After MWC was called off, the Finnish smartphone maker HMD announced a separate event where a bunch of new mid-tier devices is expected to see the light of day. While there's no flagship model in sight until at least a few months from now, Nokia just introduced a new budget smartphone ahead of Wednesday's event — the Nokia C2.

The C2 is a follow-up to the entry-level C1, which came out only three months back. That one isn’t particularly an old phone, but its serious shortcoming in the connectivity department may have pushed HMD to hurry up with a sequel.

Though the new Nokia C2 can now latch onto a 4G LTE network, instead of being capped to 3G speeds, it still retains many features from its predecessor. The C2 comes running Android 9 Pie (Go Edition) and packs 1GB of RAM along with a basic quad-core processor from Unisoc. HMD also didn’t swap the antiquated micro USB port with a Type-C one; and no, the case against the component’s cost-effectiveness on budget phones doesn’t hold water anymore.

On the brighter side, the Nokia C2 now has an upgraded HD+ screen and a slightly larger 2800mAh battery, which is user-accessible. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack, supports FM radio, and includes LED flashes for both front and back cameras. The rear 5MP shooter gets a wider f/2.2 aperture, versus f/2.4 with the C1, and is even capable of taking HDR shots, though its image quality wouldn't be the finest.

SPECS

As was the case with the Nokia C1, the C2 won’t arrive in markets like the US, and HMD will limit its availability to parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. The company hasn’t shared exactly when the handset will go on sale in these regions, nor has it given the C2 a price tag yet. Considering the C1 retails for around in Vietnam, the 2020 model should be priced close to the same figure.

Source: Nokia, @sarvikas