Nokia’s “Normandy” Android phone was initially used as a weapon to force Microsoft’s hand and secure the $5 billion sale of Nokia’s devices and services business. As we’re now finding out, however, it looks like Nokia plans to actually launch the handset before that sale is completed. Nokia was initially scared away from the Android platform by Samsung’s imminent Android takeover, but now that the company has nothing to lose, it’s apparently going to see what a low-end Nokia smartphone running Android can do in emerging markets — and possibly in leading smartphone markets as well; in an interesting twist, the low-end “Nokia X” actually outshined Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone, the Lumia 1020, in a browser performance test uncovered by GSM Arena.
Is Android 4.4 KitKat smoother on a cheap phone than Windows Phone is on an expensive flagship device? The lower screen resolution on the X certainly played a role, but we should find out exactly how the phone performs next month because Nokia is rumored to be planning to unveil the Nokia X at the annual Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain.
