An "iconic" Nokia phone will be reissued in May 2024, but what could it be?

HMD – the company behind Nokia's phone efforts over the past few years – has branched out with own-brand devices. Taking to the stage at Mobile World Congress, it confirmed the shift in strategy, but didn't go as far as confirming anything other than a Barbie phone. More interesting perhaps is the confirmation of a new Nokia reissue.

HMD is now pitching itself as Human Mobile Devices and has had a two-pronged strategy for Nokia devices over the past few years. This has seen affordable smartphones, like the Nokia G42, as the mainstay of the brand's activities, while relaunching retro Nokia classics – like the Nokia 3310 – has created a lot of headlines for the company.

The shift is perhaps explained by the looming expiration of the Nokia license in 2026, but HMD seems keen to stress that it is still committed to the Nokia brand: "You'll continue to see Nokia phones," it said in a press release. "And we will bring back an iconic phone this summer."

The date of that reissue appears to be May and there's some speculation that it's the yellow device in HMD's image tease – the pink being the Barbie phone and the others likely HMD smartphones.

Which iconic Nokia phone is missing?

Nokia's most iconic phone was the 3310, which HMD relaunched in 2017 (originally 2000); it followed up with the Nokia 8110 in 2018 (originally 1996), Nokia 5310 in 2020 (originally 2007), and a selection of others.

Nokia's icons include some designs that are likely to be impractical in the modern era: the oddly-shaped Nokia 7600 from 2004, the Nokia N93 that looked more like a camcorder, or the Nokia 3650 with its circular keyboard just won't work as an affordable release in this day and age.

HMD's focus on retro phones has been around the digital disconnect and affordability, so we're unlikely to see anything as ambitious as the Nokia 808 PureView from 2012 with its 41-megapixel sensor, or the Nokia Lumia 1020 from 2013 that continued the phone camera trend.

What I'd like to see is the Nokia 7110. This 1999 phone was related to the Nokia 8110 with a spring-loaded sliding cover over the keyboard. It's an iconic phone that deserves one last turn in the spotlight, even if it's unlikely to make it onto our best phones list.