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HMD tosses a ton of cheap Nokia smartphones at the US
- At a Nokia CES 2022 event, HMD Global launched a slew of new budget Android phones.
- The most powerful phone is the $239 Nokia G400 which reportedly has a Snapdragon 480.
- All the phones are exclusively headed to the United States.
HMD Global has focused its Nokia smartphones on the budget segment over the last few years. It won’t be halting this strategy in 2022 either, as it’s just announced a variety of sub-$250 smartphones for the US market as part of CES 2022.
Unfortunately, the Nokia brand licensee refused to officially divulge some key specs to us. This includes fundamentals such as the chipsets in use or all the camera details. As such, it’s tough to gauge whether these phones are good value for money or overpriced devices of which you should steer clear.
Nokia G400 and G100
Starting with the most capable device of the lot, the Nokia G400 is the only 5G phone announced today. You’re getting a solid proposition here on paper, namely 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 6.6-inch 120Hz LCD screen, and a 5,000mAh battery. According to Phandroid, the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 480 SoC, which is a budget 5G chipset that should still deliver a good everyday experience.
The Nokia G400 also gains a distinctly budget triple rear camera system. That includes a 48MP main, 5MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro sensor. In other words, it sounds like the G400 might be worth a look if you want a relatively modern budget phone with a few extra bells and whistles.
See also: The best camera phones you can get
Moving down a step we’ve got the Nokia G100. This brings a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD panel, a 5,000mAh battery, and a triple rear camera setup. Phandroid asserts the G100 is powered by the Snapdragon 615 processor. If confirmed, that would mean HMD is using a budget processor that’s over five years old. Qualcomm first announced the Snapdragon 615 in 2014.
If confirmed, HMD using this chipset would be incredibly perplexing. Instead, it could’ve simply chosen a more recent (but still old) chipset such as the Snapdragon 439, Snapdragon 450, or MediaTek’s Helio A and P series. Either way, we wouldn’t expect many Android version updates with this phone if the Snapdragon 615 is indeed on board.
We’ve asked HMD to confirm whether the Nokia G100 does indeed use the old Snapdragon SoC, but the firm didn’t get back to us at the time of publication.
Nokia C100 and C200
Need something a little cheaper than the G series? Then the Nokia C200 fits the bill, with HMD saying it has a solitary rear camera, a 6.1-inch HD+ LCD screen, and a 4,000mAh battery.
Finally, the cheapest smartphone in the lot is the Nokia C100. Expect a 5.45-inch LCD screen, a single 8MP rear camera, and a 3,000mAh battery.
Nokia CES 2022 phones: Pricing and availability
HMD says the Nokia G400 has a recommended price of $239 while the Nokia G100 has an RRP of $149. Both phones are slated to arrive in Q2 2022, so we’re in for a wait yet.
Meanwhile, the Nokia C200 has a recommended price tag of $119 and the Nokia C100 will set you back $99. The C200 is slated for a Q2 launch window as well, while the C100 arrives in Q1 2022.
The company also announced a new flip phone, dubbed the Nokia 2760 Flip. This 4G device is powered by the KaiOS smart feature platform and will retail for $79.
Nevertheless, if one thing is for sure, it’s that you should probably stay away from the G100 in particular if it’s using the Snapdragon 615. Even other ~$150 (or cheaper) smartphones like the Redmi 9A and the firm’s previous Nokia G10 would be offering more modern SoCs. And these newer chips offer support for faster cellular speeds, updated GPUs, and more efficient manufacturing processes.