The Nokia X2-01 seems to proffer a superlative fusion of price, design, features and performance. The handset’s tantalizing appearance and impressive chassis tempted us enough to grab it for a complete review. After all, QWERTY mobile phones have gained abundant prominence among many mobile enthusiasts and business professionals as they deliver advanced messaging capabilities along with impeccable access to social networking applications and e-mails. Companies can assure better market share by outlining affordable handsets as the price factor plays an imperative role in emerging markets. Nokia has spent a considerable amount of its resources to increase the desired demand and keep up with the latest trends in the technological world. Nokia’s X series is geared towards the youth and has an appealing eminence for music lovers. The gorgeous X2-01 was launched last year along with the C2-01.
On opening the enticing blue box, we spotted a pair of earphones, a charger and a user manual. Disappointingly, the handset does not pack in a microSD card or a USB cable. The Nokia X2-01 feels light on hands as it weighs around 107 grams and sports a sturdy design with tapering edges. The phone’s plastic chassis does not offer superior ergonomics and can slip easily if not held firmly. The QWERTY keypad has an annoying plastic feel but surprisingly the typing experience was comfortable. Typing in dark conditions was indeed flawless, thanks to the device’s bright and clear backlight keys.
Though bantam-sized, the keys are not cramped up and have been precisely positioned. Long pressing the Ctrl key, we could easily swap to the silent or general mode. The top edge sports a charging port and a 3.5mm audio input jack. The left side offers adequate space for microSD card and USB slots which are neatly covered with a rubber flap. The right side does not come along with any functions and we feel that Nokia could have incorporated a volume controller for easy control. It sizes up to 119.4mm x 59.8mm x 14.3mm dimensions and can be easily slipped in a pocket or bag.
On tossing the X2-01 handset, we spotted a VGA camera and speaker grill. We were definitely down in the dumps keeping in mind many other companies who have incorporated at least a 2 megapixel camera at the same price bar. The battery flap comes etched with the Nokia logo and the model number at the bottom. The 2.4-inch QVGA display screen delivers 320 x 240 pixel resolution and 262k colors. The screen also comes with a dedicated widget to access frequently used contacts which can be represented with a thumbnail.
The D-pad enabled us to navigate through various pre-loaded applications and services. On the right side of the D-pad, the company has integrated a dedicated message shortcut, call end button and soft key. While the left side comes with a dedicated music player shortcut, call button and soft key. The soft keys were set up by default for ‘Go To’ and ‘Names’, however, users can customize these keys with distinct shortcuts according to their requirements. Saving our favorite images and videos was a simple task using the 55MB internal memory which can be expanded up to 8GB. Personalizing the device with several beguiling messaging, sports and entertainment apps along with new games and more through the Ovi Store was certainly uncluttered.
The Nokia X2-01 phone is powered by the Series 40 operating system and it functioned efficiently without any glitches. The user interface was easy-to-use and it surely did not exasperate us during our whole journey. The call quality and reception on this mobile phone was remarkable. You can easily record calls while the sound emitted by the loudspeaker is crisp. However the quality deteriorated when we placed the mobile phone on the table. The UI accommodates 12 icons namely Calendar, Contacts, Music, Mail, Internet, Messaging, Photos, Ovi Store, Settings, Communities, Games, Applications and @Cafe.
The Communities function enabled us to access different social networking accounts like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut. The pages opened quickly and accurately and we were delighted as the text did not blur. The Nokia X2-01 comes pre-loaded with few games such as Block’d, Bounce Tales, Diamond Rush and Sudoku. Well, the Diamond Rush’s action-packed gameplay caught our attention in particular. The Photos icon comes with a slew of options like camera, my photos, timeline, my albums, video camera and my videos. We put the VGA camera with 640 x 480 pixel resolution to use and started exploiting our photography skills. The images were indeed good with decent quality. The video recording experience was satisfactory in QVGA resolution at 24fps. The quality was undoubtedly poor in low light or dim conditions.
The Profile function offered us the usual options such as general, silent, meeting, outdoor, my style 1, my style 2 and flight. My Shortcuts enabled us to assign different functions to the left selection, right selection, music, messaging, navigation and homescreen buttons competently. Other attributes under the Applications icon include calculator, alarm clock, gallery, extras, voice recorder, to-do-list, notes, countdown timer and stopwatch. The low resolution screen does not enhance the web browsing experience. The handset’s Opera Mini default browser helped us browse and loaded pages promptly. We were also baffled with the handset’s multi-tasking capabilities since we could not send a message or make calls while browsing. Powered by a BL-5C 1020mAh battery, the X2-01 handset functioned efficiently for two complete days on a single charge on sporadic usage.
To round it up, the Nokia X2-01 is a sumptuous entry-level mobile phone with advanced capabilities. Although our review unit was dressed in an attractive deep grey hue, you can also grab this device in other colors like red, silver, lilac and azure. With excellent features, beautiful and easy-to-use user interface as well as unique design, the device is undeniably worth the price. The handset carries a price tag of Rs. 4,459 and manages to get a good rating of 8 on a scale of 10 from us. If you are not a touchscreen enthusiast and want to fill your pockets with a messaging friendly gizmo, then we suggest that the X2-01 is worth a try.
