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HMD's Nokia 2.3 has been announced for sale in the US. This low-end phone is just $129 but still manages to look like a respectable device.
[...] it runs stock Android with no crapware.
[...] There are some nice extras here, too, like a micro SD slot, a headphone jack, FM Radio support, and a dedicated Google Assistant button on the side.
[...] There are some downsides that come with the low price. First, there's no fingerprint reader. The only biometrics are a selfie-cam-powered face unlock feature, which can't be that secure since it only does a 2D face scan. Second, you're getting the old micro USB port for charging, instead of the newer, reversible USB-C, which is a shame. This also means there's no quick charging, and instead you get a pokey 5V/1A charger. Third, there's no NFC, so you won't be able to tap-and-pay at the register. Fourth, it only comes with Android 9 Pie, although an upgrade to Android 10 is planned at some point.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/01/dirt-cheap-nokia-2-3-comes-to-the-us-for-just-129/
Only downside [for me] is the fact that it actually has a selfie-cam-powered face unlock feature. How about you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 23 2020, @01:26AM (1 child)
Between the SOC and 1GB of RAM, and the various passives off the partial schematic (No they don't give a full schematic) the $35 Raspberry Pi sells almost for the BoM cost. The increases in RAM make up almost the complete difference in prices and the 4GB one might be sold at a loss, depending on the exact quantities they order their parts and what all is missing from the schematics. If they were actually trying to make a profit on it as a commercial product, they'd need to cost a lot more than $55.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday January 23 2020, @01:55AM
The consensus is that the main Raspberry Pi models are sold at a profit by Raspberry Pi Trading, which funds the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It's the Raspberry Pi Zero models that are sold at a very slim profit (not a loss), with an official one unit per customer sales limit (you can arrange for big orders or find retailers that don't care).
There's no way that the 4 GB of RAM costs them more than $25. It is not the latest LPDDR4X or incoming LPDDR5 memory. They are definitely not putting a massive markup on the higher memory SKUs, and they may have made a mistake by making 1 GB to 2 GB a +$10 upgrade and 2 GB to 4 GB also a +$10 upgrade. 4 GB is probably the best selling model and for good reason.
Again, nothing stops a $129 device from having more than 2 GB of RAM. Even 3 GB could make a big difference for what will become an Android 10 device.
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