Nokia makes a comeback in South Africa with new phones

In addition to the budget-friendly Nokia 1 which was launched earlier this month, HMD Global has announced the availability of the Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 plus and the new Nokia 6 in South Africa.

Nokia 1

The brand is on a mission to cover all the various price points to make Nokia phones available to as many people as possible, revealed Shaun Durandt, HDM Global GM South Africa at a launch event in Cape Town on Friday.

According to Durandt, feature phones are still a priority for HDM's Nokia and it is said to be the leader in this category.

"Feature phones form a significant part of our business, obviously from an affordability perspective, also in terms of other challenges people face with fixed-line telecommunications in regions like Africa. A mobile phone at the level of a future phone which is affordable at least allows people to stay in contact," says Durandt.

Nokia 8110 4G

The company notes that the 3310 received lots of attention and did well in the South African market. Off the back of this, it also mentioned that it will be launching the new Nokia 8110 4G in the near future. Pricing has not been confirmed.

Dubbed the "Banana Phone", you might also remember it as the phone Morpheus sent to Neo in the first Matrix movie.

Though it may look simple, and it is, the new 8110 will come with an app store with Google apps, a Wi-Fi radio, an LTE radio, Bluetooth, and even A-GPS. It will be available in yellow and black.

Nokia 8110 4G

"The feature phone market is also a very important stepping stone for us to entry-level and affordable smartphones. We firmly believe that being entrenched in this number one position in terms of value in feature phones, positions us for the next decision that gets made by a significant portion of the population to upgrade to an entry-level smartphone. This is the really exciting part of the Nokia 1," he says.

"We want to bring to the table a really affordable smartphone that, from a quality perspective, spans across our entire portfolio - from flagship all the way down to the Nokia 1 - the experience is exactly the same.

"This is the story we've been trying to get through to everyone on regular basis: whether you buy a Nokia 1 or a Nokia 8 Sirocco, that seamless experience is always going to be there," concludes Durandt.

Here are the ins and outs of the rest of the handsets:

Nokia 8 Sirocco

Delivering powerful storytelling features including enhanced dual-sight, Zeiss optics and carefully tuned acoustics with Nokia spatial audio, the Nokia 8 Sirocco is an ultra-compact powerhouse, and described as the brand's most beautiful smartphone to date.

Nokia 8 Sirocco

Its curved glass finish, envelops a precision-crafted stainless-steel frame to deliver a fusion of strength and beauty. Just 2mm thin at the edge, it combines a curved edge-to-edge pOLED 2K 5.5-inch display with smaller bezels and moulded body curves to create an ultra-compact profile.

It boasts dual rear sensors with Zeiss optics that combine an ultra-sensitive, wide-angle primary camera for impressive low-light performance and a secondary 13MP sensor with 2x optical zoom.

Available in black, the Nokia 8 Sirocco will be available on 7 May 2018.

Nokia 7 plus

With enhanced dual-sight, dual rear sensors with Zeiss optics combine an ultra-sensitive 12MP wide-angle primary camera for excellent performance in both low-light and extra bright conditions and a secondary 13MP camera that delivers 2x optical zoom for the moments when you wish you were closer.

Nokia 7 plus

The Nokia 7 plus with its six-inch 18:9 Full HD+ display is backed by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform. It is optimised and integrated for maximum performance and battery life. It claims a two-day battery life and is already available in SA.

The New Nokia 6

Building on the success of its predecessor, the New Nokia 6 packs even more powerful performance and great new features in a more compact, durable body. Over 60% faster than its predecessor, it now offers enhanced Dual-Sight, Zeiss optics, USB-C fast-charging, a more compact screen-to-body ratio, Nokia spatial audio and pure, secure and up-to-date Android Oreo.

Nokia 6.1

The engineers have integrated the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 Mobile Platform to deliver fast and smooth performance alongside great day-long battery life.

The new Nokia 6 is available as of 23 April 2018.

Pure, secure and up-to-date, reinforced with Android One commitment

The new additions to the Nokia smartphone range joins the Android One family, offering a high-quality software experience designed by Google.

The company says Android is key to the Nokia strategy and one of its biggest challenges and priorities is to educate the market and inform them that Nokia now runs on Android.

Android One devices will stay fresh over time with the latest Google innovations and regular security updates. All Nokia smartphones in the Android One program will come with a limited number of pre-installed Google Services apps so that you’ll get more storage space and a streamlined easy to use experience.