HMD Global adds Nokia 2.2 to its affordable Android One portfolio

After a wild entry of the Nokia 9 PureView into the market and a few mid-range devices after, Nokia now released something that everyone could afford and that’s the new Nokia 2.2. Not that Nokia devices are expensive but the new Nokia 2.2 is designed to provide every smartphone needs in a very affordable price for a brand such as Nokia.

Not only that, its all so affordable price tag is not the only reason that you should get a Nokia but for the fact that this mobile device is part of Nokia’s continuing Android One offering, meaning it will be one of the first few entry-level devices in the market to enjoy Android Q when it finally goes out in the market and the next version after it and a three-year security updates.

The new Nokia 2.2 is built in a sturdy polycarbonate shell with a 5.7-inch IPS Panel having an HD+ resolution. It sport a small waterdrop notch on top that houses a 5 Megapixel front-facing camera.

On the back, the handset comes with a single 13 Megapixel camera with an accompanying LED flash and these imaging hardware are driven by AI which extends the camera features. You’ll notice that it doesn’t include a fingerprint sensor on the back or anywhere else, well that’s would be the case however, Nokia includes a Face Unlock feature on the Nokia 2.2 as a new way to unlock the phone. It’s not the best implementation of device security I know but that’s the only way we have here and it’s also one of the most requested feature on Nokia phones as of late, so that’s probably one reason why it’s there.

The handset is powered by a MediaTek Helio A22 chipset that is having a quad-core CPU. You’ll also get either a 2GB or 3GB of RAM and in 16GB or 32GB storage configurations. There’s also a microSD card support to expand its storage cap.

Connectivity-wise, the Nokia 2.2 comes with all standard features including a 4G connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. wired connectivity unfortunately relies on microUSB that’s responsible for data transfers and charging.

The handset comes with a 3000 mAh battery and is driven by Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. Like we’ve said earlier, it seems like the new Nokia 2.2 will be one of the first entry-level devices to readily take Android Q at the very first stage of the OS public release making it as one of the key marketing advantage over other devices on its segment.

Not available to most devices, the Nokia 2.2 will come with a dedicated Google Assistant button which will fire-up the Google assistant instantly as needed.

The new Nokia 2.2 will have an Indian launch on June 11 and will be available in Black and Steel color options. As for its pricing, the 2GB/16GB variant is priced at INR 6,999 that’s around US$100. The 3GB/32GB on the other hand adds another INR 1,000 on top of the base price and that would equal to just US$115.

The new handset will hit the global market eventually but Nokia still hasn’t disclose the exact dates of its release.