Nokia is one of the worlds oldest phone manufacturing company which begun in the early 1860’s as a paper manufacturing industry in Finland. Almost everyone who has ever owned a cell-phone in their lives at one point owned a Nokia handset. This comes as no surprise that 5 out of every 10 Kenyan owns a Nokia handset.
This giant handset manufacturing company knows her market well, producing phones that best meet your needs.
Nokia nomenclature can be traced back to 2005, when the Nseries line was launched. Due to the high demands and peak of that line, Nokia introduced another series of phones named the Eseries, made mostly for the enterprise market. In 2009, Nokia dropped their four number naming scheme and focused on their two existing lines, the Nseries and the Eseries. During the Nokia world expo Nokia further introduced other series to the family, the Xseries, ideal for the entertainment and music enthusiasts, the Cseries considered as Nokia’s “core” range of products, and the Zseries line that is intended for tablets but remains unreleased.
So why should you go for Nokia?
*Nokia handsets are know for their durability and ability to with stand the toughest of conditions
*Availability of Nokia accessories and spare-parts
*Nokia’s wide customer care support centres in almost all major towns in Kenya
*Availability of thousands of apps in Nokia’s ovi store
*Nokia’s user friend handsets.
*And affordable phones
It comes as no surprise that Nokia is the phone to go for.
Nokia Smart-Phones Available in the Kenyan Market
Nseries
Nokia Nseries (stands for New) is a product family that includes multimedia smartphones. These are mobile devices supporting digital multimedia services such as music playback, video capture, photography, mobile gaming, Internet and more.
N8
The N8 is Nokia’s latest attempt to regain its share of the smartphone market lost to the iPhone and Android phones
Features
*AMOLED Touchscreen
*Multi-touch input method
*3G Internet
*E-mail Alert support
*12 Megapixel Camera
*High Definition Video Camera
*Accelerometer for auto-rotation
*Memory card support
*TV-out via HDMI
*FM Radio
Pro’s
*12-megapixel Carl Zeiss optics with autofocus and Xenon flash is enough to make any iPhone user green with envy. It can also shoot HD videos (720p@25fps), and uses geo-tagging for your photos, it has an ND filter, and face and smile detection, too – you might as well just put your compact camera up for sale. Oh, and there’s a front-facing camera for video chat as well (VGA 640×480 resolution), plus a dedicated camera button on the side. Awesome, right?
*HDMI and FM goodness: When it comes to playing the HD videos you shot with the N8, the phone has miniHDMI-out and composite capabilities, and it can output Dolby Digital Plus via HDMI. Music lovers will appreciate that the built-in FM radio tuner can also transmit music on the phone (to use for example wireless in your car).
*The phone also comes bundled with all the cables and adapters you need to connect it to your TV or stereo set, which is always a plus.
*Free GPS navigation: The N8 comes bundled with Nokia’s Ovi Maps GPS navigation software, which unlike the system Google bundles with Android phones, has all the maps preloaded, so it’s not entirely dependent on 3G reception.
*Superb battery life
*Clear and crisp screen from AMOLED technology
*Decent audio output
*Stylish aluminium casing
Con’s
*It runs on a 680MHz ARM 11 processor, which is behind with the times compared to most high-end smartphones the N8 is competing against, which have 1GHz processors.
*The N8 also comes only with 256MB of RAM memory, compared to double this amount on the iPhone 4, Motorola Droid X, or the T-Mobile G2. The slower processor coupled with the lower amount of RAM can make the N8 slow and unresponsive when demanding applications are run – which leads us to problem no. 2.
*The OS was not designed with touchscreen use in mind, and it deeply rooted in the times when smartphones had a numerical keyboard and a couple of feature buttons. When it started launching smartphones with touchscreens, Nokia tried to revamp its OS, and bring it up to date. The N97 was one of the first attempts, which wasn’t very well received, and early hands-on reviews of the N8 with Symbian^3 are not favorable either.
*Unimpressive internet experience
*Poor social network integration
On average, this phone retails for 38,999 Kshs
Eseries
The Nokia Eseries (stands for Executive) consists of business-oriented smartphones, with emphasis on enhanced connectivity and support for corporate e-mail push services. These phones are for the enterprise market.
E6
Features
*Capacitive touchscreen
*QWERTY keyboard
*3G Internet
*Email alert support
*8 Megapixel camera
*8GB Internal memory
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi Enabled
*Bluetooth Enabled
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*The 2.46-inch screen is not the largest around, but it has a 324.87 DPI (dots per inch) image fineness, which should produce small but sharp images.
*The high-megapixel camera, 8-megapixel camera has a dual-LED flash, 2X digital zoom (3X in video mode) and offers HD 720p video recording at 25 frames per second.
*Spectacular battery life: Nokia says that the Nokia E6 offers a talk time of 888 minutes. That’s significantly higher than average. The 1500mAH battery, as per Nokia’s claim, provides a month on standby and 7.30 hours of talk-time over 3G and longer over GSM connections.
*Nokia E6 offers 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 with support for stereo Bluetooth headphones through A2DP.
*Navigation through websites and filling in forms is much easier on the E6 as it is easier to tap the fields that you need to edit and you can use your finger to scroll through a website. However, the touch screen does take some getting used to as it is easy to accidentally launch things or call people by holding on to your phone.
*Nokia experiment to mix the QWERTY with a touch screen was largely a success however with some parts of the phone requiring touching and others pressing (for example the Home, Message, Calendar and Address Book buttons) could be a little confused at times but nothing one could not get used to.
*When you are using the phone without a headset or loudspeaker, the phone utilizes a noise cancelling feature that helps the person on the other end hear you even when you are in a noisy environment.
*The thrill of pinching and zooming was quickly shortlived when discover that the in built browser does not allow you to pinch and zoom but other software like Nokia Maps had no problems with this feature.
On average the phone retails for about 35,999 Kshs
E7
The E7 has dethroned the N8 to become Nokia’s new flagship device as they, once again, attempt to create the perfect business smartphone.
Features
*AMOLED Touchscreen
*QWERTY Keyboard
*Multi-touch input method
*3G internet
*Email alert support
*8 Megapixel Camera
*High Definition Video Camera
*16 GB Internal Memory
*TV-out via HDMI
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*The E7 is a mobile masterpiece; it’s sleek, smooth and modern, with a cherry on top. The cherry being the sliding mechanism behind the screen, which flips the display to an eye-pleasing 30-degree angle, whilst also revealing a full QWERTY keyboard.
*It’s hard to believe that its AMOLED 4.3″ screen only carries a resolution of 640×360, it looks far superior. It would surely look out of this world if it contained an improved screen.
*E7 contains a 680MHz ARM 11 CPU, well short of the iPhone equivalent, 256MB of RAM, 350MB phone storage and 16GB mass storage.
*The phone also has comes with a HDMI extension for the HDMI output, so you can plug your E7 to your TV.
*The camera has a startlingly bright dual-LED flash, which helps take very crisp and clear pictures but it can also manage just fine without.
*The battery life actually holds up to Nokia’s claims on the website. They state between 9-5 hours for talk time and 470-430 hours for standby time.
*This outdated operating system is where the E7 falls down. Nokia are soon to ditch Symbian in favour of Windows and it is a real shame that the E7 has missed out on this OS change.
This phone retails for about 49,999 Kshs
E5
Features
*Qwerty keyboard
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel Camera
*E-mail Alert support
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi & Bluetooth enabled
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
* E5 has QWERTY keyboard for your comfort text messaging or emailing tasks. And, because of that good keyboard, some reviewed that E5 was a compact device to crown as a messaging phone
*It has also HSDPA 10.2 mbps and HSUPA 2.0 Mbps for your high speed internet access while connectivity features come with Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DPA. The Wi-Fi WLAN is also adorable to give you great internet experience.
*E5’s 5 megapixel camera comes with fixed focus and integrated LED flash. You can imagine that snapping any moments will be fun since the camera is able to generate high quality pictures.
*If Nokia’s measurements are accurate, the E5 and its (1200mAh) battery will provide 790 minutes of conversation, a lot of talk time!
*The keyboard may be a little too compact: We are delighted that it comes with a physical keyboard, but considering that the Nokia E5 is only 58.9mm wide, the said keyboard might be slightly cramped.
*Lower video frames per second rate: The Nokia E5 includes a camcorder but its max video recording rate of 15 frames per second (fps) is kind of low. In comparison, movie theatres use a rate of 24fps and most TV sets display more than 30 fps.
*Not super thin: 12.8mm is rather thick for a bar phone.
This phone retails for about 19,999 Kshs
E72
Features
*QWERTY Keyboard
*Optical track pad
*5 Megapixel camera, auto focus,
*LED flash
*3G Enabled
*Email alert support
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi Enabled
*Bluetooth
Pro’s and Con’s
*One of the most obvious superiority of E72 is the camera. The resolution is 5 MP. In addition to quality pictures of the phone is capable of recording more or less good videos (320 x 240 pixels at E71 and 640 x 480 pixels at E72).
*It is impossible to overestimate the function of a flashlight – it may be useful both in the dark on the street and at home, when suddenly the electricity is turned off. You can turn of the flashlight of E72 by simply pressing the space key.
*A lot of users want voicecontrol phone, but the E72 offers a convenient feature. By pressing asterisk (*) on your keyboard from the Home screen and saying the song title or artist, a music player finds the desired track. No need to manually scroll through the whole huge library. Of course, the accuracy depends on the voice and pronunciation, but the effort is worthwhile.
*The accelerometer of the Nokia E72 can be useful to turn off the alarm, games, or for counting steps and calories with the program Nokia Step Counter.
*With the release of navigation software Ovi Maps 3.03 owners of a number of recent Nokia phones have a lifetime subscription to the automotive and pedestrian navigation.
*The main down side about this phone is its battery compartment because if you drop the device the battery compartment lid will definitely open. It can open up during everyday usage as well.
*The space key of Nokia E72 stops working from time to time. Restart helps to solve the problem, so the issue is of the software nature and should be treated with a firmware.
*The new Eseries phones have no Podcasting and Internet Radio. For some owners, these can be important functions to lose.
*Nokia has decided to dilute the lower number of extra keys, reducing the gap. Now it seems that the keyboard is too overloaded with buttons.
*The speaker of Nokia E72 is not loud enough. It’s location (on the reverse side) does not make sound louder as well.
*It may not be the biggest phone, but 4.51 ounces ounces is slightly bulky.
This phone retails for about 27,999 Kshs
Xseries
Nokia Xseries (stands for Xpress) is more for younger users. Most of the phones included in the line are feature phones and smartphones that include features focusing social entertainment and music with special dedicated keys, inbuilt storage and other facilities. It succeeded the Nokia XpressMusic brand of phones.
X7
Features
*AMOLED Touchscreen
*Gorilla Glass non-scratch display
*Multi-touch input method
*3G internet
*Email alert support
*8 Megapixel Camera
*High Definition Video Camera
*Memory card support
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*The brilliant thing of this model is the tough glass.
*The phone is an excellent model for entertainment.
*You can use social networking sites easily and furthermore you can play your favorite games with comfort.
*The model has useful accessories like Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-179 and Nokia Stereo Headset WH-701. It can be very handy for the user.
*The 4 inch display with the resolution of 640*360 pixels is big enough to give you the thrilling experience.
*Camera is of 8MP and it has dual LED flash.
*The Wi-Fi capability and multi-touch input method and videos are very impressive.
*It has high battery life. The model contains Li-Ion 1200-mAh standard battery. Standby time is up to 450h in 2G as well as 3G. Music play is up to 50h and talk-time is up to 6.30 hrs in 2G and 4.30hrs in 3G.
*It is prone to viruses.
*The model contains Symbian^3 OS. Now we are not saying that the OS is not good. However people would like to use those models that contain the latest OS.
This phone retails for about 46,999 Kshs
Nokia X2-01 is slim QWERTY candy bar phone for youngsters who addicted the Facebook, Texting and other applications
Features
*EDGE Internet
*QWERTY Keyboard
*VGA camera
*Memory card support
*Music Player
*Bluetooth Enabled
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Cons
*Entry level QWERTY messenger bar
*2.43 256K-color QVGA TFT display with great sunlight legibility
*Stereo FM radio with RDS
*MicroSD card slot (8GB supported 2GB included)
*Good audio quality
*No 3G
*Piss poor camera
*No smart dialing
*No USB charging
This phone retails for about 7,999 Kshs
X2
Features
*5 MP camera with flash
*FM radio
*Audio playback
*Photo editor
*Bluetooth
*Expandable memory
*EDGE
Pro’s and Con’s
*Spectacular talk time: If Nokia’s claim is accurate, the X2 and its (860 mAh) battery will provide 810 minutes of conversation, a lot of talk time!
*It is quite lightweight (only 81 grams)
*The X2 doesn’t come with an included memory card but it supports up to 16GB in memory expansion, which is convenient to store pictures and video clips shot with the included 5-megapixel camera.
*The Nokia X2 proudly boasts a 5-megapixel camera, but you may have to buy a memory card (up to 16GB) if you want to take pictures frequently because the included storage memory is only 48MB.
*Is not so thin: We think that 13.3mm for a bar phone is too thick, by nowadays’ standards.
This phone retails for about 8,899 Kshs
Cseries
Nokia Cseries (stands for Core) is what Nokia calls their “core” range of products, offering different phones from low-end to high-end for various markets.
C7
Features
*AMOLED Touchscreen
*Multi-touch input method
*3G Internet
*8 Megapixel camera
*Wi-fi Enabled
*Bluetooth Enabled
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*From a design standpoint, this is a well made phone. It is relatively small and lightweight yet it doesn’t feel flimsy. Its stainless steel back plate, plastic sides and glass casing gives it a very modern look.
*The screen is a generous 3.5″ and features high definition capabilities for better rendering of videos and photos.
*Like most touch screen phones it utilizes the pinch and flick method to enable you to easily scroll through and zoom in on things.
*It also features 3 customizable home page options, all of which can be linked up to various apps and social networking sites.
*It has a very good battery life and the call quality is superb.
*The previously mentioned home page options feature full support for Facebook and Twitter. Directly from your phone’s home page screen you can update your status, post photos and comments and much more. This is definitely a time saving option that social networking fans will benefit from.
*The built in 8 megapixel, HD capable camera works well and allows you to capture images and video on the go which can then be posted immediately to Facebook.
*The C7 also includes free voice GPS Navigation with Ovi maps. Don’t like the included voice options? No problem, Nokia has you covered with an option to record your own voice guidance and you can even post it directly to Facebook.
*One thing that users may have difficulty adjusting to are all of the apps aside from the well made Ovi maps. The software system that loads them isn’t always the most intuitive to use and may be frustrating to those who have used higher end smartphones in the past.
*Basically, once you get past the homepage options the C7 isn’t as easy to use as would be expected. It is, however, a step up from the majority of the lower end smartphones and therefore shouldn’t necessarily be passed over due to this issue.
*One design flaw is definitely a disadvantage; the C7 features 8 GB of built in memory but for those who require more, you can add a microSD card. The problem? The slot is located underneath the battery which is not only inconvenient, but will require you to reboot your phone every time you need to access the microSD card.
This phone retails for about 34,099 Kshs
C6
Features
*TFT Touchscreen
*QWERTY Keyboard
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel camera
*E-mail alert support
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi enabled
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*At first, its 3.2 inch ClearBlack touchscreen is quite an impressive thing, which provides bright and crisp colors. In fact the C6 is equipped with a better display than other high-end smartphones of the company launched recently.
*The phone is also good in connectivity, as it boasts quadband GSM/EDGE and pentaband HSPA/WCDMA, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi b/g/n.
*I have found out that the Nokia C6’s performance never slowed down during the test and if you install opera Mobile, the web browsing will be improved.
*The device sports a 8MP camera, which is one of the advantages of this phone. Though the C6’s camera has got no autofocus feature and the photos taken by it didn’t approved our expectations, however the software allows you to take high quality pictures and record HD videos at 720p.
*The next good point of it is the battery, which provides you almost 2 days of usage from one charge.
*May be many users will agree with me that the main disadvatage is Symbian^3 and its native web browser is a bit slow. And the second lack – there is no portrait QWERTY keyboard.
*I also have to mention a couple of lacks like 320MB of internal memory and that the camera does not support close-up shooting functionality.
This phone retails for about 26,999 Kshs
C3
Features
*Qwerty Keyboard
*EDGE Internet
*2 MP camera
*Memory card support
*Wi-fi Enabled
*Bluetooth Enabled
*FM Radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*It is very affordable
*The C3 is a very nice-looking handset with a deceptively premium feel.
*The keys are raised into soft humps, making it a little easier to navigate the small keypad with two thumbs.
*The navigation pad between the screen and the keyboard isn’t as well designed, with Nokia opting to squeeze eight controls into the small space surrounding the five-way nav pad
*With its QWERTY keyboard, the C3 has a decent range of communication tools baked in; there’s standard SMS with threaded conversation mode, email with support for POP3 and IMAP accounts, and Facebook and Twitter clients with a pre-installed home-screen widget. If you prefer your messaging to be more instantaneous, Nokia includes Ovi Chat on the C3, allowing you to connect to multiple IM clients like Windows Live and Yahoo.
*What you don’t get is 3G internet connectivity, so web browsing is kinda slow
*Nokia compensates for this with the inclusion of Wi-Fi, which is essential for downloading new apps, but you will have to make sure you plan ahead and download what you want before you leave any Wi-Fi network you have access to.
*On the back of the C3 you’ll find a 2-megapixel camera, but no flash. This is a standard configuration for phones in this price range, as is the absence of an auto-focus feature in the camera’s software. The upside to not having auto-focus is that the camera snaps off images quite quickly
*Composing messages is also fast, so long as your fingers can move comfortably over the small keyboard.
This phone goes for about 11,499 Kshs
C5 – 00
Features
*3G Internet
*5 Megapixel camera
*Music & Video Player
*Memory card support
*Bluetooth enabled
*FM radio
Pro’s and Con’s
*It is promoted as more resistant to water, dust and shocks.
*the Nokia C5 is equipped with 600MHz processor and 128MB RAM, i.e. more than enough resources that guarantee a smartphone like this will be running without any lagging.
*The Nokia C5 offers the whopping 12 hours of continuous talk time on 2G networks and decent 4.9 hours over 3G bands. Good battery life.
*The Nokia C5 5MP has a camcorder but its top recording rate of 15 frames per second (fps) is kind of low. In comparison, cinema movies have a rate of 24fps and most TV sets display more than 30 fps.