#NokiaMWC Hands-on: Nokia X and X+

While Asha is doing really great in the low-cost market, Nokia is adding more handsets into the line-up with a more capable Android-based Nokia X and X+.

That’s probably the reason behind the release of the Nokia X — a more robust smartphone with access to the biggest app ecosystem in the world running on a Nokia hardware.

With the Nokia X priced at just €89 (roughly Php5,500USD 94INR 7,945EUR 89CNY 683), it hovers in the territory of a lot of low-cost Android devices out there.

The Nokia X looks and feels just like the previous Asha handsets with a hint of the Lumia 5xx series. Nokia also brought the colorful finish to the Nokia X, a solid polycarbonate material and a fully customized Nokia X software platform.

The UI is also similar to the Live Tiles of the Lumia series with the common apps already pre-installed along with some of the proprietary apps from Nokia like HERE.

The hardware configuration is pretty basic for both the Nokia X and the Nokia X+ although the X+ has more RAM (768MB) versus the latter (512MB).

Nokia X specs:
4.0-inch IPS LCD display @ 800×480 pixels, 233ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.0GHz dual-core
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
Single-SIM (micro-SIM) or Dual-SIM
3G/HSPA 7.2Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
3MP rear camera
115.5 x 63 x 10.4mm
128.7 grams
Li-Ion 1,500mAh
Nokia X software platform 1.0 (Android Jellybean based platform)

The Nokia X also comes in either single SIM or dual-SIM configuration. The Nokia X is immediately available today with a suggested retail price of €89 (about Php5,500USD 94INR 7,945EUR 89CNY 683). In comes in a variety of colors — white, black, blue, green, yellow and red.

The Nokia X+ has same design as the Nokia X but with slightly better configuration, specifically the additional RAM and a 4GB microSD card included in the box.

Nokia X+ specs:
4.0-inch IPS LCD display @ 800×480 pixels, 233ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1.0GHz dual-core
768MB RAM
4GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD (4GB included)
Single-SIM (micro-SIM) or Dual-SIM
3G/HSPA 7.2Mbps
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
3MP rear camera
115.5 x 63 x 10.4mm
128.7 grams
Li-Ion 1,500mAh
Nokia X software platform 1.0 (Android Jellybean based platform)

The soft button at the bottom end of the front panel is a single Back button which slightly departs from the usual Android soft menu.

It is also interesting to note that the Nokia X+ uses a micro-SIM card.

The Nokia X+ will be available sometime in the 2nd quarter of 2014 with a suggested retail price of €99 (roughly Php6,100USD 104INR 8,812EUR 99CNY 757).