# Indestructible Nokia 3310

Indestructible Nokia 3310 is a running joke that treats Nokia's 3000-series feature phone as an unbreakable brick, born from late-2011 Reddit threads that compared the handset to fantasy weapons and shatter-prone iPhones. The gag grew into image macros, crash-test videos, and a durability legend so persistent that HMD Global relaunched the phone in 2017.

## Origin
On December 4, 2011, a Reddit thread titled 'The Terminator of cellphones' was posted to /r/geek, showing a Nokia 1100 with a caption claiming it could only be destroyed in the fires of Mordor[3]. Redditor TheBasilisk replied with a photo of a Nokia 3310, dubbing it 'the Witch King' after the chief of the Nazgûl from The Lord of the Rings[3]. That side-by-side of the 3310 with fantasy-tier durability set the template that later posts would iterate on.

- **Platform:** Reddit / 9gag (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2011

## Overview
The Indestructible Nokia 3310 joke rides on three physical traits of the 3000-series handset: brick-like weight, ridiculous battery life, and a plastic shell that outlives whatever hits it. The most common formats pair a shattered iPhone screen with a pristine 3310, invert the usual outcome so the phone breaks the floor instead of its own display, or photoshop the handset into fantasy scenes as a weapon of mass destruction[1]. Crash-test videos where users drop, run over, or set fire to the phone became their own micro-genre on YouTube[2].

Much of the humor is generational. The 3310 launched in 2000 and sold roughly 136 million units, so a huge slice of internet users owned one before smartphones arrived[3]. Framing it against fragile modern flagships turned the joke into a shorthand for 'they don't make them like they used to.'

## How It Spread
The format broke wide on December 27, 2011, when Redditor Naysar posted 'Nostalgia,' an image contrasting an iPhone that 'falls to the floor / breaks the screen' with a Nokia 3310 that 'falls to the floor / breaks the floor.' The post hit the Reddit front page and pulled more than 26,000 upvotes in two weeks[3]. Two days later, 9gag user Evan90 posted 'Scumbag Smartphones,' comparing iPhone battery life to the 3310's[3].

Web culture blog Slacktory ran a piece on the meme on January 10, 2012, with original photoshops, and Finnish newspaper Iltalehti covered the online sensation on January 25, 2012 (translated from Finnish)[3]. YouTube search results for 'Nokia' surfaced crash-test and joke videos in Russian, Slovak, Macedonian, and Chinese, showing the gag traveled well beyond English-speaking sites[4].

The joke had a second life in 2017. On February 13, VentureBeat reported that HMD Global, the Finnish firm holding the Nokia brand license, would unveil a modern 3310 at Mobile World Congress for around €59[1]. HMD confirmed the phone on February 26 at €49, with a color screen, 2.4-megapixel camera, an updated Snake, and a month of standby time. Coverage leaned hard on the meme, marketing the device as the reliable backup phone the internet already believed in[1].

## How to Use
The template typically pairs the 3310 with something fragile or something apocalyptic. Common conventions include a two-panel image (iPhone breaks / 3310 unscathed), a photoshop that swaps the phone for a weapon in a movie still, or a caption that lists an impossible feat the phone survives. Crash-test videos often use a static shot, a single drop or hit, and a deadpan reveal that the phone still works.

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Indestructible Nokia 3310?
It is a long-running joke that treats the Nokia 3310 feature phone as unbreakable, usually through image macros comparing it to fragile smartphones or fantasy weapons[3].

### Where did Indestructible Nokia 3310 come from?
The template started on Reddit's /r/geek on December 4, 2011, when a thread called 'The Terminator of cellphones' compared a Nokia 1100 to something only destroyable in Mordor, and a reply named the 3310 'the Witch King'[3].

### What does Indestructible Nokia 3310 mean?
It plays on the 3310's real reputation for durability, heavy build, and long battery life, contrasting it with modern phones that shatter easily[1].

### How do you use Indestructible Nokia 3310?
People typically pair it with a fragile object (like an iPhone screen) in a two-panel meme, or edit it into fantasy scenes as a weapon; crash-test videos on YouTube also became a common format[2].

### Is Indestructible Nokia 3310 still popular?
The meme is a classic that had a large second wave in 2017 when HMD Global relaunched the 3310 at Mobile World Congress and marketing coverage leaned on the durability jokes[1].

## References
1. [https://venturebeat.com/2017/02/13/hmd-global-will-launch-the-nokia-3-5-and-6-at-mwc-plus-a-3310-homage/](<https://venturebeat.com/2017/02/13/hmd-global-will-launch-the-nokia-3-5-and-6-at-mwc-plus-a-3310-homage/>)
2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8mMMPiMdpI](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8mMMPiMdpI>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/indestructible-nokia-3310](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/indestructible-nokia-3310>)
4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGoWk4HkiNY](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGoWk4HkiNY>)
5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r1dkzWGq7Y](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r1dkzWGq7Y>)
6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hlhjGMWpYg](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hlhjGMWpYg>)

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