Nokia X3 Touch and Type

Nokia still sells millions of handsets across the world, especially in developing countries, most of these are of the lower-end variety. When it comes to smartphones, the Finnish company has been steadily losing steam to touch screen handsets, like the iPhone or the latest crop of well-received Android mobiles. The problem for Nokia, of course, is that smartphones are not only increasing market share, but also have higher profit margins: the Finnish mobile giant’s revenue has predictably taken a sizable hit, while smartphone centric rivals like HTC reap record earnings. The latest mobile phone from Nokia might not change any of this, but it does seem to incorporate some vital smartphone elements into Nokia’s popular low-end mobile segment.

Small touch screen

The newly introduced Nokia X3 Touch and Type might look like any old Nokia model, but there’s a major difference with this one: the touch screen and keypad at once. Unlike most high-end touch smartphones, the touch screen with the Nokia X3 doesn’t cover the entire front of the device, in fact it only covers the top half of the handset. Whilst this means less room for viewing videos, browsing the web, or executing touch moves, it also gives the Nokia X3 enough space to sport a 12 button keypad on its front.

Convenient keypad

In an age of slide-out full QWERTY keyboards, this Nokia-like mobile keypad might seem a bit old-fashioned, but it does have a number of advantages. For starters, Nokia claims, based on its own research, that people who have gotten used to texting and phoning using only one hand with their thumbs, don’t want to stop. Though we might not completely agree, the keypad with its dedicated text message and music buttons, as well as overall convenience, is definitely quick and easy to use. Another positive result of using a frontal keypad is the Nokia X3′ ulstra slim 9.6mm thickness, something smartphones, especially those with slide-out features, generally can’t rival at all.

Photo: Nokia

Decent features

Aside from convenience and a slim form factor, the Nokia X3 Touch and Type has many of the same features found on its X3 namesake released back in X3.  We’re talking about a 5MP camera, complete with 4x digital zoom and video recording abilities, as well as a radio, music player and 16GB memory card for storing all your media files. Web browsing is of course supported as well, via WiFi or 3G, and many options can be selected via the X3′s touch screen. Users will also have access to the Ovi app store, as well as Nokia services like Ovi mail, and many other popular online social services that can be integrated with the home screen.

Symbian?

Nokia still hasn’t given up its mobile OS battle, so this model unfortunately isn’t running Android and will instead be running some type of Symbian OS, we assume. Hopefully the OS functions well enough that it doesn’t put people off the Nokia X-series mobile, especially with regards to the touch screen functions. However, we still can’t help feeling that Nokia should just give up on the operating system front and concentrate on what they’re good at: hardware.

Low price

Perhaps the Nokia X3 Touch and Type’s biggest attraction is its price, which Nokia have pegged at the decidedly un-smartphone cost of 125 Euros, or somewhere in the £100 region. Even though its OS might still be somewhat of a question mark, for that low price the X3 is definitely a good deal. Expect to see it to launch sometime in the third quarter of 2010, although we still have no word on UK mobile providers or contract prices.

Photo: Nokia