With Nokia officially announcing its first ever family of Android
smartphones - the Nokia X family consisting of the Nokia X,
Nokia X+ and Nokia XL, it looks like the embattled phone manufacturer is back in fighting form, if based on the level of interest their newest candy-colored smartphones generated during its unveiling at the Mobile World Congress 2014.
Before you ge excited though, Nokia's new family is not a Google-certified
project and thus the X phones won't run Google Play Services such as
the Play Store, Gmail and Chrome. This is by no means something to be dismissed as Nokia and Microsoft have worked hard
though to integrate their core services and apps.
The integration means all X-phones will have the excellent Nokia HERE Maps, as well
as the Microsoft OneCloud (former SkyDrive) and Skype. Eager users will be
free to sideload any Android app they want and can download new apps
easily from the dedicated Nokia store and Yandex Store, which is quite
popular in Russia.
The Nokia X+ and XL share the same chipset - a 1GHz dual-core
Snapdragon S4 with 768MB of RAM. The Nokia X is the only one with just
512MB of RAM.
Nokia X: At a Glance
The Nokia X features a 4" IPS LCD display of WVGA (480 x 800 pixels)
resolution. Colors are okay, brightness and contrast are reasonable, but
nothing to really get excited about
.
Under the hood, the entire Nokia X range shares the same 1GHz
dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset, with only the X somewhat limited at
512MB of RAM. Internal storage is just 4GB, but is expandable up to
32GB.
Nokia X live photos
At the back of the Nokia X there's a 3MP fixed focus camera, but no
front-facer. The phone weighs 129 grams and packs a 1500mAh battery.
It's good for 10.5 hours of 3G talk time and a maximum standby time of
17 days. It is also capable of up to 26 hours of music playback, while
video playback time is quoted at 8.4 hours.
Nokia X live photos
The build quality of the X is superb. The plastic feels nice as with
most recent Nokia smartphones and isn't a ferocious fingerprint magnet.
It's quite sturdy too.
You will be happy to learn that Nokia's version of the Android OS runs well on the X, lower RAM notwithstanding.
The Nokia X+: Big Brother
The Nokia X+ is technically the big brother of Nokia X, if only for the bump in RAM allocation - 512MB to 768MB. This increase is pretty significant though because it actually makes a difference in terms of actual
experience.
Switching between apps is a bit faster as is navigating around the
operating system. You'll also be able to play a bit more demanding games
too, which will otherwise be unplayable on the lower RAM on the X
The build quality and feel of the X+ is identical to the X and both have the same color options.
The bump in RAM increases the price of the X+ also adds a bit to the price of the
Nokia X so you'll have to decide if reaching deeper into
your pockets for the X+ is worth it.
The Nokia XL: Larger and Better than its Siblings
The Nokia XL features a 5" IPS LCD display of WVGA resolution and before you let out that loud sigh,
it's not all that bad. As an entry level smartphone, you shouldn't expect much from the phone, just enough to satisfy your craving for a capable Nokia shell running Android underneath.
The Android experience on the Nokia XL is reasonably smooth. The
phone runs a version of Jelly Bean as far as we could tell, but the
exact version is not specified. The 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset
does a good job of running and switching between two screens and multiple apps.
Nokia has also included a bunch of its Lumia apps on the XL including
its Store, Camera, Mix Radio and HERE Maps. Microsoft's presence is
also felt with the addition of Skype and OneCloud apps. Speaking of
which, XL users will get 10GB of free OneCloud storage as well as 1
month free of Skype Premium. Speaking of goodies, Nokia also includes a
4GB microSD card in the XL's package.
.
The Nokia XL is made of plastic with an exclusive paint job that the X
and X+ don't get - bright orange. The finish feels very nice to the
touch, similar to the Nokia Asha 501 and Lumia 1320.
At the back of the phone, there's a 5MP camera with LED flash. As you
can see from the photos, there's a large physical key below the
display, which acts like a Home/back button. The user interface is
overly simple too, with two main screens - the app list screen and
fastlane.
The list of apps is reminiscent of the WP8 home screen with resizable
app tiles. The larger the tile, the more information it displays. For
example expanding the People's tile will display your favorite contacts,
while the Gallery will show the latest photos you've snapped.
The XL measures 141.4 mm x 77.7 mm x 10.9mm with a weight of 190g. The back covers are replaceable.
The Nokia X line is sure to give OEMs running Android a run for their money. The colorful shell, snappy performance, and the host of Nokia freebies will surely attract a lot of users raring to join the Android bandwagon, after all, Nokia is known for manufacturing high-quality phones, high-end or otherwise.
It would be interesting to note how Nokia can benefit from finally joining the Android platform but as it is, they've actually managed to capture a lot of attention, and that's just with three phones. From what we see, Nokia is going to change the way people look at Android and we can't wait to see how it goes for them.
