The X series, Nokia's worst idea ever....

[Skunkwurx]

At first read I thought that the X, X+ and XL were an ok to good idea... low cost, looks like a windows system, has Microsoft services, ok plan so far... then I saw something remarkable...

These are the specs for the X and X+
Nokia X and Nokia X+

• 115.5 x 63 x 10.4 mm
• 128.7 g
• 4-inch WVGA IPS LCD display (800 x 480), 233 ppi
• Capacitive two-point touch
• Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor
• Micro SIM, Dual SIM support
• USB 2.0 / Micro USB-B
• 3.5 mm audio connector
• Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
• Wi-Fi WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• WCDMA: 900 MHz, 2100 MHz
• GSM: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1900 MHz
• 1500 mAh battery
• Dual-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor
• 512 MB RAM / Nokia X
• 768 MB RAM / Nokia X+
• 4GB of memory
• MicroSD card support (up to 32GB cards supported)
• 3MP rear camera, no front-facing camera

Now, take a deep breath.... Ready?
Here we go, here are the specs for the Lumia 800

Nokia Lumia 800

• 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm
• 142g
• 3.7" WVGA AMOLED PenTile 800x480 at 252ppi
• capacitive touch
• Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, digital compass, 2 microphones
• Normal single SIM
• USB 2.0 / Micro USB-B
• 3.5 mm audio connector
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Wi-Fi WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
• WCDMA: 900 MHz, 2100 MHz
• GSM: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1900 MHz
• 1450 mAh Battery
• 1.4 GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4
• 512 MB Ram
• 16 GB Memory
• No SD card...
• 8Mp Rear camera

Now if i'm not mistaken apart from the camera and internal memory the Lumia is a straight up worse phone (I'm also taking liberties with quality as the 800 felt like the most premium plastic phone ever)... That begs the question why put so much effort into creating an android phone that looks like a windows product, uses windows services, all the while WP7.8 works on worse hardware WITH an eco system... where apps created for 7.8 work on 8.... and if they wanted to put in that much effort they could of recoded WP7.8 to work with dual core, be smoother, code it to run on even less to wipe out Ashe, make app development easier for 7.8 as its a diff core to 8, and it comes with all Microsofts services... Not build a whole new OS... are you actually idiots... hell spend the time stripping 8 back to the bone to run on an s4 if your going the insane route.... I love Nokia but I call a spade a spade and Nokia are right now acting like the people who would of been picked off and eaten by wild animals in prehistoric times... 89 for the X... With knowledge that it'd be supported with updates and new apps i'd buy a relaunched Lumia 800 with 3Mp Camera and 4Gb memory for that...

Maybe I'm wrong but this just reeks of "we didn't think this through"

 

[berty6294]

WP OS costs money. Use a free OS and knock a quarter of the price off the phone.

 

[MatsuDano]

1. They did not have to build a whole new OS. It's forked android, just like what's running on the kindle fire. Very cheap to make, very cheap to support.
2. Windows Phone 7.8 has licensing costs. It also has some detriments to the point that, for an entry level smartphone buyer, might eventually DETER a consumer from going to WP8.
3. Recreating an OS like WP7.x to run on new hardware is a nightmare. Tapping into existing services with an existing framework is relatively easy. OneDrive, outlook, and a million other things already run on android.

Remember, the idea is to get people from dumbphones to smartphones with as little culture shock as possible. Nokia is positioning themselves along with MS to be ambassadors in that experience. Cultivate a positive product experience and it may pay off. Risky? maybe. Depends on how much they sunk into it. I don't know any exact figures, but it seems like so far they spent more promoting it then actually developing/supporting the platform.

Time will tell, but it's certainly not their worst idea ever. That distinction belongs to the N-Gage.

 

[Skunkwurx]

you do realise all this is going to Microsoft very soon meaning no licence fee. Also considering Microsoft sell no licences for wp7 anymore i'm sure they'd be happy with ecosystem and service expansion alone and because they are designed for bulk Microsoft could charge a dollar a pop, 50c... and what recreation? wp7x was designed for s4 single core... cheaper than the X's processor and runs better (judging by the video)... now they have to fill another ecosystem, anything is better than this idea... there is already a low cost phone OS full of windows apps and its called WP7.8

 

[MatsuDano]

Licensing within Microsoft still happens, it's just all wrapped up in creative accounting. Similar to interco GL accounts. Either way, it really wouldn't be a hinderance, but creating an alternative to the lumia 520 as an entry level phone only bolsters their device portfolio to offer the customer.

Windows phone 7.x reaches EoL this September (as in 7 months from now) and there is really no point to supporting it throughout even this year. As far as the ecosystem is concerned, Nokia just has to get permissions from the android app developers to publish the app on their store. It's not like Nokia is going to invest it's time and resources into making android apps. There's a ton out there already, they just have to provide a gateway where developers can publish the app.

I get your point regarding the UX of the device, but I think the bar is already set pretty low for someone coming from a feature phone or flip phone. I can also understand your point about hardware maybe being cheaper, but think of the supply chain. SOC makers aren't getting the same profit from selling the older chipsets the same way phone manufacturers aren't getting he best value with them.

I think you're under the impression that making a phone like this took gobs of manpower and oodles of money when really it's quite the opposite. The strongest factor by far though is definitely the EoL for WP7.x. I'm sure it'd be very cheap for someone to mass produce low-end PC's with low-end processors (certainly more capable than a first gen P4) and licensed with Windows XP, but what would be the point? That same PC running Windows 7 Starter would be supported for many more years.

Now flip that idea on it's head. You are a computer manufacturer, and you already have a deep portfolio of products that run the number one selling operating system in the world. It pulls in steady money, but what can you do to foster growth? You diversify.

 

[aximtreo]

Just as an aside to this discussion. Microsoft is caught between a rock and a hard place here. Yes, they will own Nokia in a few days or so. Yes they knew about the X; when? I don't know.

They can, at any time, after the sale is complete, stop the X project. But, and it's a big BUT; they can't and won't. Microsoft is still trying to get over the WP7 built phones that could not be upgraded to WP8. They can't afford to go through that by killing the X program once units start to be delivered and used.

Now, my question to you is this: If the X begins to erode the low level WP phones market share, do they do away with the 5, 6 level WP phones? I believe MS will have problems with the WP sales from top to bottom if the X series takes off. They will be encouraged to make more and better X phones with equal to or better specs than the top WP phones. Quite a dilemma on the horizon.

 

[MatsuDano]

My guess is they wouldn't do away with the 5xx and 6xx line of phones because the cannibalization of sales would be minimal. They are targeted to similar but slightly different markets. The X is designed for a "my first smartphone" kind of crowd where the lumia line is more for someone who is an experienced smartphone user and either a) wants a cheap replacement or b) wants a hot backup phone. For Nokia, any market penetration is good penetration (lol). It is entirely possible though where the individuals who buy the X move on to something other than a Lumia/WP device. That would be a big problem for them.