KIANEWS HMD Global latest Nokia smartphone is the most environmentally friendly yet
01. 09. 2022 Thursday / By: Robert Denes / Reviews / Exact time: BST / Print this page
T oday, HMD Global is announcing three new smartphones, the Nokia G60 5G, C31 and X30 5G, and claims that the X30 5G is the "greenest smartphone ever". The three phones are focused on Europe and are different from the devices sold by HMD in the US.
In addition to going on sale immediately, the Nokia X30 5G will be one of the phones available through HMD's new subscription service called 'Circular', where customers can subscribe to a handset for a monthly fee and receive incentives to use the phone. As long as possible. The Circular will initially be available in the UK and Germany, but HMD says it plans a global rollout in the coming months.
HMD backs up its eco-friendly claims about the Nokia X30 5G with the amount of recycled materials used to build the device. It has a 100 percent recycled aluminum frame and 65 percent recycled plastic back, and comes in a 70 percent recycled paper box. The company also says it's backed by three years of OS updates and monthly security updates, and offers a three-year warranty as standard.
The attempt to create a greener smartphone is a laudable initiative, but HMD's efforts fall short of sustainable smartphone specialists Fairphone. Although its latest device, the Fairphone 4, does not use recycled aluminum, its back is made from 100 percent recycled plastic, its solder is made from 100 percent recycled tin, and it uses fair trade gold and conflict-free tungsten. Fairphone aims to support the phone with security and software updates for five years instead of three, and designs its devices to be as easy to repair as possible for the end user, with removable batteries that can be easily replaced if they go bad and other parts that can be removed with simple screws. None of these are on HMD's Nokia X30 5G.
Florian Seche, CEO of HMD Global (Nokia's parent company), said: “Most people have a drawer full of old phones at home. We hope to change that by empowering people and businesses to get the most out of Nokia devices while leaving the smallest possible footprint on the planet. To do this, and to be truly circular, we take full responsibility for the entire life cycle of our phones – not just to keep them in the hands of our fans, which has always been central to our product design process. but also through manufacturing, reuse and recycling.”
In addition to the sustainability features, the Nokia X30 5G is a fairly typical mid-range device. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor with a choice of 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of storage, and a 6.43-inch 1080p OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. On the back, there's a 50-megapixel main camera with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 16-megapixel selfie camera. The phone will be available later this month, with prices starting at £399 (EUR 460, USD 461 and INR 36736).
Alternatively, the X30 5G will be available through HMD's new Circular subscription service, where it will cost £25 a month, with a £30 start-up fee in the UK. The idea is that instead of buying a phone outright, customers can rent their handset for a minimum of three months on a rolling subscription contract. The catch is that at the end of the subscription, the device is returned for recycling or reuse. HMD also hopes to be able to encourage its customers to use the devices for longer with loans that can be invested for charitable purposes.
In addition to the Nokia X30 5G, HMD is also announcing two more smartphones today. First, there's the Nokia G60 5G, a £249 (EUR 319, USD 287 and INR 22922) device that's also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor and comes with a three-year warranty, along with three years of security and Android updates. However, it starts with just 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage, and has an LCD display instead of OLED. The display is 6.58 inches with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. There are three cameras on the back: a 50-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 2-megapixel ambush depth sensor. It's available in the UK from today and will also be available on Circular for GBP 12.50 a month with a GBP 30 setup fee.
Finally, there's the Nokia C31, a EUR 129 (GBP 111, USD 129 and INR 10,283) device that HMD says offers three days of battery life thanks to its 5,050 mAh battery. It is powered by a Unisoc 9863A1 processor, with a choice of 3 or 4 GB of RAM and 32 to 128 GB of expandable storage. Its screen is 6.7 inches, but only with a resolution of 720p, and the three rear cameras are led by a 13-megapixel main sensor. HMD promises to support it with two years of security updates, but no major Android OS updates. No word yet on UK availability.
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