Nokia X review

I’m pretty much convinced that there are millions of people worldwide who were eagerly waiting to see how Nokia works on Android. Until recently something like that was unthinkable, because Nokia is developing phones with Windows Phone platform. Nokia X broke the ice. This interesting little thing came straight into our hands. I have to admit I was very curious to see how all these things actually work in reality. And I want to share that with you. Before you go to reading text, remember two things. Nokia X is first Android phone of this manufacturer. Secondly, this is a budget device.

Nokia X Design

Nokia didn’t run away from its design style. Consequently, Nokia X comes with a distinctive rectangular shape. The phone is made ​​of plastic. Unlike Samsung’s phones, the first Nokia Android phone has a matte surface and comes in six colors (green, black, white, yellow, blue and red). That’s the evidence Nokia didn't have an intention to change the design just because it has changed the OS. The back of the phone can be removed. When you do that, you get the access to the indoors of the phone, where are the batteries, microSD and dual SIM slots. The phone design philosophy is keep all at minimum. This doesn't mean that Nokia X is tasteless phone, but speared of any design innovation. That’s why the phone has only two external buttons. These are the power and the volume control button. Both are located on the right side. At the bottom there is a microUSB port and 3.5mm audio input at the top of the device. On the back there is a basic 3MP camera. Although Nokia X is classified as an Android device, the capacitive buttons don't show like that. Comparing to the three standard keys, there is only one here. It serves to take you back throw the menu or to the home screen by a long press. When you sum up what Nokia X offers in visual terms, we conclude that it is a combination of Asha and the Lumia design. Having again in mind the budget side of the phone, the design is quite elegant. With 115.5 x 63 x 10.4 mm Nokia X is relatively small phone, which has pocket friendly 128g. Thanks to them, the phone is easy to hold in hand. Since the edges are rounded, there’s no chance you will be uncomfortable while working on it. Fingers easily come to every corner of the screen (although we're talking about not too big 4-inch screen. When it comes to build quality, this phone is very pleasant surprise. When you press the phone, there is no annoying crack sound. It looks like Nokia once again did a great job.

Nokia X Screen

The above-mentioned 4-inch screen comes with IPS LCD technology with long outdated resolution of 800x400 pixels. This resolution is a thing of the past, especially at this screen size. Therefore, the pixels are visible, especially if you're used to 720p and better screens. If you are one of non demanding users, even this screen will suit you. The text and icon edges can be a little jagged, but if you don’t plan to give more money for a new phone then this will not be sufficient to reject you from Nokia X buy. Beside this, everything else about the screen is ok. This type of screen is grateful because they offer decent viewing angles. Display color is credible with strong contrast. Despite the good brightness, the screen may become unreadable when it’s exposed to sunlight. Apart from this, we find another downside – it attracts fingerprints quite well. If you're annoyed by this, you should consider buying another phone.

Nokia X Specs and Performance

This isn’t racing phone. For its first Android phone, Nokia has decided to put a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1GHz. With Adreno 203 graphics and 512MB of RAM it makes a solid hardware base. When the internal memory is concerned, Nokia X is poor with only 4GB, and the user gets 1.3 GB only. Luckily, there is microSD slot. Nokia X has enough power to provide average, or a decent experience. The phone works fine, but the delays and waiting for an operation to complete is a regular thing here. Less demanding applications work ok, but with only 512MB of RAM Nokia X can’t match with more demanding apps and video games. The phone has a nice range of connections, with 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth 3.0. Don’t forget the phone is dual SIM also. 1.500mAh battery offers 26 hours of music playback, or about 13 hours of talk time. If you don’t overuse 3G browsing, you can count on all day without charger. Otherwise, you will have to take the charger before going to bed. Nokia X is a dual SIM phone. The good thing is that both cards have access to 3G internet and that you’re available on both numbers constantly. Also, there are settings for each card separately, which is also good.

Nokia X Software

On paper, Nokia X runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS. However, when you look closer, it's hardly Android we are used to see. While the most models have an interface that least resembles the original Android, Nokia X runs on a mixture of Asha and Windows Phone interfaces. This is the kind of Android OS that doesn't have access to Google services, as is usual for this Google’s platform. Nokia X doesn’t offer Google Play Store, Google Maps, Gmail, etc. Instead, Nokia X comes with a Micorsoft services such as OneDrive navigation, Outlook, and HERE Maps. In addition to numerous restrictions, here’s another one. Popular and worshiped HERE Maps offer you the option of using only at one country that you choose at the beginning of setup process. The interface is somehow smooth and easy to use. But, it doesn't help to get more credit. However, the interface is clear. On the home screen you can add folders and widgets. Like the notification bar on Android phones, here we have Fastline, which gathers all the information in one place, but sometimes it can be a bit confusing. Nokia Store is the place where you can find apps. There are sufficient apps, but not even close to Google Play. Among them are the most popular ones, but of course not all. One more thing, there is no option to sync Google contacts and Google calendar for example, which is, in some way, one of the best things of Android OS.

Nokia X Camera

Camera with fixed focus and a 3MP sensor is far from acceptable option, even for budget phone like this. No matter sometimes these cameras were good enough, without auto focus, flash and 5MP there is no hope for this cam. And the camera's interface is a reminder of a past time. It's very simple. At the same time, the shooting time is longer that usual, and the image quality at average. If you have a "clean situation" for shoot and perfect light conditions, photos are ok. Everything else is just unacceptable, and nothing more. However, for the social networks even this can be satisfactorily.

Nokia X Verdict

If you are keen to see Nokia on Android, Nokia X is here. This phone will not delight those who are accustomed to the blessing of Android. With this phone Nokia wanted to fit the gap between Windows Phone and Android. That’s good and bad at the same time, because Nokia X is interesting but not a complete phone. It’s certainly a step forward from the old S40 platform, but still far from Android. Its advantage is certainly low cost. The biggest flaw is a limited access to Google apps and services. Nokia X is intended primarily for emerging markets, where people are looking for a cheaper phone, which still performs basic actions of a smartphone. Photos and video:nokia.com