The day has finally arrived, the day that should be marked as ‘The Victory Day’ for the consumers’ demand. Well, maybe not so exactly, but, we all desperately wanted NOKIA to produce an Android smart phone on their most-loved hardware reliability. Today, it’s a reality, after Nokia launches their X Series, built on Android Smartphones with a price band that’s very competitive for all three color variations; Nokia X, Nokia X+ & Nokia XL.
We reported earlier about the Nokia Normandy, a possible Android powered phone, which came as a surprise, especially when the dream of having such a phone was put to rest after, Microsoft taking over Nokia & than the ‘populist’ Finnish company started producing Windows Phones. That’s past now; let’s see what Nokia announced today at MWC 2014.
Nokia X Series (A Crossover Android Phone) Features
Nokia today announced three variations as a part of their X Series Android phone, these have the most competitive price range & these do not really have a very high-end hardware specification such as Galaxy S5, Note-3, HTC One, Sony Z1 or iPhone 5. Having said that, Nokia has also confirmed that, they will bring higher end phones throughout the year 2014, to compete in the premium phones category.
Nokia X series phones are built off the open source part of the Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 without inclusion of the Google Services part which requires Google’s approval & licensing fees. Hence, default integration with Google accounts & Google Play Store will not be available on these phones, however, third-party app stores such as Yandex, GetJar can be used as well as manual APK installation is also possible on these phones.
Nokia X & Nokia X+ has almost the same configuration of 1 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor with only difference in the RAM & Nokia XL features a larger screen, better RAM and more battery power. All three phones are available in multiple colors.
Nokia X will ship with Handset, 1 battery, Nokia Charger AC-20 & Nokia Stereo Headset WH-108, as its package contents & will have a release date of March 3, 2014 across the world, including China & India but, will not see a release in North America, Japan & Korea.
The name ‘X Series’ is used because, Nokia cannot use the name Android & hence the OS on these phones is called Nokia X – which as said above, is based on Android but is also a mix of various third-party services including Microsoft. So, it’s more like a crossover mix phone that fits in budget phone category.
Hardware Specifications
Here are detailed hardware specifications & software features of Nokia X, X+ & XL phones.
[table]
| Nokia X Dual SIM | Nokia X+ Dual SIM | Nokia XL Dual SIM | |
| Price | € 89 (US$ 122) | € 99 (US$ 136) | € 109 (US$ 149) |
| Display (Size & Feature) | 4 inches | 4 inches | 5 inches |
| IPS LCD | IPS LCD | IPS LCD | |
| Nokia Glance screen with wide viewing angle | Nokia Glance screen with wide viewing angle | Nokia Glance screen with wide viewing angle | |
| Touchscreen | Capacitive 2-point touch | Capacitive 2-point touch | Capacitive Multi-point touch |
| Resolution | WVGA (800 x 480px) | WVGA (800 x 480px) | WVGA (800 x 480px) |
| Processor | 1 GHz dual-core | 1 GHz dual-core | 1 GHz dual-core |
| RAM | 512MB RAM | 768MB RAM | 768MB RAM |
| Storage | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| External Storage | N/A | Up to 32GB through Micro SD card | Up to 32GB through Micro SD card |
| Battery | 1500 mAh | 1500 mAh | 2000 mAh |
| OS | Nokia X 1.0 (Built on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 without Google Services) | Nokia X 1.0 (Built on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 without Google Services) | Nokia X 1.0 (Built on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 without Google Services) |
| App Store | Nokia App Store for Android Apps(Cannot be used on Google Play)Using Yandex App Store, GetJar & manual APK installations is possible | Nokia App Store for Android Apps(Cannot be used on Google Play)Using Yandex App Store, GetJar & manual APK installations is possible | Nokia App Store for Android Apps(Cannot be used on Google Play)Using Yandex App Store, GetJar & manual APK installations is possible |
| Size | 10.4 x 115.5 x 63mm | 10.4 x 115.5 x 63mm | 10.9 x 141.4 x 77.7 mm |
| Weight | 128.7 g | 128.7 g | 190 g |
| Camera | 3 MP (2048 x 1536 px) | 3MP (2048 x 1536 px) | 5MP (2592 x 1944 px) |
| 4x digital zoom, No Flash, Face recognition, Image editor | 4x digital zoom, No Flash, Face recognition, Image editor | 4x digital zoom, LED Flash, Face recognition, Image editor | |
| 480p video recording @ 30fps | 480p video recording @ 30fps | 480p video recording @ 30fps | |
| Photo & Video Sharing | Facebook, Twitter, Send as mail attachment, Share over Bluetooth | Facebook, Twitter, Send as mail attachment, Share over Bluetooth | Facebook, Twitter, Send as mail attachment, Share over Bluetooth |
| Email Featuers | Native client, Microsoft ActiveSync, Hotmail, Yahoo | Native client, Microsoft ActiveSync, Hotmail, Yahoo | Native client, Microsoft ActiveSync, Hotmail, Yahoo |
| EAS, SMTP, IMAP4, POP3, IMAPS | EAS, SMTP, IMAP4, POP3, IMAPS | EAS, SMTP, IMAP4, POP3, IMAPS | |
| GPS & Maps | HERE Drive & HERE Maps | HERE Drive & HERE Maps | HERE Drive & HERE Maps |
| With Cellular + WiFi network positioning | With Cellular + WiFi network positioning | With Cellular + WiFi network positioning | |
| Connectivity | GSM: 850/900,1800,1900 MHzCDMA: 900MHz, 2100 MHz | GSM: 850/900,1800,1900 MHzCDMA: 900MHz, 2100 MHz | GSM: 850/900,1800,1900 MHzCDMA: 900MHz, 2100 MHz |
| Bluetooth 3.0 | Bluetooth 3.0 | Bluetooth 3.0 | |
| Others | Integration of Skype, Microsoft OneDrive, Outlook.com | Integration of Skype, Microsoft OneDrive, Outlook.com | Integration of Skype, Microsoft OneDrive, Outlook.com |
| Colors | Green, Black, White, Blue, Yellow & Red | Green, Black, White, Blue, Yellow & Red | Green, Black, White, Blue, Yellow & Red |
[/table]
Update: India Release
Nokia X-series phones are launched officially today in India on March 10, 2014, at an event in Mumbai. The Nokia X’s MRP is INR 8599/- which is a bit expensive for the specs. Nokia X+ & Nokia XL dual SIM phones will be launched in India in coming 2 months time. We’ll keep you posted.
Official Hands-on Video
I am happy to have this most-wished combination of software & hardware & it will be interesting to see how these phones are able to fulfill everyone’s wishes in coming time. Not to mention, if Nokia decides to bring in more premium phones with this combination then, it is more likely to eat up Windows Phone market too.
What do you think of these new Nokia X phones? Do share your thoughts in the comments.
