The Nokia 105, a £13 mobile

AshleyPomeroy

There are a few news reports today about a new Nokia phone, the 105, which will retail for €15 when it goes on sale later in the year. That's £13. The battery lasts for a month, apparently, which appeals to me. See, I just used the Alt-Gr key there to insert the Euro symbol, aren't I clever. Here's Nokia's take:
http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/02/25/nokia-105-colourful-durable-and-affordable/

PC Magazine has the most useless, most absurd "hands on" you can imagine:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415824,00.asp

It's literally just a press release with some photos of a man's sweaty hand pawing the phone like his next doughnut. No doubt they had to wash the phones afterwards. Anyway, the 105 appeals to me because I occasionally need to make old-fashioned voice calls with my mouth, but I have no need for a smartphone because I have other things that will do that.

It seems to replace the Nokia 100, which is about £20 SIM-free online in the UK. The details on the 105 are very vague though; does anybody know if this €15/£13 price is for an unlocked, SIM-free phone?

DUTR

You will have to wait until they reach the stores, the news has been about from early this morning if not earlier, just that it's announced at the MWC 2013. CPW have PAYG phones from as little as £4.95 so the £13 maybe possible, even if it were £20 it would still be good value don't you think?

Stuart_W

I'm more than happy with my Nokia 1280, which the 105 is apparently the replacement for (if PC Magazine in the link you posted are to be believed). My battery does indeed manage to pretty much last for a month. The only difference seems to be colour (I actually chose the 1280 because it was one of the only monochrome screens left) and less distinguished buttons (I like the "island keys" as Nokia call them, which the 1280 has).

These phones are very cheap, and for several years now have been available for around £10 or less if the best cashback websites deals are used (Quidco etc). Every so often a completely free phone - or better - is possible, which is seemingly ridiculous. The Nokia 100 is currently £9.95 with £6.50 quidco cashback when you buy a £10 top up.

I find it astonishing to be able to get a phone for so little.

securityguy

Stuart_W wrote: »

I find it astonishing to be able to get a phone for so little.

I've got a collection of unlocked Motorola F3s which I use when someone in my family needs to take a phone somewhere it might get lost/stolen/filled with mud, either with a pre-pay SIM or their own SIM. The battery lasts forever (certainly lasts a festival weekend, for example) and the phones are essentially indestructible. Unfortunately, like a lot of basic phones (such as the Nokia 1280, as well), it's only 900/1800, which means that you can't take it to the US, which is a slight shame. A basic quadband phone would be really nice. I keep an unlocked original RAZR around for that usecase, but it always seems a bit too much of a classic to abuse...