Nokia's new handset guns for the entry level market with a camera that specializes in low light photos
While the rest of the industry is engaged in an arms race for more megapixels at higher price tags, Nokia has just released a new £99 / $139 camera phone that aims squarely at the entry level market.
The Nokia 2.2 is priced incredibly aggressively, but packs the latest advances in both AI photography and Android technology.
Its key feature is a take on Google's much-imitated Night Sight feature. While the Google Pixel 3 series employs a 12MP camera, the Nokia 2.2 features a 13MP camera that uses "sophisticated AI powered low-light image fusion" to take detailed low light photographs.
While it doesn't offer other popular options such as portrait mode, it does feature staples such as HDR shooting along with other Google Photos AI-powered options like Color Pop, Colorise and Beautify. The selfie camera is a more modest 5MP camera.
In terms of its core tech, the new Nokia features a 19:9 5.71-inch screen and is powered by a quad-core MediaTek Helio A22 SoC processor, comes with either 2GB RAM and 16GB storage or 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, and packs a removable 3,000mAh battery that lasts an entire day.
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There is no fingerprint scanner, as the phone boasts biometric face unlocking – among the first phones in this category to carry the new tech. And Nokia is keen to point out that a printed picture of your face won't be enough to fool it:
"Unlike other handsets at this price point, the advanced AI driven face-unlock uses deep learning algorithms and liveliness detection for an accurate and spoof-proof experience."
A dedicated Google Assistant button can summon Google's genie for you without voice commands, and the Android One phone comes with Android 9 Pie and two years of OS upgrades (with three years of security updates).
The Nokia 2.2 is available in Steel and Tungsten Black color options, with the 2GB RAM / 16GB storage version available in the UK for £99.99, and the 3GB RAM / 32GB storage model retailing for $139.95 in the USA.
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.