A recent piece of news caught my attention: Nokia released the latest replica model - Nokia 3210 4G, this new machine is based on the design of the 1999 Nokia 3210, priced at 349 yuan. After the release of the machine, it was quickly sold out in major channels, and almost all channels now require advance reservations. On some second-hand platforms, this mobile phone can even be premium to about 499 yuan.
It's 2024, can a feature phone be so popular?
The spare tire may never turn right
When looking at the reviews and discussions about the Nokia 3210, I noticed that most of the users who bought this phone are actually nothing more than two uses: a spare phone and an old man. After all, the price of 349 yuan is really not expensive, and you can't even buy a mobile phone case at the price of Apple next door.
But if you read this article with the same purpose and are interested in a model like the Nokia 3210. I advise you to think twice.
I always think that buying a new "spare machine" at this stage is actually a pseudo-demand that is not cost-effective.
The reason why the standby machine is "standby" is undoubtedly to meet the needs of the main machine in the event of failure or loss, and to have a "spare tire" to deal with emergencies. In other words, the standby machine actually meets a small probability, occasional emergency needs. This also means that the phone is in a "sleeping state" in most cases, in essence, it is just an emergency transition tool, and when you return to the state of being able to use the main phone normally, the mission of the "backup phone" is also completed.
But if you encounter this kind of emergency situation that requires a "backup phone", such as serious damage or loss of the mobile phone, most people will still consider buying a new one. There aren't many opportunities left for the "spare tire" to make a difference.
In fact, for the "emergency" situation or the mobile phone needs a certain maintenance cycle, mainstream brands have provided "spare phone" services. For example, Apple's official after-sales channel, if your mobile phone needs to be returned to the factory for repair, Apple will officially provide you with a spare phone to use. Mainstream domestic brands also have similar services, you can check on the "member" related service app on the mobile phone, or directly consult the brand customer service.
The advantage of the official backup machine is that it is free, and you can achieve a seamless transition with the backup machine of the same brand or even the same model. Obviously, this kind of backup machine is more in line with the needs of "emergency".
Feature phones are no longer suitable for the vast majority of the population
However, what really makes me feel that feature phones like Nokia 3210 are not suitable for buying as a "backup", and the biggest problem is that the function and experience of the mobile phone itself have completely failed to meet the needs of the current era.
Taking Nokia 3210 as an example, although this feature phone has made some functional improvements such as large screen, Alipay payment, and FM application pre-installation, its biggest problem is that it lacks an important "killer app" - WeChat. You must know that WeChat is almost the most important in the daily life of most people, and it is also the most frequently used social and communication APP, to a large extent, the importance of WeChat is even more than mobile phone number.
Can you imagine the days when you couldn't log in to WeChat for quite some time and then only rely on phone calls and text messages to communicate with the outside world? I believe that the people who can adapt to this change should be in the minority.
In addition to WeChat, navigation software such as Maps Nokia 3210 is also not supported. If you have a need to go out during the time you are using it as a backup. You will find that it is very complicated and cumbersome to look up a public transport route, and you also have to pray that the navigation of your car is easy and accurate enough, or that you plan your route on a paper map or other tool in advance, because in this process, the Nokia 3210 will not be able to provide you with any help.
Let's talk about payment again, although Nokia 3210 supports Alipay scanning code. But this has a premise, you must use your smartphone to scan the code to bind it once you use it. And it should be noted that judging from the promotional page, the scanning code supported here is only for payment codes. You must know that the current public transportation in many places actually requires a special boarding code. If this happens to you, it is recommended that you prepare cash and change in advance.
Some people may say that you are raising the bar. Can I buy a Nokia 3210 as a secondary machine other than the main machine?
Of course, you can use it as a secondary device, as long as you only use it as a tool to make phone calls or receive verification codes. It is worth mentioning that the Nokia 3210 uses a USB-C interface, which can be directly compatible with the charging cable of a smartphone. However, since it is a 4G mobile phone, there are some connected applications that go beyond feature phones. So in terms of battery life, it is definitely far from being compared with the real Nokia feature phone.
Seniors, student parties can be considered
Nokia 3210 is really suitable for the elderly. The kind of elderly people who don't know how to use smartphones at all, and can only make and receive phone calls. The relatively reliable fuselage, physical keyboard, and simple interaction can indeed solve the basic communication needs of many elderly people. However, from my observation, the reason why many middle-aged and elderly people don't want to use smartphones is not that they don't want to use them, but that they can't use them. In fact, if you have the time and energy to patiently teach them some tips on how to use smartphones, smartphones are largely more suitable for the needs of middle-aged and elderly people.
The current smart phone system and commonly used APP are basically equipped with functions such as suitable mode for the elderly, care mode, large font mode, etc., which have made great progress in the convenience of interaction compared with before, and the difficulty of operation has been reduced a lot. I recommend that when you choose an elderly machine, you can have a deeper understanding of the needs of the elderly at home, and then help them solve their problems.
Of course, the last group of people who are suitable for the Nokia 3210 is the student party. Especially for students in primary and secondary schools, in order to prevent addiction to mobile phones, parents choose this type of model for their children for daily contact. It's cheap, there's no way to install a game app, and there's no other risk of messy use. Relatively speaking, it may be the most suitable group of people for this type of feature phone.
The reason why we took out the Nokia 3210 mobile phone separately this time to talk about spare machines, elderly machines, and student machines is essentially to give you a consumer guide. We believe that the vast majority of people who can read this article do not recommend that you buy this type of feature phone as a backup device (a very small number of users, except for users with special needs). Because there are other alternatives that are more complete and easier to use, which are enough to meet the needs of some emergency scenarios.
At this point in time in 2024, it is self-evident that Nokia, as the former head brand, still launched such a product, or to use feelings as a selling point to make a replica of classic models to achieve the purpose of attracting users. But I always think that the middle-aged and elderly groups, students and people who need spare phones, there are indeed some needs that are different from the mainstream smartphone groups, since Nokia sees the needs of this part of the group, it should be more targeted to their needs, products that can solve their just need pain points, rather than blindly relying on feelings and replicas to make products.
Spare machines, elderly machines, and student machines should be good products that can solve special needs, rather than "electronic waste" with empty old skins.