L8STAR BM10: Mobile phone for $16.80 – A Nokia 3310 clone in mini format

Do you long for the good old mobile phone age? The battery lasted for almost a week, Snake was the only “app” you needed and the display just big enough to see something? You can get the L8STAR BM10 mini mobile phone in the Nokia 3310 style for less than $15. But what do you need it for?

• L8STAR BM10 Mini Mobile Phone
  • at Amazon for $16.80 | TomTop for $17.34 | Banggood for $20.45

L8STAR BM10 – a miniature Nokia 3310

Those who don’t immediately think of the Nokia 3310 with the BM10 should probably not be born until this millennium. In fact, it is a bit more similar to the new edition of the 3310 overall. But with dimensions of 6.80 x 2.80 x 1.30 cm it is much smaller than the original (11.3 cm), hence the name “Mini Cell Phone”. The OLED display is also very small with a diagonal of 0.66 inches, even smaller than the current Smartwatches like the Huami Amazfit Bip. The display is of course so small because it is operated via the keys.

https://youtu.be/t6diwph49Z4

In addition to the numeric keypad, the L8STAR BM10 Mini mobile phone is equipped with a control pad, call keys and two function keys. At the back there is only the loudspeaker. Considering the price, we assume that the BM10 is mainly made of plastic, so the workmanship is rather on an average level.

A mobile phone – not a smartphone

Despite the fact that the phone is just as big as a lighter, it uses more technology than we initially thought. The processor comes from MediaTek and has the model number MTK6261D. It is also used in other wearables, so it is designed for energy efficiency and minimum requirements. In addition, there is a battery with a capacity of 350 mAh, which is supposed to give the small phone a runtime of three to five days. In fact, I would have expected even more battery life here.

Of course there is no camera. But Bluetooth 3.o. is the answer. This allows you to connect the L8STAR BM10 to your smartphone and use it as a kind of remote control. More interesting is the possibility to use two Nano-SIM cards and one microSD card at the same time. So you can actually use the BM10 Mini mobile phone as a phone, but without mobile data. Only the following frequency bands are supported: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz.

Another nice feature is the microSD slot, which quickly turns your phone into a relatively usable MP3 player. Certainly not a unique selling point, but nice that you have the function.

Evaluation

The L8STAR BM10 is a bit nostalgic and that’s why we think it’s pretty cool. For a small price, the Mini Handy is a pretty cool gadget that fulfils basic phone functions. Due to the long battery life you can also forget to charge it and still get through the day. In our eyes it is of course not a replacement for a smartphone, but a practical second, emergency or perhaps even transitional mobile phone to at least be reachable.