Home Technology HMD unveils the new line-up of Nokia phones

HMD unveils the new line-up of Nokia phones

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There was a time where if you didn’t own a Nokia phone, there was something wrong with you. Such was the popularity and exceptional quality of the devices (it’s believed some 3310s can still be found with three bars of battery life left on them) that the Finnish mobile company dominated the market and turned the company into a true global behemoth.

Nokia’s failure to adapt towards a smartphone future and its adoption of the Windows mobile operating system instead of Android though was the ultimate death knell that saw the brand dwindle away into obscurity and lose the remarkable lustre it once possessed.  Since then, the mobile phone brand was sold to Microsoft, shut down and eventually bought by another Finish mobile manufacturer in the form of HMD, who wants to make better use of the Nokia brand (despite the fact that Nokia the company still exists separately).

Since then it has been a slow climb to try and bring the Nokia name back to the forefront of mobile technology. It is making progress though, especially on the more budget side of things and now HMD is back with a new line-up of Nokia phones.

Nokia’s new line-up will feature 6 devices across three ranges within the X-series, consisting of the X10 and X20. The top of the range models are followed by the G-series G10 and G20, and then finally, there’s the entry-level C10 and C20 from the C-series. One thing which does set these phones apart from their rivals though is that HMD will support the phones with three years of OS and security updates, with the X-series even getting a full three-year warranty on the device – more than most of the market is prepared to offer and it’s good to see a manufacturer thinking beyond the typical two-year cycle which needs to eventually be replaced with longer running devices.

Coming at the top is the X series which features a 6.67-inch 1080p display, with a hole-punch cut out in the top-centre for its 32-megapixel selfie camera with four cameras at the back, a 64-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel depth camera, and a 2-megapixel macro. A little overkill, but sadly a reality for many smart devices to feature so many rear lenses. The phone comes with either 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage, a 4,470mAh battery and runs Android natively out of the box. There is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and there’s also a dedicated Google Assistant button on the left. The only difference between the X20 and X10 is in the memory available with the cheaper X10 only featuring 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with a 48-megapixel main camera and 8-megapixel selfie camera. Prices for the Xq0 start at $370 and $415 for the X20.

The G-series has less power with a MediaTek G35 processor, 4GB of RAM, and up to 128GB of expandable storage, but offers improved battery performance with a 5,050mAh battery. It comes in at a smaller 6.5 inches with a screen resolution of only 720p. It offers an 8-megapixel in-notch selfie camera with an additional four cameras at the back: a 48-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The G10 ditches the ultrawide camera, a gig of RAM and halves the storage available, but comes in at only $165, compared to the $190 if the G20, though both offer fantastic value for money for what you get.

Perhaps most exciting is actually the C-series, though not because of the features but the price, with the C10 coming in at only $90 and the C20 at $105. They are budget phones in the truest sense of the word with a Unisoc SC7331e and Unisoc SC9863a processor respectively, 1 or 2GB of RAM, 16 or 32GB, and removable 3,000mAh batteries. Both phones feature a single rear 5-megapixel camera, a 5-megapixel selfie camera, and are running Google’s lightweight Go edition of Android 11.

These are to a line-up of phones that are going to scare off the big manufacturers in any way with exciting features, but it does offer incredible value for money and if they and combine that with exceptional quality, they could definitely take a bigger chunk of the market and try and bring the Nokia name back to the forefront of the mobile market space.

Last Updated: April 12, 2021

One Comment

  1. HvR

    April 13, 2021 at 07:28

    Insane to think that both the first Iphone and Android OS could have been Nokia if the Nokia execs just spun off the cellphone part of the company with the smartphone division people heading it, which is what HMD Global is today.

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