Nokia X: Better than Android phones in its price band

Nokia took many by surprise when it announced its tryst with Android, despite the Finnish giant's close relation with Microsoft.

Though the company came out with several stunning smartphones in the Lumia range backed by Microsoft's Windows operating system, it often appeared to be plagued by the limitations that Windows comes with.

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But one has to adapt to changing circumstances and Nokia did precisely that by coming out with the device that we are speaking of, Nokia X. 

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It's not the high-end phone with a slick design and record-breaking camera that people might have been looking forward to but it's running Android for real and is possibly one of the most important products Nokia has ever released.

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The major problem that Nokia encountered due to the Windows platform was that it is highly unsuitable for low-end devices. On the other hand, Android pushed downwards steadily and is now visible in phones that cost as less as Rs 5,000.

Anyway, enough of history lessons.  

Let's now get down to the basics and analyse the device in question.

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Design and Display

The Nokia X is based on the Lumia- and Asha-like designs that we have come to know of late. The device features a clean and minimalist look with an impressive build quality that's best delivered by Nokia. At the first look, you would feel like it's a smartphone with a unibody construction but no, it has a removable back cover. The body sports a easy-to-the-fingers matte finish.

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The 4-inch IPS LCD screen seems decent for viewing both indoors and outdoors. At the back, there's a 3MP camera and a speaker grill. The volume rocker is on the right side, alongside the power/lock key. 

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The left hand of the phone remains buttonless with a clean and refreshed look. The top half of the smartphone holds the 3.5mm headphone jack, while the microUSB port for charging and data transfer sits at the bottom.

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The display has a resolution of 233 pixels an inch, obviously low in comparison to what we generally see these days. The absence of a Gorilla glass hurts, as it makes the screen highly vulnerable to scratches.

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OS, apps and performance

The operating system that backs the Nokia X is a forked version, courtesy the Android Open Source Project, and does not come with the usual Google-based applications and services highly popular on devices running on Android. It runs on Jelly Bean 4.1.2, a thing of the past. 

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Getting into the device a bit, we feel the idea of live tiles is really cool. 

And, the way it incorporates with the Android-like offering that's powering the device just shows you what Nokia intends to offer to its fans, with an aim to make their life as easy as possible with the X.

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The Nokia X comes loaded with a host of popular applications and games.

These include the BBM and WeChat instant messaging services, Facebook, Twitter and games such as Fruit Ninja, Tetris, Bejeweled 2 and Real Football 2014. Users may uninstall these to free up memory. However, that doesn't remove them completely; to restore the apps the user can choose the factory reset option.

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Camera and battery

The Nokia X comes with a 3.15MP fixed-focus camera at the back that often disappoints. You would notice the images that you ...

Verdict

The Nokia X can be quite difficult to get used to initially but once you get past the hurdle of a new interface, it is not that bad at Rs 8,599.

Nokia is obviously capable of building a fantastic ecosystem around Android but their hands are tied. The company's devices business will soon be owned by Microsoft and it has for many years been making decisions based on the partnership between the two.

For this reason, we're not sure how long the Nokia X platform will last. Whether there would be frequent updates or not is dicey. But if you aren't worried about life expectancy and platform updates a few years down the line, this is not a bad buy.

NOKIA X

Price: Rs 8,599

Dimensions: 115.5 x 63 x 10.4 mm

Screen: IPS LCD capacitive; 480x800 pixels (233 an inch); 4 inches

Weight: 128.7 g

OS: Android JellyBean 4.1.2

RAM: 512MB

Memory: 4GB internal

Camera: Primary 3.15 MP, no flash

Battery: 1,500 mAh Li-ion