HMD Global’s latest budget smartphone, the Nokia 2.3, is available for purchase in the country.
The device was announced only last week at an event in Egypt.
At the event, HMD Global’s General Manager for Global Portfolio Planning, Pranav Shroff, made the case for the latest member of the Nokia 2 series by citing the over 200 million smartphone buyers that the local equivalent of the Kshs 10,000 – 15,000 bracket usually attracts.
That provided the biggest hint of the company’s plans for the device which, as revealed today, are going head to head with market leader Transsion Holdings (the mother company of popular smartphone brands Tecno, Infinix and itel) by offering the Nokia 2.3 for Kshs 12,300.
The Nokia 2.3 packs a 6.2-inch HD+ display, the largest ever in the Nokia 2 series, with a 19:9 aspect ratio to accommodate the teardrop notch at the top, a MediaTek Helio A22 processor, a 13-megapixel camera coupled with a 2-megapixel depth sensor, 2GB memory and 32 GB internal storage (expandable up to 512GB using a microSD card).
There is also a 4,000mAh battery that HMD Global claims should last for up to 2 days.
The device also has several touted AI features including the Android Pie Assisted Battery feature as well as the Nokia 2.3-specific “advanced imaging” for “better” low-light shots and “Recommended Shot” which takes 15 photos before and 15 images after the camera shutter button is pressed within a second in order to recommend the best shot.
Like other Nokia smartphones launched this year, it also comes with a dedicated button for triggering the Google Assistant.
HMD Global is known for speedily availing the latest versions of Android to its devices but the Nokia 2.3 doesn’t arrive running the latest version of Android. It is running on Android 9 Pie. The company is promising that the Android 10 update, as can be expected, is on the way.
