Nokia 1 Android Go smartphone leaked in photos, March 2018 launch expected

Nokia has already kicked off their 2018 innings with the second generation Nokia 6 which comes with updated internals and new features such as Bothie. Now, the company is gearing up to launch two more smartphones at contrasting ends of the price spectrum – the ultra high-end Nokia 9 and the low-cost Nokia 1. The Nokia 1 is set to be the cheapest smartphone from HMD Global yet and is expected to run on Google’s Android Go platform. Although information about the Nokia 1 has been sparse as of now, images of the smartphone have now been leaked online courtesy Chinese micro blogging site – Baidu.
While the leaked images show noticeably different designs, the positioning of the camera set up and LED flash is more or less similar in both. This indicates two things — either HMD Global is still exploring design options for the Nokia 1 or one of the two images is of the Nokia 1, while the other one is of some other smartphone that the company may be planning to announce this year.
The images don’t reveal much about the upcoming Nokia 1. All that it shows is the single camera at the back, below which sits the LED light. While one image shows the Nokia logo carved in white, the second image shows the logo in black. Going by the design, the images more or less confirm the previous rumours that the Nokia 1 may somewhat resemble the Nokia 2 in terms of design.
The key difference between Nokia 1 and Nokia 2 will be in the software department. While the Nokia 2 runs on a full version of Android, Nokia 1 will be the first phone by HMD Global to come with Android Go. To recall, Google said that it will partner with smartphone companies to launch a lot of Android Oreo Go Edition phones in the upcoming year – and it seems the Nokia 1 may be the first one.
Android Go is basically an operating system for budget smartphones with 512MB to 1GB of RAM. As a result, the Nokia 1 is expected to come with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, much like what we have seen in Nokia 2. Additionally, the smartphone is expected to come with a 720p IPS LCD display and a chassis made out of a mix of polycarbonate and metal.
From the pricing point of view, the Nokia 1 is expected to be cheaper than the Nokia 2 which is priced at Rs 6,999. Meanwhile, a newly leaked report by GSM Arena suggests that the Nokia 1 may be priced around $95 (approximately Rs 6,000). Reports suggest that we may see the Nokia 1 launch sometime around March at Mobile World Congress 2018. The smartphone is almost guaranteed to make its way to India as it is specifically designed for emerging markets like ours.