MWC 2018: Nokia 8110 ‘Matrix’ Revival Succeeds Last Year’s 3310

While other companies are focused on launching more advanced products at this year’s Mobile World Congress, HMD Global opted to take attendees back to 1996 when Nokia introduced its 8110 slider banana phone that made it big after being featured in Keanu Reeves’ “The Matrix.”

HMD Global, the current owner of Nokia feature phone business, is still determined to bank on nostalgia as a way to revive the glory days of Nokia. After resurrecting the well-loved and very famous Nokia 3310 last year, the company returned to MWC this week to showcase the revived Nokia 8110.

According to The Guardian, back when it was first released, the Nokia 8110 turned heads and caught a lot of attention due to its ergonomic shape and its slider. In an attempt at rekindling the past successes of Nokia, HMD rebooted the iconic 8110 feature phone, which is due for release in May with a price tag of €79 or US$97.

The all-new banana phone is running what HMD calls as Smart Feature OS, which is technically a forked version of the dead Firefox OS created by KaiOS. Since it has been 22 years since the original model came out, HMD decided to upgrade the device to somehow keep up with the technologies available at present. So the revival has 4G connectivity.

In addition to 4G, HMD has also announced that the Nokia 8110’s very own app store will soon feature popular apps, such as Facebook. The device will also have access to Twitter, Google’s Assistant, Google Maps and Google Search, as per ZDNet.

When it comes to specs, the phone has a real numeric keypad and polycarbonate slider. It also has a 2.4-inch QVGA curved display, a 1.1GHz Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform processor, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. Additionally, it is equipped with a 2-megapixel camera with LED flash and a 1,500mAh battery that’s removable just like the original device and lasts for up to 25 days on standby.

“The Nokia 8110 comes with the craftsmanship you expect from a Nokia phone, delivering durability and reliability as standard,” HMD said. “With a familiar and easy to use interface, it features intuitive tactile mechanics, with slide to answer and end calls, as well as an addictive helicopter style spin on its axis.”

Meanwhile, HMD also debuted four new smartphones at MWC 2018 in Barcelona, namely: the Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 6 and Nokia 1.