You might remember the Barbie hype from last year, right? HMD (Human Mobile Devices) capitalized on the success of the movie and teamed up with Mattel, the company behind Barbie, to officially launch the Barbie phone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in February. However, just yesterday, HMD announced that the Barbie phone is ready for launch and pre-orders in the US will begin next month. As far as specs go, there’s nothing groundbreaking. The HMD Barbie phone is basically a souped-up version of the Nokia 2660 Flip, in a vibrant pink and with a fresh design. However, the US model does feature a few improvements that set it apart from its global sibling.

The US version of the Barbie phone has more memory and better specifications

First off, instead of the Unisoc chip and basic S30+ operating system of the global model, the US version of the HMD Barbie phone comes with a Qualcomm 215 chip running KaiOS 3.1. RAM goes up to 512MB with 4GB of storage, which is a significant improvement over the 64MB with 128MB in the international version. Both versions still support microSD cards up to 32GB. Another noticeable difference is the camera – US users get a 5MP camera on the cover, a big jump from the 0.3MP lens of the global model.

In terms of connectivity, the US Barbie phone also has a few quirks. It supports Bluetooth 4.2 instead of the faster Bluetooth 5.0, but makes up for this with Wi-Fi and GPS/AGPS support, both of which are missing from the global variant. The US version also has a handy hanging mount on the flip bar and comes with a charger.

The battery capacity remains unchanged and the screen size and dimensions are identical, essentially suggesting that HMD simply gave the Nokia 2780 Flip a Barbie makeover rather than the Nokia 2660, which serves as the global version.

The Barbie phone can be pre-ordered from September 23rd. | Image credit – HMD

The HMD Barbie phone will cost £99 (around $130) in the UK and €129 (around $143) across Europe. The American version will cost $129. If you’re in the US, you can pre-order it starting September 23rd, with the official launch on October 1st.

Lately, flip phones like the Nokia 2760 and its relatives have been making a comeback in the US. Why, you ask? It seems that many people are craving a break from constant online connectivity and smartphones, and are therefore turning back to these simpler devices that focus only on the essentials – staying in touch.

Only time will tell if the Barbie phone will be a hit, but I wouldn’t be surprised, as many fans will probably buy one just for fun. Plus, it’s an ideal choice for kids, especially if you’re not ready to give them a smartphone yet and they’re Barbie fans.