Retro phones have more power than you might think.
Blender is free and open source, has a huge community of artists, teachers and enthusiasts and it boasts an impressive range of tools. It also runs on a wide range of platforms: Windows, MacOS, BSD, Haiku, Linux.... you can even now run Blender on a Nokia N95. (Plus it's one of our best 3D modelling software picks.)
Yes, really. The Nokia N95 that was released in 2007. An Argentine 3D artist and programmer and Linux evangelist has managed to program a Symbian OS version of the 3D modelling software to run on an 18-year-old Nokia mobile phone. The result is the adorably named 'Blendersito' (Blender with the Spanish diminutive 'ito'), and it reveals a big issue with smart phones today.
Blender para Nokia N95. ¡Nuevo software para Symbian en 2024! - YouTube
Dante Leoncini began working on Blendersito for SymbianOS a couple of years ago. He's been refining the app since then and now has it at a point where he can upload and model 3D characters and even create assets for game levels on the retro phone. He then runs these on his custom-made game engine for mobile phones and retro consoles.
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While he initially programmed the app expecting to work with it using a mouse and keyboard and connected to a monitor, he found that the old Nokia was so well designed that it was actually comfortable to control Blender directly thought the phone's interface. You can see some of Dante's more recent progress on Blendersito in the series of videos below.
Importar modelos .obj en 2 segundos con Blendersito. #b3d #blender3d #gta3 - YouTube
Dante describes Blendersito as one of the most challenging programming tasks he's undertaken to date, and it's one that made him realised the potential of the old Nokia phone.
The Buenos Aires-based artist says his experiment highlights the issues of planned obsolescence and electronic waste in the smartphone industry, showing that retro phones have a lot more more power than what we might think. He complains that phones are limited by their software, but also by design decisions such as the non-replaceable batteries and expensive screen replacements in today's devices. Like many of us, he hopes public pressure can push manufacturer's to make their devices more repairable and thus more sustainable.
Being a version of Blender, Blendersito is naturally open-source (See Dante's GitHub page) Dante accepts donations via Paypal.
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
