HMD is introducing three new smartphones today: the Nokia G60 5G, C31, and X30 5G, with the X30 5G being the company’s “most eco-friendly smartphone” to date. The three phones are aimed at the European market and are distinct from the devices sold by HMD in the United States.
In addition to being sold outright, the Nokia X30 5G will be one of a few phones available through HMD’s new “Circular” subscription service, in which customers can subscribe to get a handset for a monthly fee and receive incentives to use a phone for as long as possible. Circular will initially be available in the United Kingdom and Germany, but HMD plans a global launch “in the coming months.”
HMD backs up its eco-friendly claims about the Nokia X30 5G with the amount of recycled materials used in the handset’s construction. It has a 100% recycled aluminum frame and a back panel made of 65 percent recycled plastic, and it comes in a box made of 70% recycled paper. The company also promises three years of OS upgrades and monthly security updates, as well as a three-year warranty as standard.
HMD backs up its eco-friendly claims about the Nokia X30 5G with the amount of recycled materials used in the handset’s construction. It has a 100% recycled aluminum frame and a back panel made of 65 percent recycled plastic, and it comes in a box made of 70% recycled paper. The company also promises three years of OS upgrades and monthly security updates, as well as a three-year warranty as standard.
Nokia Eco-Friendly
Attempting to produce a more eco-friendly smartphone is a commendable initiative, but HMD’s efforts lag behind those of Fairphone, a sustainable smartphone specialist. Although its most recent device, the Fairphone 4, does not use recycled aluminum, its back cover is made entirely of recycled plastic, its solder is made entirely of recycled tin, and it employs fair trade gold and conflict-free tungsten.
Fairphone intends to provide five years of security and software updates for the phone rather than three, and it also designs its devices to be as easy to repair by the end user as possible, with removable batteries that can be simply swapped out when they degrade and other components that are removable with simple screws. None of these are available on the Nokia X30 5G from HMD.
When I posed these questions to HMD, its global head of product marketing Adam Ferguson told me that the company chose to start with plastic and aluminum because they account for a disproportionately large portion of the materials used in smartphones.
“Our main focus is tackling what we see as the two largest elements on which we can make the most difference [and which] will have the greatest impact on e-waste,” Ferguson says, adding that HMD’s “next step” will be to look at other areas where it can improve the sustainability of its devices.
Features/Specifications
Aside from its environmental credentials, the Nokia X30 5G is a fairly standard midrange device. It has a 6.43-inch 1080p OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor with 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of storage. A 50-megapixel main camera with a 13-megapixel ultrawide and a 16-megapixel selfie camera are located on the back. Prices for the phone begin at £399 (€529) and will be available later this month.
Availability & Cost
The X30 5G will also be available through HMD’s new subscription service Circular, where it will cost £25 per month with a £30 start-up fee in the UK. Instead of purchasing a phone outright, customers can rent one for a minimum of three months on a rolling subscription contract. The catch is that at the end of the subscription, they must return the device to be recycled or reused. HMD also hopes to encourage customers to use their devices for longer periods of time by providing credits that can be invested in charitable causes.
HMD is announcing two new smartphones in addition to the Nokia X30 5G today. The Nokia G60 5G, which costs £249 (€319) and has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, is the first option. It has a three-year guarantee and three years of Android security upgrades. But it only has 4GB of RAM at first and 64GB of extendable storage, and it has an LCD display rather than an OLED one. The display has a 6.58-inch diagonal and 120Hz refresh rate. A 50-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor are the three cameras on the device’s rear. It will be offered on Circular for £12.50 per month with a £30 setup cost starting today in the UK.
Conclusion
Finally, there’s the Nokia C31, a €129 device with a 5,050mAh battery that HMD claims can last three days. It has a Unisoc 9863A1 processor, 3 or 4GB of RAM, and 32 to 128GB of expandable storage. Its screen is 6.7 inches but only 720p, and its trio of rear cameras is led by a 13-megapixel main sensor. HMD promises two years of security updates, but no major Android OS updates. The availability in the United Kingdom has yet to be announced.
