After Disappearing With Their Brand Between Their Legs Nokia Is Back Spruiking Bottom End Smartphones
Nokia is back spruiking a new range of smartphones despite the brand collapsing in a heap the last time they competed in the Australian market.
After departing with their brand between their legs, the Finish Company who went from #1 to nowhere, is now trying to get a seat back at the smartphone table, with a range of cheap bottom end models that will compete up against several strong value brands such as Motorola, Alcatel, HTC and LG. They are also going to have to compete with the likes of Huawei, Oppo and ZTE.
The three-new bottom end Nokia models all cost less than $400 but unlike the last time round the brand will at this stage will not be available via carriers, Telstra, Optus or Vodafone who appear to have shunned the brand in favour of other value offerings.
The new bottom end Nokia 3 will cost you $249, $329 for Nokia 5 and $399 for Nokia 6.
In another strange move, the PR Company for Nokia One Green Bean chose to brief an Enterprise newspaper ahead of established consumer media a day ahead of their launch earlier today.
This resulted in both an AAP and an Australian story appearing before their launch to other media earlier today.
The Nokia 6 which is made from a single slab of aluminium has a standard 8-core processor, 32GB of storage which like most smartphones can be expanded with a microSD card, it also has a 16 & 8 megapixel cameras, and a 5.5-inch display.
The phones were launched by Arto Nummela, the boss of HMD global, the start-up comprising hundreds of former Nokia staff which bought Nokia’s feature phone business back from Microsoft.
He chose to only do an interview with the Australian newspaper ahead of the launch, what has not been explained is why Nokia is targeting an Enterprise business publication, which is where Nokia were strong 10 years ago Vs consumer publications such as CNet, SmartHouse, Good Gear Guide and Gizmodo who reach audiences that their new devices are pitched at.
“I’m a Finnish person. This is even deeper in my genes. I loved the brand the minute I started working with it, Nummela told The Australian yesterday.
One of the team responsible for Nokia’s past failings Nummela has not said whether Nokia plans to enter the premium end of the smartphone market.
The Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6 are all 4G LTE phones, and run Android Nougat 7. Two have Android 7.1.1.
Nokia is promising monthly updates to the operating system.
A major weakness of the new models is that they are running a bottom Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor which some observers claim does not have the power to deliver the same performance as some of their competitors.
With the Nokia 6 the 16 MP rear camera has phase detection, auto focus and there is an 8MP selfie camera on the front.
Nummela claims that sales were going gangbusters especially in China among young people who hadn’t necessarily encountered the Nokia brand before.
It appears that where the Nokia brand was known sales are not as going as well as in markets where the brand was not known.
Available from late next month at JB Hi Fi and Harvey Norman, the specs are as follows.
Nokia 3 ($249)
Nokia 3
Nokia 3
• Network speed: LTE Cat. 4, 150Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
• OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
• CPU: MTK 6737, Quad-core 1.3Ghz
• RAM: 2 GB LPPDDR 3
• Storage: 16 GB internal user memory with MicroSD card slot (up to 128 GB support)
• Display: 5.0 inches IPS LCD HD (1280 x 720, 16:9), Gorilla Glass, Polariser, 450 nits
• Camera: 8MP AF, 1.12um, f/2, flash; Front facing camera: 8MP AF, 1.12um, f/2, FOV 84 degrees
• Connectivity & sensors: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, BT 4.2, GPS/AGPS, FM/RDS, NFC (sharing), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer (G-sensor), Ecompass, Gyroscope, Hall sensor, Micro USB (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm
• Battery: Integrated 2630 mAh battery
• Audio: Single speaker
• Dimensions: 143.4 x 71.4 x 8.48mm (8.68mm with camera bump)
Nokia 5 ($329)
Nokia 5 with silver edges
Nokia 5 with silver edges
• Network speed: LTE Cat. 4, 150Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
• OS: Android 7.1.1 Nougat
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 mobile platform
• RAM: 2 GB LPPDDR 3
• Storage: 16 GB internal user memory with MicroSD card slot (up to 128 GB support)
• Display: 5.2 inches IPS LCD HD (1280 x 720, 16:9), Gorilla Glass, laminated, sunlight readability, polariser 500 nits
• Camera: 13MP PDAF, 1.12um, f/2, dual tone flash; Front facing camera: 8MP AF, 1.12um, f/2, FOV 84 degrees
• Connectivity & sensors: Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer (G-sensor), E-compass, Gyroscope, Hall sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, BT 4.1, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+BDS, FM/RDS, NFC (sharing), ANT+, Micro USB (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm
• Battery: Integrated 3000 mAh battery
• Audio: Single Speaker with Smart Amplifier (TFA9891)
• Dimensions: 149.7 x 72.5 x 8.05mm (8.55mm with camera bump)
Nokia 6 ($399)
Nokia 6 black
Nokia 6 black
• Network speed: LTE Cat. 4, 150Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
• OS: Android 7.1.1 Nougat
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 mobile platform
• RAM: 3 GB LPPDDR 3
• Storage: 32 GB internal user memory with MicroSD card slot3 up to 128 GB support
• Display: 5.5” IPS LCD full HD (1920 x 1080, 16:9), Gorilla Glass, 403 ppi pixel density, sunlight readability, 450 nits, laminated
• Camera: Primary camera: 16MP PDAF, 1.0um, f/2, dual tone flash; Front facing camera: 8MP AF, 1.12um, f/2, FOV 84 degrees
• Connectivity & Sensors: Micro USB (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ecompass, Gyroscope, Hall sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, NFC
(sharing), Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, BT 4.1, GPS/AGPS +GLONASS+BDS, FM/RDS, ANT+, FM/RDS
• Battery: Integrated 3000 mAh battery
• Audio: Dual Speakers with Smart Amplifier (TFA9891) with Dolby Atmos
• Dimensions: 154 x 75.8 x 7.85mm (8.4mm with camera bump)
