Why Nokia Normandy will NOT Worth Buying?

I told you about Normandy – rumoured Nokia Android smartphone – in December 2013. This is an update about what we know about the mystery device and why it is not worth buying.

In the blog post, I said: “If the rumour is true, Nokia needs to release Normandy smartphone before Microsoft completes the billions dollar acquisition of Nokia in early 2014.”

I was almost correct.

Nokia Normandy Confirmed by WSJ

On Feb 10, 2014, Wall Street Journal reported that Nokia plan to release Android phone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) – February 24–27, 2014 – in Barcelona.

Nokia Normandy will be named “Nokia X” once shipping, say The Verge.

Before you are exciting about Nokia Android phone, please note that it will be a entry-level low-cost smartphone running a fork of Android operating system.

Not another Android phone

A good example of forked Android is Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet. It runs Android but it has own user interface (UI), own app store, and does not have Google services.

Since Microsoft will own Nokia soon, we expect Nokia Normandy to integrate Microsoft services too.

Nokia Normandy UI will not look like an Android phone. It will be heavily modified to look like an Windows Phone, according to previous leaks.

Nokia already have low-cost Windows Phone 8 like Nokia Lumia 520 with 8GB storage and 512MB RAM. Normandy is expected to have similar hardware specs.

Buy Nokia Normandy?

This might be the last interesting project of Nokia before Microsoft take over the phone department.

Nokia Normandy is not worth buying if it ever becomes official.

Firstly, there are already many low-cost Android phones in the market. You do not want a forked Android phone with limited apps (might need to port by Nokia/Microsoft) in its own app store.

Also, if you want an affordable Windows Phone, Nokia already have a few Nokia Lumia models.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet is successful because the tablet is high spec but low price and backed by Amazon.com with “over 20 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books”.

[Tweet “If Nokia really release an Android phone, it needs to have attractive selling points.”]

Secondly, will Microsoft support Nokia low-cost Android phone, which compete with its low-cost Windows Phone? Will you get Android phone updates from Microsoft?

You probably will not get Nokia Normandy phone updates and support after Microsoft take over Nokia phones.

Of course, those are rumours… If Nokia really release an Android phone, it needs to have attractive selling points.

What would be the selling points? We will know soon later in February 2014.