Nokia’s iconic 3310 was re-launched at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow, in Barcelona almost after a decade and it quickly became a cynosure. The cellphone is an overhauled version of its original was considered one of the best phones in early 2000s.

Unlike the original, which was known for its sturdiness, the new Nokia 3310 allows web browsing, but there is something connected to the internet surfing that people may have overlooked.

The new version though has brought back its predecessor’s popular “Snake” game and distinctive ringtones, said Arto Nummela, the head of Finnish start-up HMD Global which will produce the phone under a licensing agreement with Nokia.

“The telephone will allow you to talk for 22 hours, ten times more than the original,” he said during a presentation in Barcelona on the eve of the start of the Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest mobile phone show.

Now let’s come to the point that may shock the buyers and those excited to own this overhauled 3310.

Despite having a number of new features, the new Nokia 3310 still only runs on a 2G network.

According to the specifications listed on the Nokia website, the new phone will only be able to function on standard GSM frequencies between 900 MHz and 1800 MHz.

And that could prove to be a problem.

A number of countries are looking to switch off their 2G networks in the coming years.

It turns out, 2G networks are pretty old. The frequency was first used in the 1990s, and was the first to digitise mobile phone transmissions – protecting your data and ensuring that only the intended recipient could receive it.

It was also 2G that introduced the ability to send SMS texts for the first time.

The news comes as HMD Global revealed the new Nokia 3310 will not ship with WhatsApp.

Another bad news…

The 2017 edition of the Nokia 3310 does ship with access to Twitter, as well as email, but does not allow users to use WhatsApp – the world’s most popular messaging application.

That could prove to be a hassle for Nokia 3310 buyers.

WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook (another significant absence from the messaging app), is comfortably the most popular messaging service in the world.The service now boasts more than one billion users who – on average – send some 42 billion messages every day.

It also comes with the modern version of the classic game Snake preinstalled.

Its launch price is €49 ($51,75; £41.51)

(Rs 5,429)