Nokia X hands on: An ugly but surprisingly functional $120 smartphone

Beneath the synthetic bows of Nokia’s Mobile World Congress tree, listening to (admittedly rather nice) recorded birdsong, I played with the new Nokia X. Unfortunately, the soothing surroundings were not enough to lull me into enough of a soporific stupor that I’d actually enjoy using Nokia’s first Android-powered phone — but still, points to Nokia for trying.

Despite looking like a Lumia phone, the Nokia X (full tech specs here) doesn’t have the Lumia’s soft finish or rounded edges; it’s a lurid colored brick. To call the interface ugly is an understatement. There are Android launchers that ape Windows Phone’s Metro interface better than the Nokia X’s custom UI. To be fair, Nokia probably wasn’t trying to copy Windows Phone exactly — a rather hefty legal suit might ensue if Microsoft’s acquisition fell through — rather, the interface is reminiscent of older Nokia phones, such as the N9 and newer Asha line. The clock, for example, feels like it was taken straight from the N9 — Fastlane, which is kind of a notification-tray-cum-app-switcher, is borrowed from Asha.

I don’t know if it’s the device’s low-res screen (800×480 on a 4-inch screen), or the lack of sub-pixel antialiasing, but reading text on the Nokia X is reminiscent of first-gen Android devices (i.e. not pleasant). Nokia also plans to release an XL variant with a 5-inch screen at the same resolution; I can only imagine that that will look like. The rear camera, at 3 megapixels, is about as good as you’d expect.

PC Mag has some Nokia X benchmarks, if you’re interested

It’s not all bad, though. The stock apps (which are completely devoid of anything Googley) are fine. The stock keyboard allows for gesture-based typing. There’s no Google Play app store — but if the app you’re looking for can’t be found in the Nokia Store, you’re prompted to search some third-party app stores that might have the app you want. The interface, and switching between apps, is actually quite snappy, despite the phone’s low specification (it’s still a dual-core Snapdragon at 1GHz, after all). At the Opera booth, as I poked around their version of Opera for the Nokia X, I was impressed by how smooth the interface was (even if the text makes my eyes bleed).

All in all, the Nokia X is probably a lot better than most other $100 phones out there. It appears to be well-built, has a removable battery, a micro SD card slot, and despite the UI looking rather odd, it actually works quite well. Of course it pales in comparison to the latest US-centric superphones, but the Nokia X will probably never come to the US. I suspect the Nokia X will do just fine in developing markets, where $50-100 phones and installing Android apps from third-party app stores is the norm.