We tested the new Nokia 3310's camera against the iPhone 7

Against all expectations, a basic £50 phone that doesn't even have a touchscreen has been one of the most eagerly anticipated tech launches of the year.

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That's because it's the new Nokia 3310 — a remake of the 2000-era indestructible classic, coming this time around with a colour screen, a web browser, and even a camera.

Sure, leaks of its announcement sent nostalgic fans into a frenzy. But is it actually any good?

iphone 7 nokia 3310
Clash of the titans. Rob Price/BI

We decided to put the retro device's two-megapixel camera through its paces, and compared it to the camera found in a rather more premium handset — the iPhone 7.

Read on to see how it fared in Business Insider's real-world test. The results may, or may not, surprise you.

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To start, we've got a street view, in bright, sunny conditions. On the left is the iPhone's shot, on the right is the 3310. Drag the slider to compare them.

Right from the offset, the Nokia 3310 struggles to compete. Colours are washed out, and it captures much less detail. The fine brickwork the iPhone picks up on is nowhere to be seen. There's also unsightly lens flare from the sun creeping into the centre of the image.

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The 3310 is no better when it comes to macro photography. Colours are desaturated and fine detail is lost, even with optimal lighting conditions. And there's not a hint of the depth-of-field effect we see on Apple's camera.

The Nokia handset's dynamic range is limited, and the contrast between bright sun and shade throws up challenges.

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The digital zoom of the 12-megapixel iPhone 7 lets you get far closer to the action that the 3310's offering, and it picks up much more detail.

Most of these shots were taken with default settings, to simulate real-world usage, and with no editing or post-processing.

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Indoors, the 3310 fares even worse. In low light conditions, its snapper is hopelessly noisy.

Some of the photos almost look like they've been run through a Photoshop filter.

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This one was shot using only the glow from an emergency light. The iPhone 7 just about manages — but with the 3310, there's nothing to see.

Not even the flash can save the budget phone.

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In our still life, the iPhone fared well, although the highlights were a little blown out. But it's still better than the 3310.

Lastly, we have a portrait — this time shot on the iPhone 7 Plus, using its 'portrait' mode to generate a handsome bokeh. The 3310 doesn't come close.

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Our conclusion?

The iPhone 7 has a far superior camera to the new Nokia 3310. But then, what did you expect? One is a high-end £700 smartphone renowned for quality, the other is a £49 feature phone whose key selling points are a 31-day standby battery life and "Snake."

So yes, the 3310's camera is pretty awful. (And it only has 16MB of onboard memory, so if you haven't got a microSD card you can barely hit half a dozen shots before it fills up.)

But no-one is buying the 3310 because they want a world-class camera. It's for people after a cheap, functional device, with an extra dollop of nostalgia on top.

And for that, it works perfectly well. The photographs will do in a pinch, and it's a testament to just how far mobile phones have come that even the likes of this can still pack a two-megapixel snapper.

It's not an iPhone, but it's not trying to be.

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