The new Nokia 3310 launches this month

The reborn Nokia 3310 is almost upon us. The pint-sized handset, developed by Finnish startup HMD Global, will be available in the UK from May 24th for £49.99 unlocked. For many, that's impulse purchase territory -- which is fitting, given it's always been pitched as a cheap, 'ready for the beach or a rowdy music festival' backup phone. If you need a reminder, the device runs on the Nokia Series 30+ operating system, putting it somewhere between a feature phone and a smartphone. It runs Snake (of course) and a few other basic apps, but otherwise functionality is intentionally limited. Really, you're buying it for the nostalgia.

If you owned the original, there's a lot to like here. The plastic shell and bright colours are a welcome throwback to Nokia's heyday. It might be smaller and thinner than its predecessor, but the numbered keys and greyish-white accent remain. There is, however, a 2.4-inch colour screen now (gosh!) and even a camera, though at 2 megapixels we doubt it'll be much use. Still, with a standby time of 31 days, who cares? It's supposed to be different from the usual Android fare. Of course, the phone is a marketing stunt designed to raise awareness of HMD's other devices. Even with this knowledge, however, I can't help but admire its retro looks.