Between a long string of mobile announcements ahead of MWC today, Nokia and HMD Global's event brings us not one, not two, but three highly anticipated mobile devices today: two new mid-range Android phones, the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5, and the reboot of one particularly beloved feature phone from yesteryear.
The fanfare is much larger for Nokia at MWC, but these devices aren’t the Nokia brand’s first return to mobile since its short life with Microsoft. HMD Global, the company that licenses the Nokia brand name, revealed the mid-range Nokia 6 on January 8th earlier in the year, but only for release in China. As a part of today’s announcement, the Nokia 6 will soon be available globally for €239/$252.
With an aluminum body and 5.2-inch HD display, the Nokia 5 appears to be the happy middle between the Nokia 6 and the Nokia 3. The device uses an octa-core Snapdragon processor, and features 2GB of RAM. It also features 16GB of internal storage, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, an 8-megapixel camera on the front, and a 3,000 mAh battery. It will run Android Nougat out of the box. It will come in Tempered Blue, Copper, Black, and Silver. The Nokia 5 will retail for €189/$199.
The Nokia 3 is the least powerful of the three Nokia Androids. This device is also made from aluminum and has a 5-inch HD display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 8-megapixel front and rear-facing cameras, and has a 2,650 mAh battery. €139/$147.
Probably the most anticipated device of the event was shown last-minute, and with simple selling points: 22 hours of talk time, 1-month standby time, and of course, the important features: “It has Snake, and it has Nokia ringtone.” The new Nokia 3310 looks to come in a variety of colors such as white, black, red, and yellow. However, if you’re not interested in partying like it’s 2000, you can now play Snake directly through Facebook Messenger. Pricing for the Nokia 3310 reboot wasn't announced, but we'll update the article when we find out more.
Although today was focused on budget-friendly devices and appeals to nostalgia, HMD Global is expected to come out with a Nokia flagship sometime later this year. Still, HMD Global takes “budget-friendly” to a new level with the promise of monthly security updates, a relatively “pure” version of Android, and the addition of Google Assistant, which was announced to be coming to all Android devices on version 6.0 and above earlier today. With prices ranging from €139 for the Nokia 3 to €299 for the special edition of the Nokia 6, Nokia could very well be the next big contender for the highly competitive affordable smartphone market.
Readers, what are your thoughts on Nokia’s latest devices? Will Nokia be your next Android (or feature phone) device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
