I am not one to pick up mobile device rumours these days, true as they may be. They can be tiring since it’s an endless circus and, they’re almost always right, anyway. So why not wait until the real thing lands? That’s what I have been doing for almost a year now. However, some of the gossip in the rumour mill is just too juicy, and times puzzling, to just keep to ourselves. Like the latest: HMD Global’s reportedly upcoming entry-level smartphone.
Word on the grapevine is that HMD Global plans to release an even cheaper Nokia-branded smartphone going by the name Nokia 2. Yeah, that. If like yours truly, you thought that the Nokia 3 was the cheapest smartphone we were going to see from HMD Global then you are in for a shock and some unsettling news. The Nokia 2 will go where the Nokia 3 couldn’t dream of going: the shallow end of the cheap smartphone swimming pool.
According to reports feeding off the device’s regulatory filings, budget-conscious smartphone buyers have something to look forward to. Qualcomm’s entry-level Snapdragon 212 processor, a 5-inch HD display (imagine!), LTE connectivity, Android 7.1 Nougat and a whopping 4,000mAh battery are some of the interesting features expected to complement the completely normal 1GB RAM and 8GB onboard storage the device is expected to pack.
If unconfirmed media reports are anything to go by then the Nokia 2 will cost just under Kshs 10,000, a sweet spot that is the subject of a heated battle in the Kenyan market between siblings Tecno and Infinix with their Spark and Smart smartphone series and the competition, Samsung, Huawei and others.
I might as well put off any plans to buy and take the Nokia 3 for a spin. I mean, what’s better than a sub-Kshs 10,000 4G smartphone running pure Android, with a battery that lasts two days and guaranteed to receive security updates from Google every month? Maybe that Xiaomi Android One smartphone which won’t be as cheap as we’re hearing the Nokia 2 will be.
Update: the lead image used in this article has been updated with a purported leaked image of the Nokia 2 courtesy of @evleaks
