In review: Nokia 6310 (2021)

In review: Nokia 6310 (2021)

 

And the nostalgic journey continues. The Nokia 6310 was reissued – inexpensive, with a powerful battery and a certain nostalgia factor. We tried it out. […]

Nokia started with the 3310 and has been continuously launching new feature phones ever since – once also known as mobile phones, or, in Switzerland, Natel. These are still enjoying a certain popularity. Whether for nostalgic reasons, because of fears of contact with smartphones or simply out of pragmatism. So I like to pack a feature phone when it goes to a festival. It can hardly break, does what it should (namely texting and talking on the phone) and a possible loss does not exactly cost me 500 + francs.

When we wanted to start the test procedure, we were initially surprised by the extreme lightness of the device. And about the fact that it could not be turned on. Oh yes, that’s right, removable batteries – a relic of a bygone era. So installed and a little charged. After all, the charging technology is so semi-up-to-date: micro-USB instead of the old cylinder plug from Nokia’s heyday.

Physically, however, some things are reminiscent of the predecessor from 2001: an elongated case, round edges, a large display in relation to the device and a keypad with hard plastic buttons. The case, however, especially the back, is made of rather cheap-looking plastic. For safety, we have not checked whether it also has the same robustness as its predecessor. It survived the fall from about one and a half meters well – but this is probably simply due to its low weight.

Wide range of functions

The setup is quite simple and also wonderfully nostalgic. The date and time are set manually for the first time, you will be asked for any emergency contacts (which suggests a little about the targeted target group) and there is also a display reading function. The device supports dual SIM, which we did not expect and is a big plus. Otherwise, not much has changed in the menu navigation.

The “control area” in the middle guides you through the options, which also include a camera and Facebook. In addition, there is also a data manager that can view and share saved files (MMS or Bluetooth) – the photo app itself can not do this, there you could define pictures taken or received at most as a background. There is also an alarm clock function, a calendar, a calculator, a voice recorder, a radio (FM) and a music player.

The Extras menu item is also interesting: there’s a timer, a stopwatch, a unit converter and even a flashlight – this feature package compensates for the fact that the camera is really not good for obvious reasons – even for social media posts, the pictures will probably be at the limit.

Rough carver

What we scandalously missed was the classic Snake. But for this, a “pimped” version called Snake Xenzia. In addition, a handful of other games, but most of them were only available as a trial version, otherwise you would have had to buy them.

Last but not least, we discovered the back menu item (depending on your point of view, also the second one): the browser. And here we come to a painful point. Unlike other phones in this retro series, the 6310 (2021) only works with GSM/GRPS. Neither 3G nor 4G/LTE are on board.

This not only makes meaningful surfing flat, but also communication via the data network, such as WhatsApp, does not work. This is also the knockout criterion for Salt and Swisscom customers. They have already shut down the network and Sunrise / UPC also guarantee operation only until the end of the year. Even if this should be extended, it must be clear that the device can hardly be used meaningfully for more than a year and a half.

If you want to get it as a Sunrise / UPC customer as a transitional device for a year, you can then look forward to numerous features and a great battery life – in stand–by it lasted almost 17 days for me, and even with regular messaging it went for a week and a half until the battery was exhausted.

Conclusion

The lack of 3G / 4G support unfortunately breaks the neck of the device – a pity, because actually it is a visually chic feature phone with many useful features, dual SIM and great battery life – and at a fair price.

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