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The Nokia 2.1 is nearly three generations old now, with the 2.4 rumored to debut in just a couple of days, but this budget phone from 2018 is still getting updates. The 2.1 is starting to receive the Android 10 (Go edition) update, with ten Asian markets getting it first.
Nokia adds 3 more devices to its Android 10 upgrade plans (Updated)
Some late releases hop onto the list
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- With Android 10 Go edition made official, Juho Sarvikas has clarified Nokia's plans for its Go devices. The newer 1 Plus will get it first in Q1 2020, while the older 2.1 and 1 will receive their updates in Q2 2020.
Quick to promise software upgrades when Android 10 was announced, HMD Global has since revised its update roadmap for its Nokia smartphones with more of them expected to make the jump than initially claimed last fall.
In January of this year, HMD Global partnered with Verizon to create the Nokia 2 V. It's more or less a Nokia 2.1 with Verizon branding. The updates are also handled by the carrier, which might explain why Android Pie is rolling out to the phone five months after the regular Nokia 2.1 got it.
Smartphone shoppers have lots of choices out there, and the increased accessibility of unlocked devices has made it easier for users to select their handsets and carriers independently. But while it's possible for an informed consumer to take that route, there's no denying the one-stop appeal of showing up at your carrier store and going home with a new phone. Manufacturers like OnePlus are definitely enjoying the sales bump that carrier partnerships can offer, and now HMD is looking to get in on this action, too, as it announces the availability of Nokia smartphones at North American carriers.
Slowly but surely, HMD Global has been rolling out Android 9 Pie to its Nokia-branded phones. The Nokia 7 Plus, 6.1, 6.1 Plus, 5.1, 5.1 Plus, 8, and 8 Sirocco have all received Pie by now. If your Nokia device still doesn't have Pie, don't fret — HMD has laid out its update timeline for all remaining phones.
Nokia is a name that had all but disappeared from the smartphone market in the US until HMD Global acquired it in 2016. Since then, HMD has made great strides in returning the nameplate to its former glory, and Nokia phones are now beloved once again. It looks like Nokia is set to return to Verizon as well, according to this latest leak from Evan Blass.
The Nokia 2.1 was announced back in late May, and it's HMD's new budget offering. With pricing starting at around $115 for an Android Go phone with a 4.000mAh battery, it sounds like a decent deal. HMD has just released the source code for the 2.1, nearly a month after it did so for the 5.1.
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The revival of the Nokia brand by Finnish company HMD Global has been a runaway success up to this point. All recent models run pure versions of Android (One or Go) and offer great value for money — a real boost to the budget and mid-range smartphone market especially. At an event today in Moscow, HMD announced updated versions for three of its best-selling products. The new Nokia 2, 3, and 5 share the same DNA as their predecessors but include a range of improvements to make them even more enticing, while maintaining Nokia's "pure, secure, and up-to-date" promise.
The Nokia brand has been through an incredible transformation in recent years, under the guidance of HMD Global. Its products have received almost universal praise, so much so that we’re now at a point when I would honestly recommend a Nokia phone ahead of pretty much anything else in the budget-to-midrange space. Recent Nokia devices feel like they should be more expensive than they are, have a pleasing minimal design aesthetic, and — perhaps most importantly — they all run either Android Go or Android One, meaning they get fast updates and are devoid of bloatware.