Nokia X arrives in India for Rs 8,599: Is it really affordable?

Nokia’s Android smartphone, the Nokia X was launched in India **today for a price of Rs 8,599** . Nokia’s other two Android-based smartphones, the Nokia X+ and Nokia XL will launch in India in the second quarter. But the big question is whether the Rs 8,599 price tag really worth it? We take a look at the pros and cons of Nokia’s pricing.   The Pros Brand value: It is at the end of the day a Nokia device and the company still offers some of the best after-sales service for phones in India and are known for their long-lasting products. If you want a low-priced Android but with good after-sales service, a Nokia X could be your best option now. It might not have the highest spec’d camera and is in the same price range as devices from Micromax, Lava or Karbonn, but Nokia will offer good after-sales service and customer support, which is crucial when you’re buying a low-budget smartphone.   Battery: Nokia has been known for creating devices where battery life is a non-issue. The Nokia X is said to offer up to 10.5 hours of talk time on a 3G connection and up to 22 days in standby time. On 2G, the battery is rated for up to 13.3 hours of talk time and up to 28.5 days of standby time. In the same price range you are unlikely to get similar battery life. For instance, Micromax Canvas Doodle A111 has a rated battery life of 6.5 hours and is priced around Rs 7999. Karbonn Titanium S5 Plus which is priced at Rs 9400 is rated for only up to 4 hours of talk time. So if you don’t care about snazzy features such as an HD camera, and want a solid phone with good battery life, the Nokia X is a great option now.   Android and Nokia are finally together… sort of: Nokia X runs a **forked version of Android** . What this means is that the smartphone runs Android without giving users access to the Google Play Store. However Nokia has promised that users will be able to run almost all Android apps on the Nokia X. A range of third-party apps come pre-installed, including BBM, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Viber, Vine and Twitter. Users can download apps from the Nokia Store, third-party app stores and sideload them as well.   If you’ve longed to go back to Nokia but are an Android fan, this is the only chance you’ll get. Also a rooted version of the Nokia X was also spotted online ensuring that users who want their traditional Google apps from the Play Store such as Gmail, Google Maps, etc do have an option of getting them. Nokia is not too happy **about that development** , but it’s good news for users. The only downside to this is that once you root your phone your warranty goes for a toss.   The Cons Low-end specs: In a world, where quad-core smartphones  are available for under Rs 10,000, the Nokia X does seem highly priced for a device with an aging dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM and only 4 GB storage. The Snapdragon S4 SoC with the CPU clocked at 1GHz is unlikely to impress users who have become used to faster and more modern processors for a similar price. Add to that the fact that there is no front camera and the rear camera is only a 3-megapixel unit.   Android and Windows marriage: Given that rooting the phone will impact warranty, not everyone is likely to try it out. To this crowd, the Android and Windows marriage might not be as appealing as pure Android (We mean Android as it’s used by most other manufacturers). This version of the smartphone doesn’t come with Gmail, Google Maps, etc but with Outlook and Here Maps, which would mean those moving from Android phones will have a higher learning curve and might not be able to get all their existing apps on the Nokia X. While Nokia has promised that users will be able to run most Android apps, the fact that there’s no official Google Store will not appeal to those who have become used to it even in low-end phones. Not everyone knows how to sideload apps, even though it’s very easy, and unless Nokia brings the major new apps quickly to the X, it’ll be a repeat of the Windows Phone problem.   Competition is cheap: When it comes to Android smartphones, Indian buyers are too spoilt for choice, with many options going for cheaper than the Nokia X and offer a bigger screen or a better camera. The list of quad-core smartphones that start under Rs 10,000 is fairly long in India. Add to that the Indian market has shown a preference for smartphone with bigger screens and 5-inch catgeory has done tremendously well in the country. Perhaps Nokia should have launched the Nokia XL first.   Is the price right? As far as pricing goes, the Nokia X seems to be on the higher side, and even with the strong brand recall and after sales-support network, Nokia might have a hard time in the market. Just have a look at some of the responses we got on Twitter when talking about the price of the phone.   

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  So while there’s a whole lot of excitement around the phone, the price might just have put Nokia in a tough spot.