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What made old Nokia phones nearly indestructible?
What made old Nokia phones nearly indestructible?β
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Released in 2000, the Nokia 3310 sold 126 million units worldwide, blowing past its original sales goal by sixfold. Part of its popularity came from a reputation for being incredibly durable.
And it's no joke. The internet is littered with accounts of people saying they dropped the Nokia 3310 from tall heights, ran it over with a car, hit it with a sledgehammer, and more, with the phone still continuing to work. Let's dive into what made this old Nokia phone so strong.
Reason #1: Its double shell design
Unlike today's phones made of delicate aluminum and glass, the Nokia 3310 protected its inner components with a "double shell" design. The front and back covers (dark blue in the picture below) were made of hard plastic designed to absorb impact from falls. The inner plastic shell (grey in the picture below) was likely made of nylon, a plastic that is less rigid but still durable.
β Source: rz01β |
This double shell design offered significant protection from outside forces, and allowed the more delicate inner components to withstand damage.
Reason #2: Its small, thick size
The Nokia 3310 also is quite chonky. (If you're unfamiliar with this term, it's slang for "large and heavy or solid-looking." I had to use it here when I discovered "chonky" is in the dictionary.)
Its small and thick form factor makes it inherently more robust as it won't easily bend.
Reason #3: The screen was not flush with the outer shell.
Today's phones are notorious for their screens shattering on impact. Nokia reduced the risk of screen damage by strategically placing the screen about 1mm below the outer shell.
This design choice allowed the outer shell to take a hit before the screen, making it less likely to crack on impact.
Reason #4: No parts were glued together.
Even under strong impact, the Nokia 3310's components simply popped apart and could easily be reassembled.
Left source: iFixit | Right source: Digikey
βNote: The spring connector on the right is not an exact match of the ones in the Nokia 3310. I just wanted to show an example of a spring connector.
Unlike parts that are glued or soldered together, the Nokia 3310 used spring connectors to keep everything in place. This made it more likely that force could be released upon impact rather than break everything inside.
Reason #5: It had a single Printed Circuit Board.
Left source: iFixit | Right source: JerryRigEverythingβ
The Nokia 3310 also housed its computing on a single Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The engineers and designers behind the 3310 could have opted to use more than one PCB or go with a Flexible Printed Circuit.
β "Olympus Stylus" by Steve Jurvetson is licensed under CC BY 2.0. |
Running the phone on a single PCB inherently made it more durable. This choice also likely minimized heat generation, which added to the phone's reliability.
Reason #6: Durability was a key value in Nokia's design philosophy.
When you learn more about the company culture at Nokia, a Finish technology company that's been around since 1865, it's unsurprising that they have designed such durable phones.
β Source: Tapani Jokinen's Instagramβ |
The designer behind the infamous Nokia 3310, Tapani Jokinen, has emphasized that the company's design philosophy included values that made durability a key factor.
Jokinen has continued to advocate for thoughtful design in creating products that last, emphasizing that 80% of a product's environmental impact is set during the design phase.
Aligned with these key principles, the Nokia 3310 likely underwent extensive testing to ensure its strength before the phone was released to market.
πΈ Bonus fact: The Nokia 3310 frog face
If you haven't already become a fan of the Nokia 3310's durability, perhaps a delightful design element will win you over. As Jokinen put it, there's a "Pleasant surprise" hidden in the backshell of the Nokia 3310: a frog's face.
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βSources for this week's newsletterβ
P.S. If my preview text ("π΅ Da-na-da-na, da-na-na-na, da-na-da-na-na π΅") made no sense to you, maybe this will ring a bell.
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π Wikipedia article of the week
βPiano dropβ
"A piano drop consists of dropping a piano, usually one already in poor shape, from a great height....
A piano drop occurred as part of a fundraiser for the Seattle underground newspaper Helix and non-commercial radio station KRAB....The drop, from roughly 150 feet, proved to be more logistically difficult than expected: the pilot miscalculated his slowing down and, in order to keep the helicopter stable, had to release the cable prematurely. The piano missed the pile of logs they were aiming for "by several yards, struck the soft earth, and imploded with a singularly unmusical whump."....
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Every spring, the residents of Baker House at MIT drop an old, irreparable piano from the roof of their six-story building. This event takes place on Drop Date (a.k.a. Drop Day), the last date one can drop classes at MIT."
π Catch up on other curious questions
- βHow does your phone track steps?ββ
- βWhy does glass break so easily?ββ
- βHow should you charge your devices to maximize battery life?ββ
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π‘ Today You Should Know
Learn something new every Friday. Join 2,000+ nerds and satisfy your curiosity one question at a time with topics including science, technology, history, and more.
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