Nokia C1 unveiled: an affordable Android 9 Go Edition phone

HMD unveiled a new Android Go Edition phone for emerging markets – the Nokia C1. In Kenya the phone is priced just KES 6,000 - $59/€53 – so the specs don’t deviate much from the Nokia 1 Plus. It will also be available in Nigeria (and other countries), but we don’t know the price yet.

The C1 features a 5.45” display with 480 x 960px resolution. It’s an IPS panel, which means better viewing angles than basic TFTs. Also, this phone sports toughened glass to guard the screen from scratches.

The selfie camera on the front has a 5MP sensor and features an LED flash to help with low light shots (this is a cost-effective alternative to using a beefy chipset and machine learning). The rear camera also takes 5MP shots and has an LED flash.

Nokia C1

The phone is powered by an unnamed chipset with a quad-core CPU at 1.3GHz (it’s most likely a MediaTek chip). It comes with 1GB of RAM as usual for an Android 9 Go Edition phone. There’s also 16GB of built-in storage, which is pretty generous for this class and can be expanded by microSD cards up to 64GB.

The Nokia C1 is a dual SIM phone. Note that it lacks LTE connectivity – 3G is the best you get. Also, the phone only supports Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n). Still, the Go apps are very good at minimizing data use, so even the slower connection should work fine.

The phone’s 2,500mAh battery charges over the microUSB port. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack, which can be used for listening to MP3s as well as FM radio. You’ll have to supply your own headset, however, as the C1 retail box only contains the phone, a charger and a quick start guide.

Nokia C1 in Red and Charcoal

By the way, the newly announced Nokia 2.3 is also launching in Kenya, but it costs double the price of the C1 – KES 12,300. It does run the full version of Android, though. In Nigeria, the 2.3 is priced NGN 38,000 (which suggests a price point for the C1).

Kenya | Nigeria | Via