HMD Global, owners of the Nokia brand have rolled out five new Nokia phones in the UK as it gears up to launch a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in that country.
The phones ranges across premium, mid-tier and budget ranges and they constitute a booster to Nokia’s planned MVNO launch.
The smartphones included in the five are premium Nokia X20 and X10; the intermediate handsets are the Nokia G20 and G10, while the budget phone is the C20.
The X20 and X10, which come with a 6.67-inch full HD+ display, are both powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G mobile platform and they run Android 11 .
Nokia X20 has a starting price of £299, offering a 32MP front camera and quad array on the rear with a 64MP main module. The X10 is priced from £249 and offers a 48MP main camera as part of its four-module rear set-up.
Meanwhile, the G-series’ (G20 and G10) boasts of a three-day battery life, touted as the longest on a Nokia-branded smartphone to date, along with improved security through facial recognition and side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The devices feature a 6.5-inch display, with the G20 offering a quad-camera set up with 48MP main module, and starting price of £134.99. The G10 is priced from £109.99 and provides a triple rear camera arrangement offering AI modes.
The budget phone, Nokia C20 is priced £79, offering a 6.5-inch HD+ display, Android 11 capabilities and cameras on the front and rear.
MVNO
Meanwhile, the company’s MVNO move, branded HMD Mobile, builds on its HMD Connect global data roaming service unveiled in March 2020.
HMD Mobile aims to combine “the value of a monthly subscription with the flexibility of subscription charging”, while the company also highlighted an in-house app to provide customer support for devices and the mobile plan.
The MVNO will launch in the UK at the end of April, with bundles starting from £6.50 per month for unlimited UK/EU calls and SMS, and 1GB of data. Data plans go up to 25GB per month.
It was not revealed which of the big four operators (EE, Vodafone UK, O2 UK or 3 UK) is providing the connectivity.
Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said HMD Global’s decision to launch an MVNO was “a bold move”.
“By bundling a mobile phone with airtime and offering a single predictable price for the phone and service, HMD Global is likely hoping that it will give it a competitive edge when selling its phone directly to consumers in the highly competitive mid- and low-tier smartphone segments.”
