Nokia C2 2nd Edition 5.7” Smartphone with all-day
Nokia C2 2nd Edition 5.7” Smartphone with all-day battery life, 5MP & 2MP cameras, Android 11 (Go edition), MicroSD card slot supports up to 256GB, 2 years quarterly security updates, Dual SIM – Grey
| Dimensions: | 17.1 x 8.9 x 6.4 cm; 330 Grams |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | HMD Global Oy |
| Dimensions: | 17.1 x 8.9 x 6.4 cm; 330 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
cute and just good as what you paid its easy to use very friendly
This is really good value for money as a first phone for your children.
The battery didn’t come pre installed and it was a little tricky to get the back off to fit it. The instructions weren’t particularly clear either, however this isn’t something you’re going to need to do on a regular basis anyway so not that much of a problem. It’s not common these days to have a replaceable battery so that’s actually quite nice. It was pretty quick and easy to set up though.
It has a 5.7 inch HD screen which is a perfectly good size. 32GB onboard storage capacity and can take micro SD of up to 256GB if you need more storage space. I’m used to using fingerprint sensor to unlock my phone which this Nokia does not have. However it does have face recognition or you can use a good old fashioned number code for security. It also comes with 2 years of guaranteed updates which is good.
The phone looks good for the price. The outer casing is pastic but with a metallic matte finish. The back of the case is textured which helps with grip and feels comfortable to handle. The back is also curved rather than flat which is quite nice because when the phone is laid flat the camera len is raised slightly off of the surface so it’s less likely to get scratched.
It has 2 cameras. A 5mp one on the back and a 2mp front (selfie) camera. Neither are top quality as far as phone cameras go although both have flash function for low lighting. Despite this photos in low light are really not great. You get a much better picture outdoors in natural light but even then photos can still look a bit grainy and lack detail or definition. My daughter is 8 though and while she loves to take lots of photos with her phone she’s not overly concerned about the quality of them so it suits us fine.
For general daily use for texts, calls and browsing the web the phone performs well though occasionally a little slow at times. My daughter can spend ages watching YouTube on the phone and playback for this is also good although the contrast can be a little darker with poor lighting. The single loudspeaker sounds good for music and video playback but does lack bass.
The phone does not have many pre installed apps but this is probably to enhance the smooth running of the phone. Having too many would probably mean slower response times so it’s probably best to keep apps to a minimum. The phone comes with a charger included and uses micro USB port. Perfectly functional although a little outdated as these days most come with USB-C. It takes around 2 hours to fully charge and I am having to charge it everyday because my daughter spends a lot of time watching youtube on it.
In conclusion, the Nokia C2 2nd edition is certainly capable of handling all your basic phone needs such as calls, texts, emails, surfing the web, watching online content etc. If this is your main priority in a phone it will suit you well. In my opinion it would be suitable for a kids first phone as I have done for my daughter, or for the older customer who like my own parents only want a phone to do the essentials.
If you’re wanting an all singing all dancing phone that can handle a lot of apps, games, take high quality photos, sound fantastic and run super fast and smooth all at the same time then this isn’t the phone for you and you should expect to pay considerably more money for a phone like that.
For the price though this is a good all round, budget and user friendly phone for the lower end of the market and it performs well for what I wanted from it.
Got this for my younger brother as his first phone and it gets the job done quite well, the battery lasts quite a while and since it is a Nokia it is quite durable, it isn’t setting any standards but for the cost it is worth it. The camera is actually quite good for the price range. A good phone for people on a budget.
5/5
Granddaughter loves, her school and emergency, mobile phone. Easy to setup child protection settings
Not everyone needs or wants a fully-featured Smartphone. I already have one as my personal phone, but I want a completely separate phone for work. It doesn’t need to be mega fast or have an awesome camera. It just needs basic functions like online payments, text and instant messaging, etc. Plus it needs to work as a phone, of course. Bluetooth connectivity is important so I can connect a keyboard or headphones. A big screen is useful as my eyes are getting older, plus it makes texting easier (and watching streamed movies). This phone has all of that.
The phone is unlocked, so you can use any SIM from any provider. There are two SIM sockets, making it a really useful phone if you travel overseas.
This phone has a replaceable battery, which arrives uninstalled. To fit it you have to remove the back of the phone, and it’s not an easy task. I have a set of phone-repair tools and long fingernails, and I still struggled.
Despite having a pretty good feature set for a budget-friendly Smartphone, I’m going to have to drop a star for how difficult the back is to remove. If it was a job that only required doing when the battery died, I’d have no problem – I’d just take it into town and get a shop to do it like I would with my iPhone. But it’s not. You have to take the thing apart before you can use the phone, just to install the battery and SIM cards. At the very least they should ship it with the back removed.
Oh, and it also doesn’t have a USB ‘C’ socket. It uses the older micro USB, which is rapidly being superseded. It does come with a charger and cable though.
Whether you want a basic but functional second Smartphone for work or a cheap(ish) phone to take on holiday if you are worried about losing your expensive one, this is a good option. It’s also a good choice for people who don’t really use Smartphone features much.
Phone supports dual sim as well microSD card at the same time so for many people already will be very useful. It is surprising to see replaceable battery like it used to be in old phones, but definitely imprives fixeability. Removing back can be tricky but you won’t be doing this often so it is not an problem, at least it won’t come off by itself.
This phone has android 11 however in GO version and this is biggest issue of this phone right after hardware. Brand new 2022 phone and i couldn’t download many app from google store since they are not supported by this phone. This is a bit riddiculous, this is massive limitation. Not sure it his is fault of androind version itself or very slow components inside. Phone is extremely slow. First activation of phone took around 1h before i end up on main screen. It has huge backlog with updates and even after that phone is super slow. Slow to the point where you can even wait 15-20 seconds before phone will unfreeze itself. Every time i want to send text message it takes ages before keyboard comes up and after that detecting and typing letters is very painful. Ideally you want to keep releasing ram memory and have nothing at all on this phone because any extra app just going to slow this phone even more.
I understand target consumer, people who want to use minimum of phone for simply calling and texting but once in a while use camera during holiday or use whatsapp to call family. I imagine this is even actually good phone for kind, for this price if they loose it or damage it there is not much regret. Camera is good enough, best pictures are on outside in bright sunny day, when is a bit darker, forget.
Battery in normal use last me nearly full 2 day so even better than producent claims so very pleased with that. Having AUX jack port is great addition but microUSB port for charging is a bit outdated and wish there would be a USB-C.
Considering this is a new release, I was quite surprised to see a micro USB port on tis model and not the more universally accepted USB-C.
The depth of the phone is slightly thicker than the more recently higher price point phones on the market, there is also a 2mm camera bump to the base which is most apparent if you lay it down flat, and especially if you don’t have a drop protection case – such as our favourite: UAG.
So how does it feel?
You’ve got to take the price into consideration again here. Corners are cut to keep the price minimal. You’ll find a plastic rear and also the surrounding frame. All the more need to cover this phone with army grade protection.
The screen takes up almost the entirely os the front face and measures 480 x 960 pixels.
I was quite put off with the lack of brightness to the screen. Even at it’s optimum brightness, I would struggle to see the screen if im bathing or working outdoors in full sun and especially on a warm holiday.
The screen clarity is sub-optimal especially if you’re used to hi res screens as I am. The speakers too are not well balanced, there is a touch too much treble which makes music sound as if its coming from inside a tin can.
The phone works off Android 11 Go edition which is a lighter version, suited for phones with limited processor speeds. This phone has 2GB RAM so you wouldn’t expect lighting fast performance in any instance, I hate to mention it again, but especially considering the budget price you are paying for this.
I would be actively purchasing this phone as a consumer for perhaps holiday/weekend use, if I don’t want to have an expensive piece of kit on my person; or even perhaps for a young person who is taking their first steps into owning and caring for a first smart phone.
Apps?
A small clutch of apps come preinstalled. I see Spotify, LinkedIn, Netflix, Facebook Lite. Google apps are also built into the phone. There is also dual sim support, quite a good addition for a phone at this end of the market.
Security
I am able to face unlock the phone in good lighting. If however I am casting a shadow on my face, then the phone fails to recognise me.
Battery
We have a 2400 mAh removable battery. It lasts just short of a day with regular use. But any serious browsing, excessive use of the camera, streaming videos or gaming depletes the power quite a bit. I keep a battery pack in the car as well as a charging cable, its become quite a habit to charge my smart phones on-the-go so the battery is a none issue for me as a commuter with the capability to charge easily.
When left idle for 24 hours, I noticed the battery took a hit of about 10 to 15% a day.
The camera and also its functions are very basic to say the least. The pictures lack modern day clarity when comapto more premium phones. That said, its highly passable for that thing again – the price.
The video recorder audio is also quite standard in quality. When played back it’s as if I am heard through the radio.
If you’re in the market for a budget, good quality, reliable, android smart phone that has all the bells and whistles, from a reliable brand, albeit, to a limited functionality, then this is for you or someone younger as their first phone, or even perhaps someone older who likes to keep things minimal.
For the price it is pretty good value and the added advantage that im able to swap the battery if it begins to show signs of power wear.
5 stars
The screen resolution is reasonable at this price tag and comes with decent 5MP / 2MP back and front cameras. The phone is powered by Android 11 and most importantly it guarantees 2 years of updates. This is important to ensure the android app continues to work on the phone.
There are plenty of phone covers available for this phone on amazon and we going to order one shortly.
Overall its price value for money!
The phone has a curved rather than a flat back, and is textured. The rear camera is carried on a black plastic ledge that sticks out from the back case. The lens is very slightly recessed so that it does not rest on any surface when the phone is set down, and so the lens should not scratch. On/off and volume buttons are on the case edge on the right, and charging is via USB micro socket at the bottom. I think that it would be better if the charge socket was USB-C for future proofing. The front screen is not edge to edge, but has a small surround, with the logo at the bottom and camera plus flash emitter at the top. The front and rear cameras both have flash capability, which I really like.
Installing the battery was a little harder than expected, as the back case is a very good fit. The instructions have you inserting your finger nail into the small slot in the rear case at the lower right-hand side. Although I have tough musician’s nails, this didn’t work for me. I used a plastic spudger from a phone maintenance kit, which worked fine. The trick, I discovered, is to put a little pressure on the rear cover, low down in the middle. This helps persuade the sides to spring up. From there, the battery was an easy insert, and my version was for dual nano SIMs, so there are sockets here for those, as well as a micro-SD with a capacity up to 256Mb.
Setup was easy and although it took a while, the steps were mainly for SIM, Wi-Fi network setup and locale, plus account setup and any transfer from an old phone, which I skipped. There was also a 45Mb system update to download and install, and this took about an hour, and of course, the setup then had to be repeated.
The 5.7-inch screen has 480 x 960 pixels and the technology comprises on-plane switched LCD, which is better than the old TN screens but not up to the standard of modern OLED screens, or the power consumption of OLED for that matter. This helps preserve the battery charge. The viewing angle of the screen is about +-5 degrees before you can detect a slight loss of contrast to the left or right, but it is still usable up to about 40 degrees. With the resolution, video is taken therefore at 720p. I found that the touch screen is not quite as responsive as my old Samsung that I am comparing this to, and I had to press a little harder and go slower than I am used to.
The OS is Android 11 Go edition, which is a cut down version tailored for this phone. The phone has quad 1.5Ghz processor cores, and so a reduced capability OS is necessary to run with reasonable performance on this platform. Some of the usual functionality is there though, such as Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi hotspot and the chassis has a loudspeaker and 3.5 mm jack. No headphones are included in the package. The only real big absence is that NFC is not supported, so phone payment services will not work. This does not bother me as I don’t use them, but this service has overtaken in-store card payment now, so it’s a feature that might be sorely missed by some.
I really like the slightly older style of technology, where you can thankfully replace the battery and also insert a large SD card for additional storage. I did struggle with the lack of a back button, but I suppose I will get used to it. Also welcome, is the absence of preloaded bloatware applications, which I hardly use on my other android phone. Instead, you get app icons for popular mainstream applications. The battery life claims are reasonable, but it does depend on how much you use the phone and what for. The lower performance and lack of power-hungry processors and display go a long way towards stretching out the battery life.
This phone is definitely suitable for people that might struggle with the ever more complex offerings from major manufacturers, or someone tired of the mind-blowing cost of phones nowadays. It is not blisteringly fast but performs well enough, and if you are currently on an older phone with a SIM-only plan and are quite happy, except that the phone battery is failing, then this might just be a cost-effective alternative if you don’t fancy replacing the battery yourself.
It is not all perfection. I admit to struggling a bit to control some of the features of the phone, namely navigating through the running apps and control of data transfer via USB. Also, I can’t seem to spot focus the camera and the close-up focus seems to be not the best, with images somewhat blurry and the focus constantly hunting for stability. Perhaps I will get the hang of these in time, and maybe they would not be much of a problem for me if I did not have access to more advanced phones.
The phone takes a little while to set up as it needs to download recent software updates. Once set up it is easy to download favourite apps..
I have set it up via my wifi whilst I am waiting for my sim cards to arrive. I have been able to surf the net and download updates and apps via the wifi. It has a reasonable camera.
Overall this is a really good budget smart phone for the price