Nokia 1209

Expected Q2 2008
22nd January 2008
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Priced at just €35 (before tax and subsidy), the Nokia 1209 is probably the cheapest Nokia around. But there's a little more to this handset than just an ultra-cheap phone.

You wouldn't expect much from a mobile with this low a price, and the feature list is certainly very short. The 96 x 68 pixel CSTN display about the most basic on the market, and the Nokia 1209 comes with polyphonic ringtones and a built-in flashlight, but that's about all. From a hardware perspective, the Nokia 1209 is a very slight upgrade to the existing Nokia 1208.

However, Nokia have done something a little different to the Nokia 1209 which should help it to sell in emerging markets. In most industrialised countries, mobile phones are only ever used by one person.. indeed, many people have more than one mobile phone. In developing countries, a mobile phone is often shared between several people. The Nokia 1209 supports up to five different phone books to support this, and the call tracker application allows users to keep track of who needs to pay for which call. It's a simple but very practical improvement over previous models that is well tuned to the target market.

The Nokia 1209 is also designed to be robust and dust resistant, the user interface is simple and there are up to 80 languages available. Talktime is up to 7 hours with a maximum of 15 days standby time, so the handset will be able to go for some time without needing a recharge, and the BL-5C battery and AC-3 charger are very widely available.

The Nokia 1209 weighs just 79 grams and will be available in Midnight Blue and Shell Grey colour combinations from Q2 2008.