At a media event held in New Delhi earlier this month, HMD Global launched the Nokia 8110 4G feature phone in India, alongside the Nokia 3.1 Plus Android One smartphone. Just as promised, the 4G feature phone is now available for purchase in India via the Nokia online store. Priced at INR 5,999, the Nokia 8110 4G is significantly more expensive than other feature phones on sale in India, including those with 4G support. While the design of the handset is inspired from the original Nokia 8110, the ‘banana phone’ offers quite a few modern features, apart from 4G connectivity.
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Nokia 8110 4G ‘Banana Phone’ Now Available on Sale in India
The Nokia 8110 4G is now available in Black and Yellow color options on the Nokia online store for INR 5,999. It only comes in a single storage variant: 4GB. As for launch offers, HMD has partnered with Reliance Jio to offer up to 544GB of additional 4G data to customers who purchase the phone. HMD had announced at the phone’s launch event earlier this month that it would go on sale via offline retail stores as well on October 24, so you may also be able to find the Nokia 8110 4G in stock at a store near you.
Does the Nokia 8110 4G Justify its Premium Pricing?
There is no doubt that the Nokia 8110 4G is very pricey for a feature phone. After the launch of the Reliance JioPhone last year, a few other phone makers also started rolling out new 4G-compatible feature phones. However, no other 4G feature phone is anywhere near as expensive as the Nokia 8110 4G is. Quite clearly, HMD Global is betting more on the nostalgia factor than any substantial feature. Let us first take a look at what the feature phone offers for its high INR 5,999 price tag.
The Nokia 8110 4G features a 2.45-inch display with QVGA resolution, which is roughly on par with what you find on most 4G feature phones. In terms of design, the phone is primarily made out of polycarbonate. Similar to the original 8110, it boasts a curved design that sets it apart from other feature phones. You get a numerical keyboard as well, which is covered by a slider mechanism. You can slide open the curved protective cover to answer calls and slide it back to end them. Under the hood, Nokia 8110 4G runs on Qualcomm’s 205 mobile platform, delivering superior performance when compared to most of its rivals. The dual-core processor is coupled with 512 MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. Users can expand the storage further by up to 32GB, thanks to a microSD card slot. Connectivity-wise, the phone comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS with A-GPS, FM radio, and a MicroUSB 2.0 port. Some of the other key hardware features include a 1500mAh removable battery and a 2MP rear camera. In terms of software, the Nokia 8110 4G runs on the KaiOS platform.
The Reliance JioPhone, which offers comparable hardware specifications, is available effectively for free with an INR 1,500 security deposit. Reliance JioPhone 2, which sports a more attractive design, is priced at INR 2,999. While the Nokia 8110 4G is superior to the JioPhone and JioPhone 2 in some areas, we do not think it is a great idea to spend INR 5,999 on a feature phone.
What are your thoughts on the Nokia 8110 4G? Let us know in the comments section below.
