It’s now officially here!

As promised, Nokia has officially launched their newest and first ever Android smartphone, the X, in the Philippines. The X is Nokia’s answer to all the affordable Android devices out in the market. The company has officially priced the Nokia X at Php 5,990, with the company saying that the Nokia X is now available at stores. Let’s check out the specs, shall we?

Nokia X specs

• 1Ghz 8225 Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 32GB
• 4-inch capacitive LCD display, 800 x 480 pixels
• 3-megapixel fixed focus camera
• 3G, HSPA
• Dual-SIM
• WiFi, Bluetooth
• Php 5990

Nokia’s hedging their bets with the X, which represents their push into the affordable smartphone market which is currently dominated by Android devices. The question needs to be asked though, why Android? Well, Nokia’s seen how ineffective their Asha range is at penetrating the market ruled by the MyPhones and Cherry Mobiles of the world and apparently the licensing costs of Windows Phone is just to high to deliver budget Windows smartphones, So Nokia have adjusted their strategy, which saw the creation of the X line of smartphones. According to Gary Chan, Nokia’s head of marketing for the Pan-Asia market, the Nokia X line of devices will eventually push out the Asha range in the price category it’s in and into the ultra-affordable range (4K and below), making the X line their affordable line of devices while the Lumia sits at the top end.

While the Nokia X technically uses Android, it’s completely stripped of anything Google related, replaced by a hybrid overlay that closely resembles the one on the Lumia and Asha line of devices. All Google services have been replaced by Microsoft and Nokia analogues – Google Play is changed to the Nokia Store, Gmail is now Outlook, and so on and so forth. As far as the app market is concerned, Nokia has said that they are offering curated apps through the Nokia Marketplace for Nokia X users. Nokia has also made buying apps and in-app payments simple with the X – you can simply charge your purchases through your carrier (if you’re on prepaid, that means your load will be deducted when you make a payment), which should make a lot of developers happy. That ability doesn’t extend to sideloaded apps though, or anything that uses Google services.

Nokia will only be launching the X for now. Chan said that the launch of the two other devices – the X+ and the XL – is dependent on market demand, and will be coming at Q2 of this year at the earliest.

Nokia has priced the X at Php 5990, which is still pretty steep, considering the hardware. Then again, Nokia’s software implementation, curated app store and ability to make solid, high quality devices may just be what drives people to buy the device.