Is bigger …better… Nokia XL?

Nokia gets Android flavour!

Nokia XL was launched a month back in India with some “bigger” features than its predecessor the Nokia X. Nokia a.k.a. Microsoft launched this device in India to expand into their series of Android cum Asha cum Windows Operating system. Nokia X hit with a bang on the most awaited Nokia with android OS, but with their heavy customizations couldn’t attract lots of consumers. Nokia particularly researched the area which they were lacking and hence came up the idea of bigger…the better. Now with a market flooded of Android device across all price segments, time will answer the questions that Nokia has taken a good step or not. At this point of time Nokia has abandoned their android series a.k.a. X series and their conventional Asha S40 operating systems from their products around the globe. This happens to be a major management decision by Microsoft for their mobile business.

So lets see the hardware and specifications of the Nokia XL. The Nokia XL, looks much like its younger sibling the X. Compared to the Lumia line-up, this handset is less curvy. Much like the Asha handsets, the XL has sharp angles and straight lines. The phone comes with swappable back shells that are available in multiple colours such as Green, Orange, Cyan, Yellow, Black, and White.

The phone features a microSD and two micro SIM card slots. All of them are placed under the battery cover. The phone has a single hardware button for UI navigation. The volume rocker and Lock button are on the right-hand side, which is a standard key placement for recent Nokia phones. The Nokia X sports a 5″ IPS screen with 480×800 pixels. In terms of pixel density, you get 187 ppi. Strange, but the X’s display comes across much sharper than that of the XL. That’s because the cheaper Nokia X has pixel density of 233 ppi. Other aspects of the display such as the brightness and viewing angles are quite good. Nokia XL runs on the Nokia X Software Platform, which is based on Android Jelly Bean 4.1. It is powered by a 1GHz S4 dual-core Snapdragon S4 Play processor with 768MB of RAM. The handset comes with a 5 megapixel rear camera, and a 2megapixel front-facing snapper for selfies. The internal storage is 4GB, which is expandable up to 32GB. Other features include dual-SIM support, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and 2000mAh battery. Nokia has turned Android 4.1 Jelly Bean into something that looks like a poor man’s Windows Phone platform. The software lacks the polish and elegance of the Windows Phone platform and Android’s as well. Android platform always requires 1 GB of RAM to run properly, but with 768 MB of RAM things can get sluggish at times. Nokia should have expanded the Ram segment more to give users a smoother platform to go for. Also the Google play store isn’t installed so users if familiar with the Android interface should go for third party apps to install and use the play store for more apps.

As for now we think that the robust construction, good battery backup, good music quality and Here maps at this price point, the Nokia XL is fairly comfortable for the users who don’t want to run high memory consuming  apps.

Nokia XL specifications are

• Processor: 1GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play
• Display: 5-inch WVGA with 480×800 pixels
• RAM: 768MB
• Camera: Rear 5MP/ Front 2MP
• Memory: 4GB internal, expandable up to 32GB
• OS: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• SIM: Dual
• Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS
• Battery: 2000mAh