In a world of $1000 flagships used for little more than WhatsApp and calendar alerts, is there a place for the Nokia 2720 Flip? HMD Global’s latest ‘retro’ designed phone was launched last month, and it’s a curious little beast.
Is the Nokia 2720 Flip a smartphone? Using standards from 15 years ago the answer is yes. It allows third-party apps to be installed, it can access the internet and various services, there’s a web browser, email client, social media access, it ticks many of the boxes that were being suggested then and are de facto requirements now.
But it is also saddled with many of the quirks I remember from the first generation of smartphones – there is no touch screen, your input is through a standard number pad (so welcome back to T9 predictive text or sequential cycling through letters on each key), you have a small resolution screen, but you do have a 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card support.
Also, fifteen years have passed.
Compared to today’s functional beats, the Nokia 2720 is far from it. The Nokia 2720 is clearly a ‘featurephone’ in today’s market, but there’s enough app options to keep you connected through email, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, and the like. This is down to running the Linux-based KaiOS, a lightweight mobile OS or feature phones that, as noted, offer a nice selection of apps to keep you connected.
It’s also worth nothing that the 2720 comes with Google Assistant, with a dedicated button to launch the voice powered assistant. Having Google’s dictation show up on the screen does give the illusion of speed, and the immediate answer is always rewarding, but once it passes you over to the browser to download things start to slow down. It’s usable, and back in 2004 this would have been magical. Now it’s a solution that works, but doesn’t stand up to comparisons with even a minimally specced AndroidGo handset.
But I don’t think the target markets for the Nokia 2720 Flip are the same markets that are looking for a full smartphone experience. The 2720 can fit into many roles… be it a courtesy phone provided by a spa or resort to accompany you without you having to carry your regular phone, or a phone that keeps you lightly connected but places your digital life in the background.
Let’s not forget that HMD Global has been doing some nice numbers business wise with its ‘retro’ re-imaginings, with the classic Nokia 3310 returning in 3G and 4G form, and the return of the Nokia ‘Bannanaphone’ in last year’s Nokia 8810 4G.
Given that this is clearly a flip-phone, a form factor much more popular in the US than Europe, I suspect that the handset has been built primarily for US carriers looking for a quality feature phone with just a hint of retro and nostalgia. And HMD has delivered.
Now read more about HMD Global’s range of feature phones under the Nokia brand…
Disclaimer: HMD Global suppled a Nokia 2720 Flip for review purposes.
