You wouldn't expect an AI assistant in these phones, yet it makes perfect sense right here

Although smart touchscreen phones overwhelmingly dominate the current market, compact, simple feature phones at a fraction of the price and with long battery life still have their place. Apart from a few attempts at innovation by combining feature phones with smartphones, not much has happened in this area for many years. And that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, as the typical customer here is primarily looking for simplicity they are used to, and any extravagances can be rather counterproductive. Perhaps that’s why you wouldn’t expect the integration of an offline AI assistant here.

What can the Nokia AI assistant do in a feature phone?

Nevertheless, HMD, which still manufactures and sells Nokia-branded feature phones, has introduced just such an innovation in several models. Personally, I can say that for feature phones, this is an innovation that makes sense after a long time. Many people who are not particularly tech-savvy have become quite accustomed to using voice search, and nowadays, even relatively inexpensive TVs often offer a simple voice AI assistant, so why not a feature phone?

Of course, it’s not an advanced model; the AI assistant is designed to run even on very weak hardware and handle simple queries and phone controls. By pressing the button located in the middle of the navigation cross, you can use voice commands to create notes, control the camera, or simply turn on the flashlight. The manufacturer also boasts the assistant’s capabilities such as teaching useful phrases in a foreign language or preparing recipes. Thanks to 4G connectivity, the assistant can also be used for classic information retrieval.

It’s a great pity that to fully utilize this “Nokia AI assistant,” you have to purchase a subscription after a 180-day trial period, the price of which – somewhat curiously – HMD has not yet disclosed. Among the interesting features of the new Nokia feature phones is undoubtedly their own Xpress chat application. This can also be used for video calls, as all models with the AI assistant also offer a front VGA camera. You can chat and call not only among users of similar phones but also with those who use Android or iOS and download the eponymous application.

This “Nokia AI assistant” currently applies to four phones with the S30+ system. Specifically, these are the models Nokia 200 4G, 210 4G, 225 4G 2nd Edition, and 235 4G 2nd Edition. All of them will offer a 1,450 mAh removable battery with a battery life of 12 – 13 days and USB-C charging. Among wireless technologies, besides 4G, only Bluetooth and FM radio are worth mentioning. The individual models then differ mostly only in design, display size, and the presence of a rear 2MPx camera. The AI assistant in these models does not support Czech, at least for now, but this may change if it arrives on our market.

Do you know anyone who would use a feature phone with AI?

Source: GSMArena.com