Last a month a teenager died in Kheriakani district of Odisha after an old Nokia 5233 phone exploded while she was on a call with a relative. According to news reports, the teenager named Uma Oram had plugged in the Nokia 5233 phone for charging while she was talking. HMD Global, the new caretaker of the Nokia brand, was quick to issue an official statement and side-line itself from the incident as the mobile phone in question was not manufactured by them.
The tragic incident is a brutal reminder of the fact that mobile phone batteries are highly unpredictable and it is very dangerous to talk over the phone while charging it. Having said that, this is something almost every mobile phone user does.
“While we have not been able to independently verify the facts of any of these reports, we can confirm that the mobile phone in question was not manufactured or sold by HMD Global, the new home of Nokia phones, set up in 2017 to create a new range of Nokia devices," HMD Global said in a press statement.
Surprisingly, the Nokia 5233 mobile phone is still sold by Nokia and is currently available on Amazon.in for a price of Rs 2,999. So, if the phone is still being sold under the Nokia brand, who is actually responsible for its customer support? The old Nokia branded phones were sold officially by Microsoft Mobile which also sold the Lumia series Windows OS phones. But Microsoft had later sold the Nokia brand to HMD Global and Foxconn.
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According to the official statement in May 2016, Nokia Technologies had granted HMD Global Oy (HMD), based in Finland, the exclusive global licence to create Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets for the next 10 years. Under the pact, Nokia Technologies will receive royalty payments from HMD for sales of Nokia-branded mobile products, covering both the brand and the intellectual property rights. After HMD Global took over the brand Nokia, the first phones it had launched were Nokia 150 and Nokia 150 Dual SIM on December 13, 2016.
For the laymen, this means that any Nokia phone launched after May 2016 makes HMD Global responsible for the customer support. With Microsoft Mobile out of the equation, who is responsible for the customer support of older Nokia phones? Also, why are old Nokia phone still being sold in the market?
A quick search on both Amazon.in and Flipkart will reveal that not just the Nokia 5233, all popular old Nokia feature phones are being sold. In fact, there is a 'Nokia' keyword page on Amazon.in that are selling old as well as new Nokia phones (manufactured by HMD Global) making it difficult for buyers to choose what to buy and what not to buy. And if old Nokia phones are easily available on popular e-commerce websites, just imagine the situation in retail shops in rural areas.
Despite the Android rush in India, feature phones continue to be in demand. Nokia had a created a niche for itself in the feature phone market in the early days and consumers still continue to praise the good old Nokia days in India. Now this influences the purchase decision of consumers who are not much aware of the current happenings in the mobile industry.
Another concern in buying old Nokia feature phones is that these devices can either be from the old stocks or could be duplicates. While consumer would still want to buy an old Nokia 6600 phone, there is no guarantee that if it’s the original phone or not. And, of course, the Nokia branding is put for the namesake.
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So, here is the list of feature phones from Nokia now sold by HMD Global that are a good buy. HMD Global is responsible for the sale and customer support of the same. Any other Nokia feature phone apart from the ones mentioned in the list has no guarantee from HMD Global. Consumers are advised not to buy any other old Nokia feature phone.
Nokia 130, Nokia 130 Dual SIM, Nokia 130 Classic, Nokia 216, Nokia 216 Dual SIM, Nokia 222, Nokia 222 Dual SIM, Nokia 230, Nokia 230 Dual SIM, Nokia 105, Nokia 105 Classic, Nokia 105 Dual SIM, Nokia 150, Nokia 150 Dual SIM, Nokia 3310, Nokia 3310 3G, Nokia 3310 Dual SIM, Nokia 8110 4G
Also note that all Nokia smartphones made by HMD Global run Android operating system. There are officially no smartphones from Nokia that run on Windows operating system. Consumers are advised not to buy old Nokia Lumia smartphones running Windows OS. Nokia Android smartphones made by HMD Global are: Nokia 1, Nokia 2, Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6, Nokia (2018), Nokia 7 Plus, Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Sirocco.
A quick search on Amazon.in will reveal these old Nokia phones: Nokia E63, Nokia 6600, Nokia E71, Nokia 1600, Nokia Asha 311, Nokia E5, Nokia E72, Nokia C5, Nokia 5233, Nokia Asha 501 and others. In fact, you can search and buy any old Nokia phone. It is advisable that consumers avoid buying them.
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