Nokia is back in the consumer phone business. It will launch a budget phone in the first quarter of 2017. The new Nokia 150 is expected to cost around $43 inclusive of GST. A Dual SIM version will also be available.

Nokia 150 is an extremely competitively priced phone targeted at users that don’t require a fully-fledged smartphone. The phone does stand out from the crowd since it doesn’t run on Android like many other budget phones. Instead, it uses its home-grown Nokia Series 30+ OS. The QVGA display is rather good for a feature phone and measures 2.4-inch with 240 x 320 pixels. This is a far cry from the screen capabilities that leading smartphone brands offer, but still sufficient to watch videos and photos. Nokia 150 comes equipped with a VGA camera.

Nokia phones always offered good connectivity, and Nokia 150 sports both a micro-USB port and Bluetooth 3.0. There’s also a microSD slot for storing 32 GB.

Do the new Nokia feature phones still resemble bricks? The answer to many consumers is yes. The case is made of polycarbonate, which isn’t a shiny material like glass and aluminium. However, it’s scratch resistant and handles malhandling better than its more expensive peers.

HMD Global Oy Exclusive Marketing Deal

The firm HMD Global Oy (HMD) has exclusive rights to market Nokia phones. The company reached a deal with Foxconn and Microsoft to develop, manufacture and market Nokia phones. Nokia will be paid royalties for each sale of Nokia branded phones.

Availability

Nokia 150 comes in two colours: black and white. The new phone will be available in select markets in Asia Pacific in the first quarter of 2017. It remains to be seen whether hit will reach New Zealand shores.