Introduction
The Nokia X is one of the Finns' first ever smartphones to run Android and yet it may not be the Android phone you've been looking for. Perhaps you've been looking in the wrong place? Nokia will certainly like you to think so. To be honest though - never mind the Normandy codename - this is obviously not the D-day in smartphones.
The Nokia X was not made to compete with the best out there. It is the exact opposite of a flagship - low-cost hardware delivering reasonable performance at a bargain price. No Google services but Nokia's and Microsoft's instead. No Google Play Store but plenty of Android apps in the Nokia and other stores. No Android level of customization but a blend of Lumia and Asha simplicity. It's Android like you never seen it before. Intrigued?
Nokia X official pictures
The operating system is built on the Android Open Source Project, which in turn is been based on 4.1 Jelly Bean, but looks nothing like. On the inside and outside, this is more like Asha with a Windows Phone twist. Fastlane meets resizable tiles - a simple to use combo, user friendly and light on the hardware.
Key features
- Quad-band GSM, GPRS, EDGE
- Dual-band 3G with HSPA
- Optional dual-SIM support, dual standby
- Nokia X software platform 1.0, based on the Android Open Source Project
- 4" IPS LCD WVGA capacitive touchscreen, ~233 ppi
- 1.0 GHz dual-core Cortex-A5 processor, Adreno 203 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon S4 Play chipset
- 512MB RAM
- Proximity sensor, accelerometer, display auto-rotation
- 4GB internal storage (1.2GB available to the user)
- Nokia HERE maps with free lifetime voice-guided navigation and offline maps support
- Data-efficient Nokia Xpress browser
- Nokia MixRadio
- Nokia Glance screen, double-tap-to-unlock
- 3.15 MP camera, FWVGA video recording @30fps
- microSD card support (up to 32 GB)
- Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity
- FM radio
- Bluetooth v3.0
- Standard microUSB port, charging
- 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery
Main disadvantages
- No Google services (Play, Gmail, Maps, Calendar, Drive), you can't even sync contacts
- Fixed-focus camera
- No front camera
- Budget-grade hardware may result in system bottlenecks
- No smart dialing
- No document reader
The absence of Google services is surely a deal-breaker for those hoping to get the pure Android experience on a Nokia phone. Of course, the Nokia and Microsoft's alternatives are there: HERE Maps and Navigation (instead of Google Maps), OneDrive (instead of Google Drive), Nokia Mail (instead of Gmail), Nokia Store (instead of Google Play). Ultimately, you won't be able to sync your Google Contacts and Calendar but Nokia pushing its own agenda is hardly a surprise.
The Nokia X has a simple objective: keep cheap droids at bay. But not Samsung's, LG's or Sony's cheap droids - it's the countless - nameless - dirt-cheap Android-powered smartphones Nokia worries about. They're a real threat to their Asha lineup in developing markets and entry-level Lumias elsewhere.
Nokia X at ours
With the X-line, the Finns are sticking a competitively-priced smartphone in your hands, and save you the embarrassing disputes about how smart the Ashas really are. And hey, the Nokia X and its siblings have to be cheap not only because they compete with the cheapest of droids. It's because the Lumia line needs to feel like an upgrade - which is the ultimate goal.
Politics aside, everything else about the X-line seems pretty straightforward. Asha simplicity and Windows Phone aesthetics thrown in the Android shaker. Done teasing you, our traditional exterior close-up comes next.
Nokia X runs on unrecognizable Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Nokia X is the company's first smartphone running on Android. Well, sort of. Nokia X is officially calling it the Nokia X Software Platform v1.0, which is basically a forked version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Long story short - it's Android where the Google services have been replaced by Microsoft ones and a custom Nokia launcher.
Let's take a look at Nokia's custom launcher. It's a mix between the latest Asha Software platform and Windows Phone with an entirely new twist here and there. There is a Glance screen with notifications, there is also the quite familiar lockscreen. Swiping it reveals one of the two homescreens - the app drawer and the Fastlane.
Nokia X Software Platform user interface - Glance, Lock, Home, Fastlane screens
The lockscreen doesn't have any active shortcuts to directly launch apps but it will display notifications for missed calls, incoming messages, installed apps or calendar events. Depending on which side you swipe such notification it will either take you to the relevant app (right) or it'll be dismissed (left).
The app drawer on Nokia X looks a lot like a Windows Phone homescreen - all apps shortcuts look like Windows Phone live tiles. They are resizable too and you can even change the base color of each tile. What's different is actually none of those tiles is "live" due to the hardware limitations of the device. This homescreen will list of all your installed apps, so it might get really long if you are lazy not to organize your shortcuts in folders.
The app drawer homescreen • changing a tile's color • search is available too
Standard Android widgets are also supported - you get the familiar analogue clock, calendar, email, Facebook, Power Control Deck and more. Apps that come with a dedicated widget, such as the BBM, will also appear in the widget menu too. We suggest not to use too many widgets though because they may noticeably impact the overall system performance.
The widget list
Swiping left or right the app drawer will take you to the other homescreen called Fastlane. Those of you familiar with the Asha user interface will recognize it immediately. The Fastlane keeps track of all your recent activity, opened apps go there, recent web pages, along with contacts you've called, messages and emails, calendar events (birthdays, to-dos), recently installed apps, recently shared content, recently taken notes and pictures, radio stations, and even social network posts, replies, likes and goings-on. The music player and the FM radio, if active, will also appear here.
Fastlane homescreen • Personalizing Fastlane
Fastlane can be personalized from the Settings menu. You can opt out of some of the services and notifications in case you are getting overloaded with content.
The Settings menu
You can tap pull down the status bar to show notifications for missed events and quick toggles for sound profiles, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile data.
The Notification area • A contextual menu
Contextual menus, if available, are accessible by swiping up from the bottom of the display. If an app supports such menu, you'll get a small virtual handle at the bottom, so you won't have to guess if there are additional settings or not.
Nokia HERE Maps with voice-guided offline navigation
Nokia X comes with an integrated GPS receiver and the company is bringing their own mapping solutions to the table - the unified HERE Maps app, which is pretty much as powerful as its Windows Phone famous sibling.
Nokia HERE Maps is the premium app - it offers free, life-time voice-guided navigation. All you have to do is download a voice in your language of choice and you're good to go. Of course, to make use of the key selling point of HERE - offline navigation - you have to download a map for your country.
Nokia Here Maps
HERE Maps can only be used for navigation in your home country, but not abroad. Even if you buy a new SIM when visiting abroad, it will not change the license.
Activating the Drive navigation
With HERE Maps you can easily plan routes (no data connection needed) and you can choose whether the app will use or avoid motorways, toll roads, ferries, tunnels, unpaved roads and motor trains. There are icons to remind you of the selected settings.
Drive uses big, clear instructions on its screen in addition to the voice prompts, which is ideal for in-car use. You can switch between 2D and 3D mode and switch the color scheme (day, night, auto). There are speed alerts and real-time traffic information.
Tweaking the route-planning algorithm
Nokia Store
Since Nokia X doesn't have Google Play onboard, Nokia had to come up with its own solution. Nokia Store is the dedicated app repository for the Nokia X Platform. Nokia claims 75% of all available Android apps are fully compatible with the Nokia X Platform, the developers just need to submit their apk file to the store.
Nokia Store
The remaining 25% of Android applications available in the Play Store require tweaking in order to work on Nokia X as calls to Google services need to be replaced with ones to Microsoft replacements. Nokia promises the developers won't lose more than 2 hours to do the necessary changes.
We opened Google Play Store on one of our standard Android phones and checked the Editor's Choice, Top 30 Paid and Top 30 Free sections, then we searched for those apps on the Nokia's.
What we found is that the X phones use an interesting setup – there's Nokia's app store, but there are several others preinstalled too.
If an app isn't available in Nokia's store, but is available in one of the others, it will show up in the search results. Just tap on it and the other app store will launch and repeat the search. We spotted 4-5 different app stores in our searches. Apps marked with a * are from other app stores.
| Available | Missing |
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As you can see the list of missing apps is longer, but a big portion of those are games, where entry-level phones are always going to be limited. And some of the apps you might be missing can be sided-loaded - as is the case NOVA Launcher. The social networking apps (Facebook and Twitter) and the popular chat apps (WhatsApp, Skype, Line, even Telegram) are all on board and even some popular keyboard replacements such as SwiftKey and Swype are here.
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