Nokia 109

Available now
1st November 2012

About a million miles away from the smartphones that we normally cover, the Nokia 109 is designed to get essential Internet connectivity into a device costing just $42 (around €32) before tax and carrier subsidy.

It's a pretty standard looking Nokia phone, slotting into the range just below the Nokia 110. On the front is a 1.8" 128 x 160 pixel TFT display with a conventional numberpad underneath, on the back is.. well, nothing apart from a very loud loudspeaker that can be used with the built-in FM radio and media player, as there is no camera here. The media player can cope with MP3, WMV, AAC and many other audio formats and the Nokia 109 also sports a microSD slot that can take a memory card of up to 32GB, although there's no memory card in the standard sales package.

The Nokia 109 supports GPRS and EDGE data speeds of up to 236.8 Kbps, which combines with the Nokia Xpress browser to give a somewhat usable browsing experience, even on the small screen. Nokia say that the Xpress browser reduces the bandwidth needed by 90%, which is what you need if you're stuck using a 2G connection. Yes, it's not as good as a smartphone, but then the Nokia 109 is aimed at markets where consumers simply don't have that type of purchasing power. Indeed, in many emerging markets the mobile phone is the primary way of accessing the Internet.

This is a Series 40 phone, and as such it supports Java.. which means you can download applications for it. And Nokia have provided 10 free EA games available for download, which should make the 109 a bit more fun. The 109 also supports the eBuddy instant messaging client and integrates with Facebook and Twitter plus several other messaging systems.

The 800 mAh battery is quoted as giving up to 7.5 hours talktime and 33 days standby time in a package that measures 110 x 46 x 14.8 mm and weighs just 77 grams. The standard sales package includes a stereo wired headset in certain regions, which turns the Nokia 109 into a decent and very low cost media player.

Nokia say that the 109 should ship during Q4 2012 in black and cyan colours in China, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.