The old/ new Nokia big battery life! Old style and new phones technology!

From a pal  –  Hope all is well with you? Some info on the mobile phone by Nokia.

We had Nokia’s in the RAF Mountain Rescue teams they were great phones and so robust, they maybe a good answer to the poor battery problems that many more technical phones have.

“On a technology side, people going hill walking suffer from poor battery on
their mobiles, resulting in dead phones if they need to call assistance.
Help is now at hand from Nokia, they are releasing a new version of the
famous 3310 phone. This phone is a very simple hand set but with the great
bonus of battery life, a full charge will last you around 30 days!! It will
be extremely cheap at around £45 for the phone. This must be an essential
part of every hill walker, climber or outdoor lover!
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/26/nokia-3310-is-back-and-it-even-has-snake

The back comes off, the battery comes out and there’s even a microSD card slot.
Photograph: Samuel Gibbs for the Guardian

I put a piece on Twitter and FACEBOOK got these comments

Comment WWWill

“I read things in about 2012 discussing potential draw down of the 2G network around 2017, but largely saying that UK reliance on 2G in remote areas is significant, with network companies saying they would close down only when demand was sufficiently low.

After a quick online check of network coverage this morning, mot hill areas are still very much dependent on 2G for coverage: forget the 3310, if 2G is really going soon there would be a significant loss of coverage in remote areas full stop.

I’ve not found any recent reference to a 2017 drawdown though – just old stories from a few years ago, nor do I have any record of a Vodafone update (and I am a customer).

Do you have a good source of recent information?”

Steve

“I received an update from Vodafone stating their 2g is phasing out from September 2017. Nice to see a retro phone but without even basic 3g it is somewhat pointless.”

WWWill “Just checked with Vodafone: at the customer services level, they have no information regarding a drawdown of 2G services, no knowledge that it is happening.”

Darren Summerson – “When unexpectedly in hospital last week with the little one i turned on ‘ultra’ power saving. It effectively turn my smartphone into an old school Nokia only with an over sized battery. B&W screen, only text and phone calls, everything else disabled. Seems like the best of both worlds. As those navigationally challenge could switch back to normal for quick location check or use it to view weather/sais forecast on multi day trip”

Alex Roddie

“If you know what you are doing, you can *easily* get 1-2 WEEKS of battery life out of modern iPhones or Android smartphones. In many cases I’ve been able to achieve better standby time with my iPhone than I ever could with a basic Nokia! It just requires the application of a bit of common sense, and changing a few basic phone settings.

Opinions seem to be divided on the future of 2G in the UK, with few hard facts available. Even if there are no immediate plans to shut down the 2G network, it seems inevitable that it will eventually be phased out, so basic phones like the 3310 are at best a stopgap solution. I think you’re far better off learning how to use a smartphone properly in the hills sooner rather than later.”

Any other comments welcome? – There are a few at the bottom of the Blog thanks.