A few weeks ago, after an upgrade to iOS 8, I became unable to connect to wifi on my iPhone 4S and the speed of the OS became pretty bad, after it had been perfectly responsive since I first got it nearly 3 years ago.
Combine this with the fact that my expensive purchased-for-durability phone case, the third in the phone's lifetime, was starting to crack, and I started looking at other phones.
My contract is up in a couple of months. I went to a store and looked at the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the iPhone 6.
I found the Note 4 intriguing because I've been occasionally following John Carmack's discussions about the Gear VR (Oculus Rift that connects to the phone) and I thought it was coming out in a consumer version, but it looks like they are still labeling it as a developer kit, which makes me think there must be a reason for that (i.e. it's not really ready for prime time). Also, the phone is just massively huge, and I don't want to buy it, especially since given my way of doing things I'd end up buying some horribly large case on top of it.
Then I looked at the iPhone 6. First of all I do think it's too big in terms of screen size -- though I do like the thickness and weight of it quite a bit. But the base model is 16GB, and getting either a 16GB or a 64GB on contract was $200+ or $375+ respectively. I thought about it and almost broke down and bought a 128GB model outright for over $1000. In the end, I just couldn't justify it.
I think it's time for me to go back to sending SMSs on the telephone keypad. And time for me to stop getting warnings that my damn phone is not backing up (no wifi and me not plugging it in), time for me to stop worrying that the phone will die if I forget to charge it for just one evening, and time for me to stop buying expensive, crappy cases.
I really want this phone. And if I don't get it, I'll probably get something that is just like it.
I like the concept but it is still targeting the market that can't afford smart phones.
They need a similar phone that is targeting the market that can afford smart phones but realized it doesn't need most of the features at the expense of battery life.
Like a phone with this feature set plus 3G/4G connectivity with WiFi tethering capability to say your tablet and a beefier battery.
Basically a classic Nokia phone and 3G/4G router to connect all your smart devices to while you're on the move and in need of a internet connection.
> I think it's time for me to go back to sending SMSs on the telephone keypad.
Well if your primary use of a "phone" is to make GSM voice calls and send SMSs then what you're looking at is completely overkill. The vast majority of people that buy top end phones do so for things like: pocket sized, always available, excellent quality camera, near desktop-like internet browsing, and then the entire application ecosystem including maps, lifestyle applications, games, etc.
There are going to be tradeoffs to be made depending on what your requirements are, including price and battery life.
A couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to simplify my life. Cut everything down to an iPad with keyboard, plus my work Blackberry.
It's romantic, but it sucks. I went the other direction: 15" MBP Retina with quad-core + 16GB and an iPhone 6+. Almost $3k in toys, but way more productive. And the Apple stuff has gotten good enough where I leave my chargers at the office. My 6+ was at 3% last night. Put it in airplane mode over night, and it lasted long enough to give me my alarm at 6:50 am, plus a few checks of e-mail in the morning and 15 minutes of hotspot around 8:30.
I've been running a candy bar for about 6 months in conjunction with a smart phone (work and personal sims). I did this as I got tired of having a smartphone on 5% battery when I needed to make/receive an important call. I now forward the smart phone number to the dumb phone so I'm always available on both numbers. This way I'm always available for calls and have removed the low battery stress from my life. The downside is getting texts on the candy bar. Using keypad is a pain so I tend to call people rather than text or give yes/no replies to anyone not on a messaging app like hangouts where I can text via the smartphone.
I can really recommend it. Also on a side note I feel like I'm leaving the world behind when I only take the dumb phone out.
You said it. I've been disillusioned with all-things-smartphones for years now. I've always had Android, no iOS, though the wife does.
I want a phone just like this. The only thing I want that smartphones brought us is turn by turn navigation. The rest can take a hike. Put Nokia's Snake game on there, the old ways that Nokias worked (such as the ability to turn the phone off, and have it wake itself as an alarm), keep the 10 digit "interface" for ideal texting and 100% lag-free dialing, the 10+ day battery life of no 3G/4G, maybe Opera Mini per this Nokia.. and we have a deal.
To me that is technology perfected. I don't want much more than a phone in my pocket. If technology that works and is pleasing makes me a Luddite, then so be it. But it's time to bring some sensibility and more usability to products. Nokia was that.
If anyone from Nokia/MS reads this, yes, please, the above and make a higher quality build version. A $100 or $150 phone that I described, preferably with old school Nokia quality or iPhone metal frame would be amazing.
You must be terribly bored of all these "Why Not X" posts by now, but... why not the Nokia 105? I have the Nokia 100 and it does the job (texting, calling, playing Snake) just fine.
The 105 has even more standby & talk time per charge, allegedly, and I only charge my 100 once every week/fortnight depending on use.
Worth a look but not much cheaper so if having access to the internet, or having a torch, is important to you it won't be so appealing.
After my HTC Desire started failing me I looked at my options wide and deep. I was inclined to just get "candy bar" device like this one. Fed up with the battery and fragility - tho I almost never carried my Desire in a case (and other stuff you mention).
But then as my phone gave up on me before I found a replacement I started using a "cand bar" phone and found out that I actually like some smartphone features - like a good autocomplete keyboard, the ability to track my post packages, check bus timetable and occasionally to look up something on the internet (I'm a patient man, it doesen't need to render webpages _that_ fast).
And I came to conclusion that I would enjoy a relatively small, well build and long lasting smartphone that doesen't need to run games (and many apps at once) or have GPS/Nav, voice control,... and whatnot features that I don't use (and can't even remove usually). I think that the technology itself is advanced enough for such a device - there're even some cheap Chinese ones that look promising for what I need (for example Xiaomi Redmi 1S or Redmi 2).
I was in the same position as you (upgraded iOS several times on a 4S) and experienced the same issues, but I found a clean install dramatically improved performance, though not to the same snappiness of iOS 6.
I love the feel of the hardware, but for >95% of the phone's life it's been wrapped in a waterproof case, so I don't really benefit from it much.
Just something to try - have you tried doing a factory reset on the phone? I ran into the exact same problem both on my phone and a gen 2 iPad Mini after a direct upgrade, which was completely resolved after doing a fresh install.
Yeah, it isn't a thing you should have to do, but if it fixes the problem...
I've never had really good luck with system upgrades on Apple products.
Something like this could be a good upgrade for myself when my current phone breaks down.
I've been using an Xcover 271 for years. It gives me a couple of weeks of battery and, if I really need to, I can still use a simple web browser to look up timetables etc. (but it's enough of a burden that I won't use it for fun) and there's Google Maps preinstalled (also, a big slow for just browsing around but it has been a life-saver several times!)
But the Xcover is somewhat slow and because it has this 'ruggedised' brand image it costs more than it should. A very basic entry-level phone with technology that's five years newer but still costs nearly nothing is probably a good sweetspot. If it breaks the option of buying a replacement won't be considered any longer than one second.
I'm a huge Nokia fan for two main reasons: The phones are durable and they are so cheap that they're practically disposable.
I can't speak for this phone (the 215), but you can buy a Lumia 520 for ~$50 dollars and a 635 for ~$75. My son is 16 months old and constantly smashes the phone into the floor and I'm perfectly ok with that.
For the price you'd drop on an iPhone 6+, you could probably buy 10 Lumia 520s and break them on purpose at your leisure and it would still be cheaper. People will make fun of you for Windows Phone, but it does have Bluetooth, web browsing, really good contact integration, and good email integration. For me personally, using mobile websites is good enough that I don't care if there are apps or not.
I seriously doubt the fact that this phone will be able to make a dent in the Indian market. Just look at its price tag, it costs you around Rs. 2000($30) The basic internet pack charges (2g) is around Rs 130($2) per month. A person who is ready to take a subscription of $2 per month, will be able to afford a better phone with Android which won't cost him more than 3k.
One thing that I want to see in such type of phones is whatsapp support with an extremely good battery life. If such a phone comes up, it will be second phone for every person who is suffering from the battery problem of android ecosystem.
MS needs to preinstall whatsapp , otherwise a lot of people will prefer a phone with whatsapp pre-installed, I know that most of us would laugh about it, but believe me, In my country people buy phones just because the box has these logos: whatsapp, FB, twitter.
>"will be able to afford a better phone with Android which won't cost him more than 3k."
You are assuming that a cheap Android would offer a good experience. I won't have another Android precisely because I had a poor experience with 2 cheap Android phones.
I don't know which OS this phone runs, but the Series 40 platform which used to ship on Nokia devices in this segment was able to run WhatsApp. The thing is, S40 never really felt "finished". It had these tiny little things which just made you drive nuts because there wasn't a way to fix it. Over time I thought it would be amazing if S40 would get open sourced for people to flash modified versions.
I travel a lot, and in addition to my iPhone w/AT&T International Roaming (Company picks it up - provides a constant phone number for people to call me wherever I am, and has all the smartphone goodness that is useful for a road warrior) - I also carry a Nokia 105 which I pop a local SIM into for all my local calling - Saves about $500-$1000/Month easily on calling charges. It looks like the Nokia 215 is the same price, with the addition of some basic Internet Connectivity as well. Same 30 Day battery life as well. Super happy to see Microsoft is continuing to make the super-low end Nokia phones, though hard to see how this fits their general business model, other than being "Mobile first"
What would be nice is a phone like this with GPS and 3G/4G (with tethering). That way I could ditch my smartphone and use my tablet for actual browsing with the feature phone serving as a router only (whilst still being usable as a phone the rest of the time).
All the feature phones I've looked at don't have 3G/4G with tethering, which means they're unsuitable for my use case.
I used to have an E71 and used that for tethering. It worked well, but it really drained the battery - I think it would last maybe an hour. You might be better off looking into a 'mifi' device, or just getting a tablet with mobile data.
You could look at the low-end Nokia smartphones. My Lumia 530 has dual SIM (one for personal use, one for business) and I only have to charge it once a week (sometimes I even forget and the thing stays alive for 9-10 days). Has all the smartphone capabilities if I ever need them.
Not sure how well it would fare against constant tethering though.
I'd buy this phone if it had GPS & 3g/4g as well. It would be a great travel phone. Pop in a local sim, get connected with basic services, have directions available to me, and forget stressing about my expensive primary smartphone being either lost or stolen in another country.
I would argue that if you add 3G/4G and tethering it's no longer a feature phone. The Nokia 215 isn't really a feature phone either, it's a low-end smart phone.
A feature phone that doubles as a 3G hotspot seems like a weird idea. You would add semi-expensive 3G chip, but not use it for the phone is self.
The phones that I really like seem to never be available in the US. Admittedly, I have a unique taste in phones. I love the idea of a minimal phone OS with a qwerty keypad (or number pad). The new Blackberry Classic looks really nice too, but it's not available in the US and Blackberry has all but abandoned ship in the US market.
Nokia is getting so close to scratching that itch with this phone. I really hope there's a US version with similar specs somewhere up the pipe.
I really want to switch back to a "dumb" phone once my contract is up on my iPhone 5. Im always at a computer or can have my iPad (which I never use anymore) with me in wifi everywhere I go except my car. The only reason to need internet in the car is for gps which convieniently they sell those too and I have one.
I just don't see the need to own a smart phone anymore for myself. If I wasn't at a computer all the time I could justify it but it no long serves a purpose.
I really hope they sell this in the us eventually. I suppose you can still buy an unlocked one and use that however. Just make sure it has the right keyboard and language.
Blackberry Passport (previously Q10) user here. BB10 is not a "minimal phone OS". Maybe this was true for older BBOS phones (don't know, never used one), but BB10 converted me from being a longtime Android user, and I've yet to feel like I'm missing out on anything (it does run Android apps too).
Also, Blackberry sells the Classic unlocked in the US through it's online store[1] and Amazon[2] and you can also get one on contract through US Mobile[3].
Expansys is a good source for acquiring non-US phones that I've used once or twice in the past. A bit expensive at times, but has a wide selection of unlocked phones that carriers in the US don't sell
As this is targeted internationally, they needed to account for some readers being familiar with the US English "flashlight" and some being familiar with UK English "torch". The compromise is a little awkward, but it gets the point across. I imagine local ads and marketing will adopt one or the other.
They probably have to find a non-technical way to make it clear its actually a physical light and not the brand name for some new service\app e.g. spotlight, greenlight, lightroom, lighttable etc.
This phone will come in handy for some of us in Africa. The African phone market is flooded with cheap dual sim chinese phones that "can perform more tasks" than what microsoft hopes to achieve with its phone. But for 29$ they are [the chinese phones] still a rip-off for many. Buggy software applications, short lifespan (3-6 months) and spread viruses like crazy.
I like how this phone includes that it's built to be durable as one of its major features. Phones should be tough. Waterproofing them should be standard. They should not break when dropped from 10+ feet. Their screens should not crack. On top of this, either optional or built-in warranty should include coverage for accidental damage. A phone like that would be worth quite a bit of money.
Another thing about the current generation of smartphones: unlike this Nokia offering, they are not yet "good enough". Chances are, you will replace your phone in 1-2 years, or at least you'll want to. Their speed is still growing very fast, and the demand on the CPU/GPU/RAM is growing very fast too. I can see buying this phone and keeping it for 5+ years: nothing in what it can do will see substantial improvements over that time period. Contrast this with the top of the line smartphones where simple things in 2017 will take 2x the processing power that they do now, because of the improved UI, etc.
Eventually, I think smartphones will settle down. I remember when PC's were getting faster and faster in the late 1990's, early 2000's. It seemed that you could upgrade every year and still not keep up. Eventually they got "good enough" where you can keep the same PC for 5-10 years (except power-users such as programmers, gamers, etc.) I look forward to a day when iPhones and such are a commodity such as this Nokia.
Looks great, I think I've found my new extra phone.
My backup travel phone is a dual-sim candybar, allowing me to leave my smartphone back at the hotel room while still taking my usual sim with me + a local sim of the country I'm visiting. This gives me a lot of freedom to really roam and still be reachable if I want to be, have some options if there's an emergency, to not really worry about my phone being lost or stolen, and not be tied to a power outlet.
My telephone company let's me have two sim cards which makes this really easy (whichever phone is turned on most recently is the active phone). I leave my spare phone in my car when I'm not traveling.
So here is the deal. If the phone has WiFi and Skype installed, nearly every single household in India will buy this in a heart beat. Plus they can get all those customers on Skype, for free.
I'm currently shopping around for a phone for my father, he doesn't want a smartphone. He needs a simple phone, through which he can make VOIP calls(Skype/Viber etc). Its perfectly alright if the phone doesn't have a camera, or GPS. But for sure it needs to have WiFi connectivity, you should be able to tether, should be rugged and durable and should be cheap.
Internet is taking off big time in India. And people want to make free calls over VOIP all the time. Smartphones are expensive, and aren't exactly very durable and rugged. Plus they get out of fashion very soon. A simple phone, Nokia standard, which you could use as a internet phone over WiFi with apps like Skype, Viber would sell like hotcakes here.
So it's a modern stick-phone. I'm actually flabbergasted that MS/Nokia made a non-windows-phone device.
To me, the big question is whether I can tether a tablet to it. A lightweight, convenient dumbphone with a tethered tablet in my backpack might be a nice form-factor.
Ya know it's funny. I used to write about the cell phone industry in the previous decade and this was exactly the vision at one point: a feature phone in your pocket creates a "Personal Area Network" over Bluetooth or similar that provides connectivity to your your watch, computer, etc.
> I'm actually flabbergasted that MS/Nokia made a non-windows-phone device
Why ?
Microsoft has made it crystal clear that they want to be an internet services company. Which means that whatever OS they use isn't that relevant if it means more users of their services.
So I need to pay for data on a severely restricted phone? Why would I do that? I understand the allure of a cheap phone but why should it have internet access? I understand if I can get a data plan specifically tailored for this (as in cheap).
1) 2G does not provide much in the way of usable Internet these days 2) Many countries are working to actively decommission their 2G networks - which is a good thing because the sooner they do this the bands can be re-used for LTE
I would replace my old and trusty SonyErricson Naite and SO's cedar with this if only it'd come with WiFi and/or 3G connectivity and that weird but reliable google maps app.
They should be talking about battery life; and battery life with 3G on. They left it at "Exceptional battery life" and "Battery capacity: 1100 mAh"[1], the latter definitely didn't do anything to boost confidence.
This is too much to ask, I agree. But then if I just want a phone to make calls and text then I would buy something even cheaper than this phone.
Hm, this is a bit too full-featured for my tastes. I'm currently on a Nokia 101, and my gripes are few: if only the battery cover would stay on better (current solution: tape), and the build quality was $60 as opposed to the $10-20 currently, it'd be ideal. Other than that, it is perfection. I'm glad this type of thing is still being made, even if the trade-off between the triad [features, price, build quality] isn't exactly where i'd have liked it.
[+] [-] canadev|11 years ago|reply
A few weeks ago, after an upgrade to iOS 8, I became unable to connect to wifi on my iPhone 4S and the speed of the OS became pretty bad, after it had been perfectly responsive since I first got it nearly 3 years ago.
Combine this with the fact that my expensive purchased-for-durability phone case, the third in the phone's lifetime, was starting to crack, and I started looking at other phones.
My contract is up in a couple of months. I went to a store and looked at the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the iPhone 6.
I found the Note 4 intriguing because I've been occasionally following John Carmack's discussions about the Gear VR (Oculus Rift that connects to the phone) and I thought it was coming out in a consumer version, but it looks like they are still labeling it as a developer kit, which makes me think there must be a reason for that (i.e. it's not really ready for prime time). Also, the phone is just massively huge, and I don't want to buy it, especially since given my way of doing things I'd end up buying some horribly large case on top of it.
Then I looked at the iPhone 6. First of all I do think it's too big in terms of screen size -- though I do like the thickness and weight of it quite a bit. But the base model is 16GB, and getting either a 16GB or a 64GB on contract was $200+ or $375+ respectively. I thought about it and almost broke down and bought a 128GB model outright for over $1000. In the end, I just couldn't justify it.
I think it's time for me to go back to sending SMSs on the telephone keypad. And time for me to stop getting warnings that my damn phone is not backing up (no wifi and me not plugging it in), time for me to stop worrying that the phone will die if I forget to charge it for just one evening, and time for me to stop buying expensive, crappy cases.
I really want this phone. And if I don't get it, I'll probably get something that is just like it.
TL;DR: I'm a fan.
[+] [-] Fuxy|11 years ago|reply
They need a similar phone that is targeting the market that can afford smart phones but realized it doesn't need most of the features at the expense of battery life.
Like a phone with this feature set plus 3G/4G connectivity with WiFi tethering capability to say your tablet and a beefier battery.
Basically a classic Nokia phone and 3G/4G router to connect all your smart devices to while you're on the move and in need of a internet connection.
[+] [-] laichzeit0|11 years ago|reply
Well if your primary use of a "phone" is to make GSM voice calls and send SMSs then what you're looking at is completely overkill. The vast majority of people that buy top end phones do so for things like: pocket sized, always available, excellent quality camera, near desktop-like internet browsing, and then the entire application ecosystem including maps, lifestyle applications, games, etc.
There are going to be tradeoffs to be made depending on what your requirements are, including price and battery life.
[+] [-] rayiner|11 years ago|reply
A couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to simplify my life. Cut everything down to an iPad with keyboard, plus my work Blackberry.
It's romantic, but it sucks. I went the other direction: 15" MBP Retina with quad-core + 16GB and an iPhone 6+. Almost $3k in toys, but way more productive. And the Apple stuff has gotten good enough where I leave my chargers at the office. My 6+ was at 3% last night. Put it in airplane mode over night, and it lasted long enough to give me my alarm at 6:50 am, plus a few checks of e-mail in the morning and 15 minutes of hotspot around 8:30.
[+] [-] Gustomaximus|11 years ago|reply
I can really recommend it. Also on a side note I feel like I'm leaving the world behind when I only take the dumb phone out.
[+] [-] BuckRogers|11 years ago|reply
I want a phone just like this. The only thing I want that smartphones brought us is turn by turn navigation. The rest can take a hike. Put Nokia's Snake game on there, the old ways that Nokias worked (such as the ability to turn the phone off, and have it wake itself as an alarm), keep the 10 digit "interface" for ideal texting and 100% lag-free dialing, the 10+ day battery life of no 3G/4G, maybe Opera Mini per this Nokia.. and we have a deal.
To me that is technology perfected. I don't want much more than a phone in my pocket. If technology that works and is pleasing makes me a Luddite, then so be it. But it's time to bring some sensibility and more usability to products. Nokia was that.
If anyone from Nokia/MS reads this, yes, please, the above and make a higher quality build version. A $100 or $150 phone that I described, preferably with old school Nokia quality or iPhone metal frame would be amazing.
[+] [-] peteretep|11 years ago|reply
I love my phone like a child, and it is in my hands for probably at least 2 hours a day. I am happy to spend cash dollars on that.
[+] [-] JimmyM|11 years ago|reply
The 105 has even more standby & talk time per charge, allegedly, and I only charge my 100 once every week/fortnight depending on use.
Worth a look but not much cheaper so if having access to the internet, or having a torch, is important to you it won't be so appealing.
[+] [-] jinzo|11 years ago|reply
But then as my phone gave up on me before I found a replacement I started using a "cand bar" phone and found out that I actually like some smartphone features - like a good autocomplete keyboard, the ability to track my post packages, check bus timetable and occasionally to look up something on the internet (I'm a patient man, it doesen't need to render webpages _that_ fast).
And I came to conclusion that I would enjoy a relatively small, well build and long lasting smartphone that doesen't need to run games (and many apps at once) or have GPS/Nav, voice control,... and whatnot features that I don't use (and can't even remove usually). I think that the technology itself is advanced enough for such a device - there're even some cheap Chinese ones that look promising for what I need (for example Xiaomi Redmi 1S or Redmi 2).
[+] [-] jmiwhite|11 years ago|reply
I love the feel of the hardware, but for >95% of the phone's life it's been wrapped in a waterproof case, so I don't really benefit from it much.
[+] [-] Karunamon|11 years ago|reply
Yeah, it isn't a thing you should have to do, but if it fixes the problem...
I've never had really good luck with system upgrades on Apple products.
[+] [-] yason|11 years ago|reply
I've been using an Xcover 271 for years. It gives me a couple of weeks of battery and, if I really need to, I can still use a simple web browser to look up timetables etc. (but it's enough of a burden that I won't use it for fun) and there's Google Maps preinstalled (also, a big slow for just browsing around but it has been a life-saver several times!)
But the Xcover is somewhat slow and because it has this 'ruggedised' brand image it costs more than it should. A very basic entry-level phone with technology that's five years newer but still costs nearly nothing is probably a good sweetspot. If it breaks the option of buying a replacement won't be considered any longer than one second.
[+] [-] bsclifton|11 years ago|reply
I'm a huge Nokia fan for two main reasons: The phones are durable and they are so cheap that they're practically disposable.
I can't speak for this phone (the 215), but you can buy a Lumia 520 for ~$50 dollars and a 635 for ~$75. My son is 16 months old and constantly smashes the phone into the floor and I'm perfectly ok with that.
For the price you'd drop on an iPhone 6+, you could probably buy 10 Lumia 520s and break them on purpose at your leisure and it would still be cheaper. People will make fun of you for Windows Phone, but it does have Bluetooth, web browsing, really good contact integration, and good email integration. For me personally, using mobile websites is good enough that I don't care if there are apps or not.
[+] [-] h43k3r|11 years ago|reply
One thing that I want to see in such type of phones is whatsapp support with an extremely good battery life. If such a phone comes up, it will be second phone for every person who is suffering from the battery problem of android ecosystem.
[+] [-] pacofvf|11 years ago|reply
MS needs to preinstall whatsapp , otherwise a lot of people will prefer a phone with whatsapp pre-installed, I know that most of us would laugh about it, but believe me, In my country people buy phones just because the box has these logos: whatsapp, FB, twitter.
[+] [-] pmelendez|11 years ago|reply
You are assuming that a cheap Android would offer a good experience. I won't have another Android precisely because I had a poor experience with 2 cheap Android phones.
[+] [-] pearjuice|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ghshephard|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] phireal|11 years ago|reply
All the feature phones I've looked at don't have 3G/4G with tethering, which means they're unsuitable for my use case.
[+] [-] luch|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lucaspiller|11 years ago|reply
http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/nokia-207-and-208-are-most-affor...
I used to have an E71 and used that for tethering. It worked well, but it really drained the battery - I think it would last maybe an hour. You might be better off looking into a 'mifi' device, or just getting a tablet with mobile data.
[+] [-] pavlov|11 years ago|reply
http://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/phone/515/ http://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/phone/301/
No 4G though -- I imagine that Series 40, Nokia's venerable in-house operating system, doesn't support it at all.
[+] [-] emerongi|11 years ago|reply
Not sure how well it would fare against constant tethering though.
[+] [-] misterbwong|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrweasel|11 years ago|reply
A feature phone that doubles as a 3G hotspot seems like a weird idea. You would add semi-expensive 3G chip, but not use it for the phone is self.
[+] [-] megablast|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brickmort|11 years ago|reply
The phones that I really like seem to never be available in the US. Admittedly, I have a unique taste in phones. I love the idea of a minimal phone OS with a qwerty keypad (or number pad). The new Blackberry Classic looks really nice too, but it's not available in the US and Blackberry has all but abandoned ship in the US market.
Nokia is getting so close to scratching that itch with this phone. I really hope there's a US version with similar specs somewhere up the pipe.
[+] [-] burger_moon|11 years ago|reply
I just don't see the need to own a smart phone anymore for myself. If I wasn't at a computer all the time I could justify it but it no long serves a purpose.
I really hope they sell this in the us eventually. I suppose you can still buy an unlocked one and use that however. Just make sure it has the right keyboard and language.
[+] [-] mdm_|11 years ago|reply
Also, Blackberry sells the Classic unlocked in the US through it's online store[1] and Amazon[2] and you can also get one on contract through US Mobile[3].
[1] http://shop.blackberry.com/store/bbrryus/en_US/pd/productID.... [2] http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B00OYZZ3VS/?_encoding=UTF8&... [3] https://www.gousmobile.com/blackberry-classic
[+] [-] danielki|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] exizt88|11 years ago|reply
So that's what a torchlight is for! Thanks, landing page!
[+] [-] gilrain|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] duncanawoods|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] reitanqild|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] capdiz|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] IgorPartola|11 years ago|reply
Another thing about the current generation of smartphones: unlike this Nokia offering, they are not yet "good enough". Chances are, you will replace your phone in 1-2 years, or at least you'll want to. Their speed is still growing very fast, and the demand on the CPU/GPU/RAM is growing very fast too. I can see buying this phone and keeping it for 5+ years: nothing in what it can do will see substantial improvements over that time period. Contrast this with the top of the line smartphones where simple things in 2017 will take 2x the processing power that they do now, because of the improved UI, etc.
Eventually, I think smartphones will settle down. I remember when PC's were getting faster and faster in the late 1990's, early 2000's. It seemed that you could upgrade every year and still not keep up. Eventually they got "good enough" where you can keep the same PC for 5-10 years (except power-users such as programmers, gamers, etc.) I look forward to a day when iPhones and such are a commodity such as this Nokia.
[+] [-] furyg3|11 years ago|reply
My backup travel phone is a dual-sim candybar, allowing me to leave my smartphone back at the hotel room while still taking my usual sim with me + a local sim of the country I'm visiting. This gives me a lot of freedom to really roam and still be reachable if I want to be, have some options if there's an emergency, to not really worry about my phone being lost or stolen, and not be tied to a power outlet.
My telephone company let's me have two sim cards which makes this really easy (whichever phone is turned on most recently is the active phone). I leave my spare phone in my car when I'm not traveling.
[+] [-] Aoyagi|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TheMagicHorsey|11 years ago|reply
Firefox Smartphone is a better choice for India. Same price tag and a much more open compute platform.
There are also several Chinese made Android smartphones around INR2000 which are attractive to budget conscious purchasers.
Remember that in India the phone is often the only compute platform a user has, and it is an aspirational purchase.
[+] [-] gojomo|11 years ago|reply
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2013/09/05/could-we-s...
There may be some strange brand contortions coming next year!
[+] [-] kamaal|11 years ago|reply
I'm currently shopping around for a phone for my father, he doesn't want a smartphone. He needs a simple phone, through which he can make VOIP calls(Skype/Viber etc). Its perfectly alright if the phone doesn't have a camera, or GPS. But for sure it needs to have WiFi connectivity, you should be able to tether, should be rugged and durable and should be cheap.
Internet is taking off big time in India. And people want to make free calls over VOIP all the time. Smartphones are expensive, and aren't exactly very durable and rugged. Plus they get out of fashion very soon. A simple phone, Nokia standard, which you could use as a internet phone over WiFi with apps like Skype, Viber would sell like hotcakes here.
[+] [-] Pxtl|11 years ago|reply
To me, the big question is whether I can tether a tablet to it. A lightweight, convenient dumbphone with a tethered tablet in my backpack might be a nice form-factor.
[+] [-] eli|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] threeseed|11 years ago|reply
Why ?
Microsoft has made it crystal clear that they want to be an internet services company. Which means that whatever OS they use isn't that relevant if it means more users of their services.
[+] [-] pdknsk|11 years ago|reply
> RAM: 8 MB
That's not much, considering what it can do. Decode H.264, run Opera Mini, and more.
[+] [-] yalogin|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrmondo|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] johnchristopher|11 years ago|reply
(Opera mini is also a requirement.)
[+] [-] balladeer|11 years ago|reply
This is too much to ask, I agree. But then if I just want a phone to make calls and text then I would buy something even cheaper than this phone.
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/phone/215/specifications/
[+] [-] toothbrush|11 years ago|reply