HMD
unveiled a new Android Go Edition phone for emerging markets – the Nokia C1. In
Kenya the phone is priced just KES 6,000 - US$ 59/€ 53 – so the specs don’t deviate
much from the Nokia 1 Plus. It will also be available in Nigeria (and other
countries), but we don’t know the price yet.
The
C1 features a 5.45” display with 480 x 960px resolution. It’s an IPS panel,
which means better viewing angles than basic TFTs. Also, this phone sports
toughened glass to guard the screen from scratches.
The
selfie camera on the front has a 5MP sensor and features an LED flash to help
with low light shots (this is a cost-effective alternative to using a beefy
chipset and machine learning). The rear camera also takes 5MP shots and has an
LED flash.
The
phone is powered by an unnamed chipset with a quad-core CPU at 1.3GHz (it’s
most likely a MediaTek chip). It comes with 1GB of RAM as usual for an Android
9 Go Edition phone. There’s also 16GB of built-in storage, which is pretty
generous for this class and can be expanded by microSD cards up to 64GB.
The
Nokia C1 is a dual SIM phone. Note that it lacks LTE connectivity – 3G is the
best you get. Also, the phone only supports Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n). Still, the Go
apps are very good at minimizing data use, so even the slower connection should
work fine.
The
phone’s 2,500mAh battery charges over the microUSB port. There’s also a 3.5mm
headphone jack, which can be used for listening to MP3s as well as FM radio.
You’ll have to supply your own headset, however, as the C1 retail box only
contains the phone, a charger and a quick start guide.
