Are feature phones the new rage? Well, it appears as if that’s going to be the case going forward, in India at least. Recently, Lava unveiled its first 4G VoLTE enabled feature phone for the Indian market that goes by the moniker Lava 4G Connect M1. And in what appears to be a comeback of sorts, Nokia launched the modern version of Nokia 3310 a couple of weeks ago at the MWC 2017 event in Barcelona, Spain.
Moreover, Reliance Jio is also rumored to launch its first set of feature phones at dirt cheap price with inbuilt 4G support (obviously) in the country. However, there’s not much information available regarding the same currently which leaves us with Nokia 3310 and Lava 4G Connect M1.
So how do both the phones stack up against each other? Can the Nostalgia factor get the Nokia 3310 an upper hand? Let's find out.
Let’s start with the design. The Reasons Why The New Nokia 3310 Does Not Deserve Even To Be A Secondary Phone is much of a cult product. People love the phone for its easy-on-the-eye look and sturdy build quality. When you are launching a successor to such phone, stakes are really high, and you just can’t afford to go wrong with the design. Clearly, Nokia had taken a note of it. The new Nokia 3310’s design speaks for itself. It’s thin, sleek, and is available in a range of punchy colors.
On the other hand, Lava’s offering continues to have the same design we’ve been accustomed to. It seems like Lava’s taken the phrase “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” very seriously. Nothing wrong with it, but at the same time, nothing great about it.
Both the phones have a 2.4-inch QVGA display. That’s a tie there. However, the fact that Nokia’s offering has a polarized layer on curved screen window for better sunlight legibility gives it the brownie points.
The Lava 4G Connect M1 has a 1.2GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage space which is expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card. The Nokia 3310, on the other hand, gets only 16MB storage space. Users can, however, expand the storage to 32GB through a microSD card but a little bit of more storage couldn’t have hurt.
Nokia’s offering comes with a 2MP camera along with a LED flash at the back whereas Lava’s feature phone comes with a VGA camera. The Lava 4G Connect M1 packs a 1750mAh battery. On the other hand, Nokia’s 3310 packs a 1200mAh battery. In terms of hardware, we have to give it to the Lava 4G Connect M1. It clearly has the upper hand over Nokia’s offering.
Both the feature phones accept dual SIM cards. However, Lava’s offering has support for 4G VoLTE (GSM 900/1800Mhz TD-LTE B40, FDD-LTE 3/5) whereas Nokia’s 3310 supports only 2G spectrum (GSM 900/1800 MHz). What this essentially means is that you can’t use your Reliance Jio SIM card on Nokia’s offering.
While it is true that India still has a good number of 2G users unlike other countries, things have changed to a good extent in the recent past particularly after the inception of Reliance Jio in the country. Most of the people including folks in rural areas now have access to the 4G network, thanks to Jio. The only thing they need now is a 4G handset which the Nokia 3310 isn’t clearly.
The Lava 4G Connect M1 also offers support for Bluetooth, Internet, 4G, USB connectivity, GPRS, and EDGE. On the other hand, the Nokia 3310 has Micro USB (USB 2.0) and Bluetooth 3.0 with SLAM for connectivity. It also has a 3.5mm audio port.
The Lava 4G Connect M1 is priced at Rs. 3,333. Nokia hasn’t revealed the Indian pricing of the 3310 yet. But if convert its European price which is EUR 49 to Indian currency it translates to around Rs. 3462.88 (at the time of writing this article).
For the asking price, the Lava 4G Connect M1 clearly provides more value. It’s up to the user's preference now. If you are still on 2G network and are nostalgic, there’s no one stopping you from buying the Nokia 3310. However, the Lava 4G Connect M1 seems to be more plausible if all things are taken into consideration.
Will you choose Nokia 3310 over the Lava 4G Connect M1? What do you actually think about the Nokia 3310? How many of you are planning to buy it? Comment your thoughts below.
