HMD Global promises 3 things in new Nokia phones

Dubai - Fresh devices include another blast-from-the-past offering

HMD Global unveiled its new Nokia phones in the UAE on Thursday - including a 'flagship killer' - with 3 pledges to go along with its most advanced offerings.
The Finnish company launched 5 new devices - 4 smartphones plus another blast-from-the-past feature phone - to add to its aggressively-increasing portfolio of products that began last year.
Headlining the launch was the Nokia 8 Sirocco (Dh2,399), the company's highest-end device that features a ramped-up dual-sight camera with Zeiss optics and a curved-edges design - and is a nod to the original Nokia 8800 Sirocco from 2006.
"It's been a fantastic year thanks to our fans," Sanmeet Singh Kocchar, general manager for the Middle East at HMD Global, said at the launch event in Dubai on Thursday. "We are now planning to expand our investments to get more customers."
Later at the event, he told Khaleej Times that consumers in the UAE gave an "overwhelming" response to the Nokia devices HMD Global rolled out here.
"We have been able to get really good feedback from [UAE] consumers... we are confident that our devices will not just meet but exceed the demands and expectations," he added.
And while the UAE smartphone market is indeed a very competitive one, Kocchar says HMD Global has 3 "promises" that would give it an advantage and impact consumers' needs. One of these is the pure Android experience on the Nokia phones, which do not include so-calledbloatware, or software that may be unwanted on a device.
"Users today, especially the young ones, don't want to be told what to do," Kocchar said. "That's why we have a pure Android experience."
The other 2 pledges are guaranteed upgrades to the latest Android version within 2 years and security updates if and when they are available.
HMD Global also launched the Nokia 7 Plus (Dh1,399), which Kocchar describes as a "flagship killer", coming with specs that would rival those found in top-end smartphones. It also relaunched the Nokia 6 (Dh899), with the new version now 60 per cent faster than its predecessor.
Two feature phones were also unveiled: the Nokia 1 (Dh299), and the "banana phone" Nokia 8110 4G (Dh259), a follow-up to last year's relaunch of the classic 3310.
- alvin@khaleejtimes.com

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