Nokia unveils a trio of Android 4.1.2 running handsets: the Nokia X, X+ and XL

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 24 Feb 2014

Nokia-XL-Dual-SIM

Not to be content and limit its reach by only releasing Windows Phone handsets, Nokia has gone ahead and unveiled not one or two, but three Android running handsets — the Nokia X, X+ and XL. The handsets are based on the AOSP version of Android, as rumors had made clear, and lack all of the Google and Google Play offerings. Instead, Nokia has loaded the handset with its own suite of apps including Nokia Store, Outlook and Here Maps. 

The trio of handsets will come with a ‘glanc’able screen, as seen on some of the Lumia handsets and a lock screen that looks very similar to the Asha one. The UI looks a lot like Windows Phone with a tile based interface that can be rearranged and resized. The Nokia X comes with a 4-inch WVGA touch screen, a dual core 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, the Nokia X+ adds a microSD card slot.

On the other hand, the Nokia XL comes with a 5-inch WVGA IPS screen, 768MB of RAM and a 2MP front-facing camera with a 5MP shooter in the back aided by an LED flash. Other specs of the handsets remain unknown at this point.

On the software side, Nokia has not made much changes to the underlying API so users can easily sideload Android apps and run them on the device. There is no need for developers to make any changes to their apps as well since the company has only changed three APIs in the OS. Surprisingly, all the three handsets run on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, instead of KitKat.

The X will be available immediately for 89 euros while the X+ and XL will be coming sometime in Q2 for 99 and 109 Euros respectively in emerging markets. The X will also come with a free 1 month of Skype subscription and 10GB of free storage space on OneDrive. The company also plans on bringing the handset to the European market later this year.