Two new phones were announced by Microsoft today. They aren’t the Lumia flagships that we’re all salivating over, in fact they are under the Nokia brand, but they do have their place in the world. The Nokia 222 and Nokia 222 Dual-SIM offer tremendous battery life and call time while also having basic internet connectivity functionality. Internet-enabled phones are great for people on a budget or for packing in an emergency preparedness kit thanks to their outstanding battery life and low price tag. The Nokia 222s roll out in September and are $37 before taxes and subsidies.
The biggest draw by far is the battery. The single SIM variant of the Nokia 222 has a whopping 29 days of standby battery while the dual-SIM variant has 21 days. In a Lumia Conversations post highlighting the new devices they also advertise up to 20 hours of talk time for both and list 45 hours of FM radio playback and 50 hours of MP3 playback. They didn’t clarify which variant the FM radio and MP3 stats were for.
The looks of the devices, shown off in the video above, bring back memories of the early 2000’s. The long rectangular design, hard buttons that take up half the device, and a small screen are reminiscent of much older mobile phones but both new Nokia 222 variants have some nice features. You get internet connectivity for web browsing, Twitter, Facebook, MSN Weather, Bing Search, and some other apps. You also can use a feature called SLAM which provides close range Bluetooth file sharing.
The phones feature a 2MP camera, an MP3 player, and an FM radio. They support MicroSD cards of up to 32 GB and have a flashlight which is good for emergencies. You can also play some games on the devices such as Assasin’s Creed Brotherhood and more. They are even giving away one free game per month for a year.
Little phones like these are quite respectable. While many clamor over smartphones, devices like this have continued to improve over the years. The low price tag and great battery life, coupled with internet connectivity creates a strong niche market for the new devices.
The phones come in black or glossy white and “will be available globally in select markets starting rollout in September priced at $37 USD before local taxes and subsidies”.
