Nokia X2 review: Fun times two

Modest retail package

The Nokia X2 comes in a small package with little inside: there’s a compact charger, a one-piece headset and a 2GB microSD card. There’s no USB cable – this we can understand, microUSB cables are very common and it helps keep the price down.

There’s not much to see in the box

But the Nokia X2 supports USB On-The-Go and you’d need a convertor from male microUSB to female Type A (like the USB port on your computer) to use that. Now, those aren’t nearly as common. But without one you can’t use USB OTG – so, we’re guessing that it will remain a relatively unused feature.

Nokia X2 360-degree spin

The Nokia X2 stands at 111 x 47 x 13.3 mm – not the smallest phone around, especially considering that the 2.2” screen doesn’t take up much space. Still, the phone weighs just 81 grams and you can barely feel it in your hand.

Design and construction

The Nokia X2 is a low-priced phone but it doesn’t look cheap. The back cover is made of aluminum with brushed metal finish and with the embossed Nokia logo it looks pretty cool.

The front is more of an acquired taste. Still, the Xseries lineage is pretty obvious from the square corners and rounded sides and the red or blue accents do improve the looks somewhat

The Nokia X2 has a modestly sized 2.2” QVGA display. It’s bright with decent contrast (not the best we’ve seen on a Nokia phone though). What lets it down is its poor side viewing angles.

Sunlight legibility is sub-par too – obviously Nokia has cut corners with this one.

The 2.2” display is nothing to cheer about

Below the display is the traditional arrangement of S40 buttons – a D-pad, two soft keys and two call keys. A reasonably sized D-pad dominates the flat layout. The call and soft keys feel just a bit squeezed up but still OK to use.

There are two keys on each side of the D-pad • The earpiece above the display.

Below the display is the 12-key alphanumeric keypad. It’s the flatbed type but does have some bordering between keys on different rows and columns.

The keys are big enough but they are hard to press and with short stroke (the same goes for the call and soft keys). That’s a bit of a typing speed bump – the X2 is not a texter’s phone.

The reasonably comfortable keypad

The three dedicated music keys on the left are the most prominent feature on the X2. They are big and easy to use and they can control both the music player and the radio.

The right side of the handset features the volume rocker, the microSD port hidden under a protective flap and the shutter key. The bottom of the phone is where the lanyard eyelet is.

Volume rocker, microSD port and shutter key on the right • dedicated music keys

There are three connection points at the top of the phone. The 3.5mm audio jack is on the left, the 2mm charger plug in the middle and the microUSB port (under its plastic cover) is on the right. The microUSB port is enabled for charging and handles USB On-The-Go too.

The three ports on top • It’s pretty boring at the bottom

The USB port proved a little too wide, which let the cable wobble. Often we’d plug in the cable but the phone wouldn’t start charging. If you’re not careful, the Nokia X2 might run out of juice, even though you thought you charged it all night.

As we already mentioned, the back cover on the Nokia X2 is made of aluminum, but that’s not all that’s interesting about the back. The fixed-focus 5MP camera and LED flash are here and there’s a latch for opening the cover.

5MP snapper, LED flash and the stereo speakers

There are stereo speakers on the back – one grill is on top, the other is at the bottom. The grills are split in two, but that’s for decorative purposes only. The top speaker is under the left half of the grill and the bottom one is under the right half.

The back of the X2 has a slight curve to it, so the speakers don’t get completely muffled when you put the phone down on a flat surface. There’s some distortion of the sound though (not entirely unexpected).

Under the back panel you can find the 860 mAh Li-Ion BL-4C battery, which powers the Nokia X2. The battery is quoted at up to 624 hours of stand-by, up to 13 hours and 30 minutes of talk-time and up to 27 hours of music playback. Many users however report they’re only getting around 5 hours of talk time.

The battery compartment

The aluminum cover brings a little class to the Nokia X2, which is otherwise all plastic. The build quality is very good – except for the wobbly USB port – and the ergonomics are alright too. The keys are big enough even though it’s obviously not the best keyboard for texting.

The Nokia X2 in hand

The tapered corners shave off some of that 13.3mm of thickness, at least that’s how the X2 feels in the hand. The phone is rather tall, but other than that it’s easily pocketable.