Category: Android Go

Nokia today made a somewhat of a surprise announcement with the new Nokia 5.1, 3.1 and 2.1 phones coming to their lineup later this summer.  Running Android One on the 5.1 and 3.1 while running on the 2.1 will be Android Go, HMD Global has more-or-less given incremental upgrades to the .0 versions of these current phones in their lineup.

By far the biggest upgrade came to the Nokia 5.1.  Sporting a 5.5″ Full HD display, it has an 18:9 aspect ratio and is powered by the MediaTek Helio P18 octa-core SoC.  It comes with either 2GB of RAM with 16GB of storage or 3GB of RAM with 32GB of storage.  IN either case, the storage can be expanded an additional 128GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Camera wise, you have a 16MP main shooter with auto-focus while the selfie camera is an 8MP shooter.  All of this, along with the phone running Android One (Oreo) will cost a comfortable $218 when it is released.

After being announced back in February at Mobile World Congress, the Android Go based ZTE Tempo Go phone is now available for purchase here in the United States.  The $80 is available directly from ZTE on their site.  Sporting a 5″ FWVGA display, the Tempo Go is aimed at the entry level market and has a price point that will be hard to pass up, especially considering the phone comes with Android Oreo and will be regularly updated as part of the Go program.

The ZTE Tempo Go is powered by the Snapdragon 210 quad-core SoC.  It has 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage but that storage can be expanded by an additional 32GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Powering all of this is a 2200mAh battery that is recharged via the MicroUSB port.

Nokia has announced several new phones today at Mobile World Congress including the company’s first Android Go edition phone, the Nokia 1.  Much like the Alcatel 1X announced earlier today, the Nokia 1 is a budget friendly phone with a MediaTek MT6737M SoC, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.  It has a 4.5″ display with a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP selfie camera.

Nokia has indicated that the phone will be priced at a very budget friendly $85 in the markets it is made available in but, at this time, it is unclear which markets that will be just yet.  It is almost certainly emerging markets but it could make its way to established markets too.

Gmail Go, a lighter weight version of the Gmail app, is the latest addition to the Android Go initiative from Google.  The app is available in Google Play Store for devices with low memory, the hallmark of the Go program.  If you aren’t familiar with the Go program, it is an initiative set out by Google back at Google I/O last year to bring apps & services to devices with low RAM.  These apps are mostly aimed at emerging markets or those with very low cost devices with 1GB or 2GB of RAM.

Gmail Go essentially is Gmail but without some of the more powerful management, editing and filtering options.  Still, it comes with Smart Replies and inbox label filtering which is likely going to meet 99% of users needs.