Microsoft's first Android-powered phone, the Nokia X, failed to impress. Or as our own Tim Schiesser put it, it's the worst smartphone he's ever reviewed. It's no surprise, then, that Microsoft was quick to push out its successor, the X2. And while we are still looking at a budget offering, there are some notable improvements in terms of features and specifications alone.
The revised handset features a slightly larger 4.3-inch display with ClearBlack technology and scratch-resistant glass but you're still stuck with a lowly resolution of just 800 x 640. Under the hood is a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S200 chip clocked at 1.2GHz alongside 1GB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage (expandable via microSD card slot).
The X2 also features dual-SIM support, Bluetooth 4.0 and an FM Stereo tuner. Other amenities like LTE, however, aren't included.
Around back we find a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and auto-focus as well as a 0.3-megapixel shooter on the front for selfies. The latter certainly isn't impressive but as the saying goes, any camera is better than no camera at all.
The phone is based version 2.0 of the Jelly Bean Android Open Source Project, or in other words, a very outdated OS. It doesn't make much sense considering Android 4.4 KitKat is optimized for lower-powered hardware, but I digress. It also means you won't get Google software integration.
The Nokia X2 sells for €99 ($135) and is available immediately (in select countries) in a range of colors including black, yellow, white, green, orange and gray.