From Nokia’s next line of phones, there are no more models named with numbers alone. But we still have one more to launch before then…
You probably already know that most phones are split into three areas, and that much of the focus is on two of those. The big, new, and expensive phones sit in the “flagship”, while the “mid-range” houses phones that cost less, yet aim to offer real value for money, basically delivering lots of features without forcing you to spend up big.
But there’s also a category below this that not everyone looks at, and it is growing ever bigger by the day.
The “budget” part of the phone market is geared at pretty much what the name suggests: phones made to fit a budget. Prices of what constitutes “budget” and “mid-range” has changed over the years, especially now that the latter can cost closer to $700 or $800, with budget typically ranging from $100 to $349, give or take a few bucks, but budget is still focused on being properly inexpensive all the same.
And now more than ever, we’re seeing features that the mid-range once saw make their way into phones below that price point.
Essentially, it means you really don’t need to spend much to get a smartphone that looks a little more premium than you might expect.
HMD’s Nokia brand has been working on these for some time, and its latest continues that, even as the company moves past using just numbers in its models names. With new models on the way, Nokia’s local arm is getting out the remainder of its phones, complete with one more budget phone, the Nokia 1.4.
Equipped with a 6.5 inch HD+ screen, the Nokia 1.4 looks big, but packs in modest specs underneath, with the bulk of what makes it big being the screen and the battery, the latter of which is 4000mAh and should last as much as two days.
Spec-wise, the Nokia 1.4 doesn’t have a tremendous going for it, including a Qualcomm 215 chip with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, basically being low-end as far as phones go, though including two cameras on the back, with an 8 megapixel main camera and a 2 megapixel macro, affording a little flexibility in camera capability.
There’s no mobile payment support here, meaning if you want to use mobile payments with the Nokia 1.4, you’ll need to add NFC support using something like a wearable, but the phone itself does come with Android Go edition, which is a lightweight version of Android that supports pretty much everything else.
The price of the Nokia 1.4 might be the draw card for most people considering it, with the 6.5 inch screen hitting Australia on May 9 for $169, basically making it an inexpensive play for people looking for a big smartphone, even if it’s not necessarily the best smartphone around.
Australians can expect to find the Nokia 1.4 from Big W, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, and from Nokia next month.
