Nokia X: Nokia’s New Android Smartphones

For a long time now, Nokia has been synonymous with the Windows OS. This is especially the case in recent times as the smartphone division of Nokia is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft. However, this is set to change as at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the Finnish technology giant revealed its latest range of smartphones:  the Nokia X series which will run on Google’s Android operating system.

Design

The latest offering from Nokia has clearly taken its design inspiration from the firm’s budget Asha series. The device has a unibody design and is available in a range of bold colours including: red, green, white, black, blue and Nokia’s signature yellow. The phone itself is relatively minimalist, but a little bit bulky.

There are three Nokia’s in the X series: the Nokia X, the larger Nokia X+ and the even larger Nokia XL+ which falls into the phablet subcategory.

Smartphone Technology

Although the Nokia X series will be running on Android—it won’t be your average Android OS as Nokia have made a number of tweaks to the OS. To begin with, Nokia have stressed that the number of apps available to users will be limited. This is because when testing the phone, researchers found that nearly 10% of the apps that they tested from the Google Play Store contained viruses. By carefully vetting what apps are available to their customers, Nokia can reduce the risk of their customer’s installing harmful programs. While some tech enthusiasts have disapproved of this, arguing that it will limit the user’s experience, others have praised this move from Nokia.

In addition, the Android OS has been moulded and sculpted so that it looks more like the OS seen on Nokia Windows Phones. Indeed, many of the Google apps have been replaced with their Microsoft equivalents and Nokia X series will feature the Live Tile home screen which is synonymous with Windows Phones.

The Nokia X will come with 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. While this is certainly not the most powerful technology available on the market, for a budget smartphone, this level of power is pretty respectable.

Nokia’s latest smartphones will come with 1500mAh batteries, which is more than enough to keep the phone running. However, the 3MP rear-facing camera is certainly a little wanting.

Pricing and Release Date

It has been confirmed that the Nokia X will be available for £73, the Nokia X+ will cost £81 and the Nokia XL will be priced at £90.  These competitive prices make the Nokia X trio attractive devices for those who are looking for a smartphone that doesn’t break the bank. The larger models X+ and XL will cost marginally more. This competitive pricing of the Nokia X puts it on par with Motorola’s favourable budget Moto G handset.

In terms of a release date, we can expect to see the Nokia X series hit the shelves some time in Q2.