Not so long ago, before smartphones emerged to dominate the mobile space, pretty much everybody had a Nokia brick in their pocket. Brand owner HMD Global has launched three new feature phones that play heavily on retro vibes while also adding in some modern touches, including a model that stores and charges wireless earphones within its body.
Though all of the new feature phones rock a similar retro-modern vibe, the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio is arguably the most interesting of the bunch – particularly if you're always misplacing your true wireless earphones while out and about.
Around back you'll find bright red cover that slides down to reveal a pair of Nokia Xpress earphones nestled within the phone's body. When they're inside the 5710, the phone's battery tops them up like a charging case. Pop 'em out and plug in, and Nokia promises decent audio clarity thanks to environmental noise cancellation and VoLTE support. Per-charge battery life for the buds is fairly low though, at 2.4 hours of talk time or 4 hours of music playback.
Beyond this neat idea, the feature phone is pretty much what you'd expect. There's a 2.4-inch QVGA display above a push-button keypad to the front and a VGA camera with flash around back, the phone supports 2G, 3G and 4G networks only, there's 128 MB of storage plus 48 MB of system memory, and connectivity shapes up as a micro-USB port, Bluetooth 5.0 and a 3.5-mm audio jack. The removable 1,450-mAh battery is reckoned good for weeks on standby and days of talk time.
Availability for the Nokia 5710 XpressAudio handset starts with the UK market, where is will go on sale later this month in black/red or white/red for £74.99 – there no mention of wider market availability at this time.
Completing the feature phone new releases are an addition to Nokia's Originals family and a durable flip phone. The 8210 originally launched at Paris Fashion Week in 1999 and has now returned as a 4G-capable model with a 2.8-inch QVGA display, "signature durability" and a removable battery.
The 2660 Flip has similar basic specs to the 8210 4G, but comes in a clamshell format with the display to the top when opened, and the big-button keypad underneath so that the earpiece and mic are brought closer to the user during calls.
HMD has also announced a new 8-inch Android tablet named the T10 that goes on sale in the UK from August in two versions – the Wi-Fi model for £129, and the LTE flavor for £149. Processing power comes from an octa-core Unisoc T606 supported by up to 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, plus microSD expansion. Its wrapped in a durable polymer unibody with a scratch-resistant finish, and runs Android 12 with two OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates included.
Source: HMD Global