The latest new face in the Nokia line-up is the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type, a compact and affordable addition to the C Series that continues the Touch and Type formula Nokia has been having such success with recently. Here we take a look at the essential Nokia C2-03 facts you need to know.
Nokia C2-02, Nokia C2-03 Nokia C2-06 Touch and Type launched at Nokia Connection 2011
The Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type was announced at Nokia Connection 2011 in Singapore earlier in the week, and is actually just one of three variants of the same base device to be revealed simultaneously.
The differences between them, however, are minimal. The slightly cheaper Nokia C2-02 has support for just a single SIM card, rather than the dual SIMs of the other two, while the C2-06 is slightly pricier, as it comes with extra colour and cosmetic options to help it stand out.
For the rest, however, they're exactly the same device, so let's take a look at the core features of the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type.
Dual SIM
Nokia is clearly committed to making Dual SIM a standard feature on many of its more affordable handsets, as like on the recently launched Nokia C2-00 and Nokia X1-01 it's a welcome presence here too. Usefully, you can swap out the inactive SIM at any time without rebooting, and you'll also receive notifications of incoming calls and messages on the inactive SIM.
Touch & Type
The Nokia C2-03 is the third in the series of Nokia Touch and Type handsets after the Nokia X3-02 and Nokia C3-01. What sets them apart from rival devices is that they offer both a traditional keypad and a touchscreen on the same device. However, the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type differs from the previous two examples in the series in that it's the first Touch and Type slider.
Compact size
Thanks to its slider form factor, the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type manages to take up remarkably little space when you set it down in front of you. Sure, at 17mm thick it's reasonably pudgy – all slider phones tend to be – but its 103mm length is smaller than just about any of Nokia's other feature phones.
Slider
And it's worth focusing on that slider form factor specifically, as the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type is the first Nokia vertical slider we've seen in a little while, and the first C Series slider of any kind.
2.6-inch touchscreen
The main advantage of being a slider phone is that the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type boasts a spacious 2.6-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 320. That's bigger than all its rival Nokias in this price bracket, an advantage all the more significant considering that it's a touchscreen too.
Series 40
The operating system on board the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type is the Series 40 feature phone OS, which is very much par for the course at this level of Nokia's lineup, and will make the Nokia C2-03 familiar fare for anyone upgrading from another Nokia feature phone.
Nokia Maps
However, there is one significant difference between the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type and all other Series 40 handsets before it, and that's the presence of Nokia Maps on board, complete with local maps for your area. Thanks to triangulation technology, this makes the Nokia C2-03 a fully functioning route-planner even when offline.
MicroSD
As is normal for this level of handset, you're given next to no on-board memory to play with – in this case just 10MB – but the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type is compatible with microSD memory cards going all the way up to 32GB.
2-megapixel camera
It also compares favourably with its Nokia feature phone compatriots when it comes to the on-board camera too – a 2-megapixel effort that strikes an acceptable balance between practicality and power. That's not in the same class as the 5-megapixel snappers on its two Touch and Type forebears, but then again the Nokia C2-03 is considerably cheaper too.
400 hours standby
Of course, being a budget Nokia one area you can guarantee being well covered in is battery life. Up to five hours of talktime is possible, while the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type will happily stick with you for 400 hours on standby. Admittedly, that's lower than most of its entry-level Nokia compatriots, but that's a by-product of that large touchscreen.
What do you reckon is the Nokia C2-03 Touch and Type's standout feature? Does this touchscreen slider add a new dimension to the lower end of the Nokia C Series? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments!