- HMD has revealed its new Key smartphone at an ultra-low price of £59 (equivalent to around $75 / AU$120)
- The UK, Australia, and New Zealand are the first territories to see the phone released
- No word of a US release yet
HMD, the company behind the Nokia phone brand, has released its new Key smartphone for possibly the lowest price I’ve ever seen a big-brand handset launch at.
The Key punches in at £59 in the UK, and at equivalent prices in Australia and New Zealand (as per an official press release). There’s no suggestion of a US release at the minute, though the UK price works out to about $75.
As users might expect, that low price tag means the HMD Key can’t exactly offer much in the specs department. It’s one of the least powerful phones on the market, even by budget phone standards, and is clearly intended to be an ultra-low-cost way to access smartphone apps and services.
The Key comes equipped with a 6.52-inch display, with a peak brightness of 460 nits and a 60Hz refresh rate. At a resolution of just 576 x 1280, pixels are likely to be visible at typical viewing distances.
Internally, you’re looking at a Unisoc 9832E chipset with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a slot for a microSD card of up to 128GB. A 4,000mAh battery is impressive at this price, though it only supports slow 10W charging. HMD claims a possible battery life of 47h, and though we haven’t tested this ourselves, it’s a plausible claim given the phone’s low-powered chipset and low-brightness low-resolution display.
As for cameras, there’s a single 8MP rear camera and 5MP selfie camera, with various photo and video modes like portrait mode, night mode, and even slow-motion recording.
Even calling the Key an entry point to Android feels disingenuous, as the phone only runs the stripped-down Android 14 Go operating system. HMD has promised security updates for two years, but no operating system updates – probably a good thing considering this phone’s bare minimum hardware. The handset is rated at IP52 against dust and water, meaning the phone is protected against moderately fine dust but only splashes of water.
All this said, it’s genuinely encouraging to see that a smartphone with access to apps like WhatsApp and YouTube can be made available at this price point. The HMD Key is sure to be a valuable option for those looking to spend next to nothing on a smartphone that at least comes from a reputable brand.
And though the Key is understandably one of the least powerful phones on the market, there is a saving grace in the form of a 3.5mm headphone jack; a rare sight on even the most expensive handsets.
HMD has made a name for itself in recent years by pushing the limits of affordable smartphone hardware; see its Fusion modular phone and repairable Skyline flagship. The Key seems to carry this experimental ethos too, only this time pushing the price as low as possible.
For more news about Nokia’s quirky successor, be sure to keep up with our phones coverage.
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
