Image via Google

Despite the fact that we all live by our smartphones now, it doesn’t mean phones of the past have been forgotten, in fact not only are they celebrated, some of them are making a comeback.

The Nokia 3310, undeniably one of the most popular mobile phones at the start of this century was revived in a modernised form last year. While the design and most of the features mimicked the original phone, it also contained some features compatible with today’s expectations of mobile phone features such as a flashlight and a dual-SIM tray.

What was interesting about the Nokia 3310’s revival was the reception it received. Many of us for years looked back on the Nokia 3310 with love once it was discontinued in favour of the flip and then the smartphones we know and now use today.  While we enjoyed the nostalgia that accompanied those thoughts, at the end of the day technology and life only moves forward. The mixed reception of the Nokia 3310’s revival—praise for its battery life, price and durability; but disappointment in its lack of modern features that users never had with the Nokia 3310, but are now accustomed to—proves this point.

In thought and on paper we all love looking back and feeling nostalgic but when given the opportunity to re-live the past albeit with phones, we ultimately prefer the modern luxuries of today. This is proven through the many YouTube videos that are published of consumers re-living the past and sharing their experiences and thoughts, some of them ironically made and uploaded by their smartphones.

So with that in mind would you buy a phone that combined both the nostalgic features of the old flip phone with the modern features of today’s smartphone?  Because Samsung seemed to have pulled this combination off with its Leader 8 flip phone. The Leader 8 flip phone comes with actual buttons, two screens, 64GB expandable storage, a fingerprint sensor, front and rear cameras, and operates on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Unfortunately no release date has been given yet and it seems when it is released it will only be available in China, but if it is eventually released globally, would you consider it?

I personally would but mainly because I grew up in the ‘90s and ‘00s and only got my first Smartphone four years ago and bought my second, eight months ago. Prior to that my very first phone was a hand-me-down Nokia 3310 given to me as a 16^th birthday gift from my parents. A few months after that I bought my Samsung flip phone as the Telstra CDMA network (the network in Australia that the Nokia’s were connected to) shutdown and after six years, in 2013, I bought another flip phone, only to buy a smartphone another four months after that, to make my life easier in my last year of uni.

While I enjoy the benefits of a smartphone most of my mobile phone experience has been with the Nokia 3310 and flip phones. Sometimes I long for their battery life, durability and practicality. Not to mention, there was never a risk of accidentally dialing someone with a swipe gone awry or hanging up on someone if I pressed the phone too close to my ear.

It’ll be interesting to see how much time will pass until the Smartphone is considered obsolete and released as a revival of itself.