The battle between smartphone brands is nothing new, but recently companies have gotten aggressive in the name of competition. India is one of the largest markets for smartphones and there's a stiff competition across all price ranges, but the affordable budget segment is where things get intense. Nokia and Xiaomi are engaged in a price war for the cheapest smartphone and consumers stand to benefit from it.
Android Go smartphones are the cheapest options for those who want to experience the smart features of a mobile phone. With Redmi Go all over the news during Mi Fan Festival 2019, Nokia decided to get under the spotlight with its price cut announcement for popular smartphones, including Android Go-powered Nokia 1.
With the latest price cut, Nokia 1 gets ahead of Redmi Go for the cheapest smartphone from a major brand title. Nokia 1 is available for just Rs 3,999 in India while Xiaomi Redmi Go carries a price tag of Rs 4,499. With a slight difference of Rs 500, the question is which smartphone is the best option for the masses.
Redmi Go vs Nokia 1
Both phones are powered by Android Oreo (Go) edition, allowing users to enjoy smart features and apps like Google Assistant, Facebook Lite, YouTube Go and more. The phones are optimised to run a lighter version of apps designed exclusively for low-end phones.
In terms of looks, both have their unique designs that will easily attract budget shoppers. The Redmi Go packs a 5-inch HD display while Nokia 1 settles for a smaller 4.5-inch FWVGA display. It is clear that the Xiaomi handset wins in this area with its brighter and larger display.
The basic photography needs are fulfilled by the rear and front cameras in both the phones. Once again, Redmi Go smartphone wins with its camera setup, which has an 8MP sensor at the back and a 5MP sensor on the front. In comparison, the Nokia 1 only sports a 5MP rear-mounted sensor and a 2MP selfie snapper. There's LED flash at the back on both smartphones.
Under the hood, Redmi Go is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 425 chipset paired with 1GB RAM, 8GB storage and a 3,000mAh battery. Nokia 1 comes with a 1.1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737M processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage and a 2,150mAh battery. Both phones also have microSD card support as well as dual SIM card support.
Don't expect the phones to run lag free with graphics games or running multiple apps at once, but the phones can handle basic communication, social networking and entertainment tasks easily.
Based on the comparison between Xiaomi Redmi Go and Nokia 1, it is clear that the latter might be the cheapest smartphone out there but the former offers more value for money.
