The second coming of Nokia under HMD Global has been impressive. The Finnish company has been making devices under the iconic Nokia brand that the handsets have performed relatively well in the market. New Nokia handsets were expected to be unveiled at MWC 2018 in Barcelona this week. Not only has the company unveiled new devices, it has also confirmed that it’s teaming up with Google to use Android One on all smartphones going forward from the Nokia 3 and up.
Android One is Google’s own program that’s aimed at reducing fragmentation among Android-powered smartphones. Devices sold under the Android One banner have hardware and UI specified by Google as well as regular security updates.
To be clear, Android One isn’t a separate iteration of Android. It’s the same as the current iteration, which is Oreo, but it does go through extra checks at Google for user experience, performance, and functionality.
“Nokia is becoming the lead partner for Android One,” said Pekka Rantala, EVP and CMO of HMD Global. All of the new devices that the company has launched today are joining the Android One program. All of the Oreo-powered devices are joining the program in one go which is the first for any Android OEM.
“We have done a lot of work to optimise for this experience, and we think this is going to be really good,” said Google’s Andrei Popescu, adding that the company is excited to have Nokia as a partner.
To be clear, all Nokia handsets that feature 1GB RAM or less will henceforth ship with Android Go. Devices with more than 1GB RAM, such as the Nokia 3 and up, will be part of the Android One program.
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