on T-Mobile/AT&T in the US or other GSM-
stack carriers in the world.

But, alas, it was probably a calculated effort to play into the markets that
might have the most Nokia dumbphone penetration today and therefore most
receptive to a Nokia smartphone.

------
Nition
> Play the classic Snake

I was kind of hoping from this statement that it actually was the _classic_
version of snake on the 3310. But it's not, you can see in the video that it's
a modern version. Not that that's necessarily bad except for nostalgic
reasons.

------
endgame
Why would they "reimagine" the UI and shell of the 3310? Isn't the point of
re-releasing a device like that to get the people who love the old one exactly
as it is?

~~~
kuschkufan
Because look at the success of e.g. the new Mustang, the new Camaro, the new
Mini, the new Beetle etc. pp.

------
dmd
The full specs page for the 3310 says it's a 2G phone. That must be an error?
Verizon and AT&T have both started the shutdown of their 2G networks.

~~~
pantalaimon
This is odd - there is plenty of industrial equippment/ M2M communication
modules that run only 2g.

I'd assume that UMTS would be shut down long before 2g.

~~~
anamexis
This is actually impacting San Francisco buses right now - the transponders
that MUNI buses use to transmit their location for arrival estimates use 2G,
and they stopped working because AT&T started taking down the 2G network.

[https://www.sfmta.com/about-sfmta/blog/why-muni-arrival-
time...](https://www.sfmta.com/about-sfmta/blog/why-muni-arrival-times-are-
off-week-and-how-we%E2%80%99re-working-fix-them)

------
spiralpolitik
Disappointed with the 3310 being Dual Band 2G only. If it had a modern 3G
chipset in it I would happily throw down money for it.

As it stands its a curious oddity.

~~~
foepys
Some countries like Germany are talking about dropping 3G entirely in favor of
LTE and keeping 2G because old controlling hardware depends on it. So maybe
Nokia is on the right track here.

~~~
MrRadar
OTOH AT&T in the US has already shut down its 2G network and T-Mobile US has
reduced their 2G capacity to the point where they can operate it in the guard
bands for their 3G signal. 2G is basically on life support in the US at this
point. The writing is also clearly on the wall for 3G as well, though the
carriers won't be able to shut that down until enough people upgrade to VoLTE-
capable handsets (even T-Mobile, who have the greatest VoLTE penetration among
the US carriers, still see a third of their customers' calls go over their 2G
and 3G networks).

------
lvillani
I wonder what "we’ll make sure you keep getting regular updates" really means.
Regular updates and prompt security updates the moment Google publishes them
are two different things. Considering that even Google's support of its own
devices is somewhat abysmal (three years of security updates _at best_) and
that almost all 3rd party vendors don't push security updates fast enough I'm
not confident that Nokia will be any better.

~~~
zyberzero
Since, from my understanding of the texts, all the Nokia Android devices are
running stock Android, I guess they can apply the same updates as for the
Google devices.

~~~
euyyn
Is it "stock Android" from the Android repo, or "stock Android" from the
chipset manufacturer's fork? And will the carriers keep it untouched?

------
manaskarekar
Personally, I'm excited for the Nokia 6. It ticks mostly all the right boxes.

I hope they have similar build quality as the Lumia 920 although that seems
unlikely.

~~~
pjmlp
Me too, the only negative point seems to the be the integrated battery.

Otherwise SD card support, the type of lenses, regular Android and promise to
actually care about updates are very enticing.

In any case, my device is not going to die yet, so I still get to see how they
actually will look like.

~~~
manaskarekar
Indeed. It would have been perfect with an easily replaceable battery.

Either way, I look forward to the real world reviews, I hope they live up to
all the expectations.

~~~
Pxtl
I wish the issue of battery replacement wasn't so binary. I mean, if it just
takes a screwdriver to replace battery surely that's okay right? There's a
spectrum of ease-of-replacement, imho.

------
nik736
I don't understand why companies have such a hard time crafting smartphones
that are as good looking as Xiaomi or Apple devices. The front of the 5 & 6 is
acceptable, but the back just kills it for me. Also the 5 looks the best in my
opinion but the specs are so bad that I'd not even consider it

------
on_and_off
As an Android developer, I don't know whether I should be happy that this
knowledge is basically applicable on all kind of electronic device or lament
that the competition has been so thoroughly obliterated.

------
helipad
Of the many people I know who say they yearn for a 'dumbphone' (feature
phone), I've yet to see anyone I know actually make the nostalgic leap. I
don't think the Nokia 3310 would achieve that either.

The long battery life of feature phones is fantastic, and I could certainly
type faster with T9.

The experience often falls apart when you want to join a group text, book an
Uber, get directions etc. There are lo-fi versions of these, but the
experience is bad enough to just not be worth it.

~~~
rmchugh
I'm smartphone phobic, I have only used one briefly and I hated it. I prefer
the ergonomics of texting with buttons and I get stressed out by constantly
being connected to social media, emails etc. Personally I feel like
smartphones are a huge step backwards. We have allowed corporations to
colonise our leisure time and disrupt our social interactions in exchange for
a few tawdry gimmicks.

~~~
quicklime
I consider having access to maps and ridesharing to be life changing, not just
tawdry gimmicks. I'm not exaggerating - for example I don't think I would've
been able to go car-free without Citymapper and Lyft.

I don't have any social media apps installed on my phone, nor do I have my
work email set up.

~~~
ctack
Am in the same camp. Not that into my phone at all, my 16gb iphone is battered
and almost entirely unloved, but holy smokes, Maps/Uber can be useful/life
saving.

------
runeks
I remember my Nokia 3310 clearly. I still think I can type texts faster using
that than I can on my iPhone now. It just required that you memorize the
built-in dictionary.

------
fsiefken
Does anyone know what apps you can run on the 3310 and if you can perhaps
'sideload' them? I see an 'O' \- would that be Opera Mini? That would be nice,
also I am not sure but wasn't there a version of Whatsapp running on the older
Series 30+ Nokia phone? If so, such a phone would be ideal for hikes. Add
water resistance and for 50$ you have an amazing thing in a small form factor
with long battery life.

~~~
unicornporn
And I wonder if there's email functionality in that thing.

~~~
fsiefken
Appearently there wasn't in the previous ones, but there was an Opera Mini
browser, so the 'O' icon might really be Opera. It makes me wonder what the
other 'O' does and the upper right dual-arrow icon. So you could use the
browser to e-mail through webmail which might be good enough. They talk about
a previous model here: [https://answers.microsoft.com/en-
us/mobiledevices/forum/mdas...](https://answers.microsoft.com/en-
us/mobiledevices/forum/mdasha-mdservices/does-nokia-s30-phones-have-an-email-
client/e93bba3c-6691-46bd-af9b-1b96cec362f5)

In the Nokia 210 also Facebook and Messenger were usable, from the movie it's
not clear if it's available this time. Perhaps there is a list of aditional
apps under the squares icon.
[http://www.opera.com/blogs/mobile/2015/01/microsofts-
afforda...](http://www.opera.com/blogs/mobile/2015/01/microsofts-affordable-
phone-comes-preinstalled-opera-mini/)

Now could you use Opera Mini to execute local javascript apps or games on the
240x320 screen? For example could I use parchment.js to load local text
adventures or play local hosted 2048, sodoku or minichess games? What about a
2FA javascript app?

------
petra
They mention durable earphones.That's important - really big different at
public transportation or a busy workplace.

But more interesting would be earphones with decent noise cancellation, which
get power from the phone. Huawei has those at $80. But earphones are delicate.

If Nokia can them long lasting - and create good demo videos showing the real
effects on user life - they may have a nice niche.

------
hsivonen
I'm very excited about the promise of security updates for Android.

------
mirekrusin
So my masseuse came on the weekend and she had Nokia 3310 (for 15 years I
think she said). She's saying the battery still lasts 10 days on a single
charge and doesn't want to change it.

My question is - would this new shiny thingy last as long as well or
everything is going to get drained by bells, whistles, emojis, big emojis,
animated emojis etc?

~~~
pfooti
they claim all-day talk and month-long standby battery life.

~~~
vxNsr
So probably not.

------
richardboegli
Engadget's coverage [https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/26/nokia-android-
smartphone...](https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/26/nokia-android-smartphone-
global-launch/)

------
electic
> In a world that is more disconnected than ever, what we really need to do is
> unite.

Totally agree, however not sure how they are doing this by introducing new
phones.

------
bdz
>Max. standby time Up to 31 days

Good old 3310

------
upofadown
>... whilst the 2.4” polarized and curved screen window makes for better
readability in sunlight.

As opposed to the perfect sunlight readability of the original monochrome
transflective screen the 3310 had.

I have a Nokia 1100. I've had the thing for over 10 years. It appears that I
will run out of 2G networks to connect it to before I can buy a
technologically more advanced phone.

------
jakewins
Can someone with mobile spec reading skills speak to the 3310 as a travel
phone?

I'm an immigrant living in the US, interested in a dumber phone to use when
travelling across US border. I mainly travel to Sweden, but would be keen on a
phone that works well across Europe, South America and, if possible, south
east Asia.

The somewhat modern GUI, coupled with good battery time and dual sim seems
appealing - or?

~~~
Maxious
Tech spec is 2G GSM 900/1800 MHz frequency which is good across Europe and
SEAsia but South America has variability (some by country, some by network)
[http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html](http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html)

------
daenney
I really like how the 3, 5 and 6 are going to come in dual-SIM options too.
Great for vacation or having one device for work and private.

------
dgudkov
Right timing for the launch -- Google just discontinued its Nexus line leaving
only a few options for non-premium stock Android phone.

------
london888
Is it true in the U.K. that Carphone Warehouse has the exclusive rights to
sell these and the only way to get a 3310 is on a contract?

------
nkkollaw
I wish Apple let others use macOS and iOS on other hardware.

I got a Y6II and Android is about 1000 times more frustrating than iOS, while
the hardware and price are great.

I also like macOS better than all other platforms, but hate paying so much for
Apple's outdated hardware.

~~~
andybak
> Android is about 1000 times more frustrating than iOS

I'd be curious to decompose that into:

1\. The fact you're familiar with iOS

2\. The fact that Huawei have tampered with default Android and not all of
those changes will be improvements

3\. The remainder - genuinely valid complaints about Android vs iOS

Number 3 would have to be weighed against a corollary of (1) - if you're more
familiar with iOS you'll notice deficiencies a lot quite quicker than you'll
notice improvements as the latter requires relearning habits.

I'm not denying the validity of your opinions but I think the factors I lay
out above go some way to reducing their universal applicability.

~~~
nkkollaw
Of course, whether something is simple can be subjective.

To answer your points:

1\. I've been using Android for a few months, I can now say that I'm familiar
with both

2\. that would be one thing where iOS is simpler. I've tried and I still
haven't figured out what the default Android installation is (I assume Google
phones?). Every Android installation is different, every phone gets different
updates and bugs, etc. What a nightmare.

3\. I bought the phone because it was 179 vs. 799, and it had dual SIM.
Everything else is worse, but it would take ages to go through all that. In
general, the control that you lose with Apple makes things easier. There is
one launcher that always works, the apps are double-checked and don't contain
viruses or malware, every app follows some guidelines and is integrated with
the rest of the OS.

------
colechristensen
"In a world that is more disconnected than ever"

How is this in any possible way true?

~~~
rythie
I think it's referring to Trump, Brexit and the various moves the right
elsewhere in Europe, which are dividing people on nationalistic and religious
grounds.

------
XJOKOLAT
My wife just messaged me about this saying: "I'm finally on-trend!".

She still uses her old Nokia as an alarm and normal phone.

Uses a wifi-connected smartphone for everything else.

Don't ask me why.

------
eng_monkey
There does not seem to be much difference between the Nokia 3310 and the Nokia
220 / 215 / 108 that have been around for at least 2 years.

------
rodionos

      > United we have more fun
    

That's the slogan for Nokia 6. Is this a play on politics du jour, now
permeating even consumer campaigns?

------
Nursie
Where were you six months ago! I'd have jumped at a Nokia 6 android phone.

Also six years ago before the whole MS kerfuffle...

------
wooptoo
Too bad they didn't jump on the Android bandwagon years ago when they were
still in good shape.

------
test001only
Does anybody know about the build quality? Is it on par with what Nokia was
known for?

------
edpichler
Nokia is really giving highlight to the word "Android" on these copies.

------
clubm8
Any word on whether it can tether?

Dumbphone + tethered netbook could be a killer combo.

------
pxeboot
Looks promising, but no USB-C is a deal breaker for me.

------
sbarre
No bluetooth?

~~~
jaxondu
Bluetooth is not listed in the spec (I only looked at Nokia 6), but scroll
down product page further on accessory section there is a wireless headphone.
So I guess Bluetooth is standard.

~~~
shujito
Bluetooth is listed for Nokia 5 and the 3310, that's strange

