HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, has announced the availability in South Africa of its latest mid-range handset, the Nokia 4.2. It features a sculpted-glass design with a selfie-notch display to offer a near bezel-less experience.
The device is the first Nokia smartphone to feature a Google Assistant button. Pressing it allows for instant voice access to Google Assistant –for directions, making calls, listening to music, or getting answers. Users can double press the button to receive a visual snapshot of their day from the Google Assistant with intelligent suggestions and personalised information, including transport info, bills that need paying, and what’s in one’s calendar. Long pressing the button will activate a walkie-talkie mode, which lets the Google Assistant listen until the button is released for long sentence queries.
Shaun Durandt, General Manager for HMD Global, said: “The Nokia 4.2 revolutionises the way you engage with your smartphone, premiering the dedicated Google Assistant button. This allows the consumer to have their very own PA in the palm of their hand. Whether it’s directions, making calls, listening to music or getting answers, an instant press on the Google Assistant button can help get things done and find information faster than ever before”.
Many of the flagship features on the Nokia 4.2 are powered by AI, including face unlock to give one a handsfree way to unlock the smartphone or Google Assistant actions to open apps quicker, including launching the camera app and taking a picture. It also lets its users access Google Assistant without unlocking the phones after opting-in through the settings.
Elegantly designed with glass on the front and back, a feeling of sturdiness and class is achieved thanks to its lightweight metal internal structure and satin-finish polycarbonate frame. To top off the design, the power button has a natural breathing light to alert users of notifications.
It comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 octa-core chipset that delivers a boost in performance for gaming and power-efficient movie watching.
Bringing flagship imaging features like multi-camera imaging to a new price point, the dual depth-sensing rear camera combines the 13MP main camera with a depth sensor. The low-light HDR mode can be used to capture multiple images simultaneously and fuse them using advanced algorithms to create a single image with more light, less noise, bolder colours and greater dynamic range.
The Nokia 4.2 launches with Android 9 Pie out of the box. offering AI-powered features to make the device smarter, faster and adapt to a user’s behaviour as they use it, so the smartphone experience gets better with time. The Adaptive Battery feature limits battery usage from apps one doesn’t use often, and App Actions predicts what one is about to do to ensure the transition is smooth.
The Nokia 4.2 will receive three years of monthly security patches and two major OS updates, as guaranteed in the Android One program. In addition, Google Play Protect scans over 50 billion apps per day to keep the phone safe from malware.
The Nokia 4.2 is available in Black and will be available from12 June at Vodacom stores and retail partners nationwide from R2,999 or R199/month on a 24-month contract in the 3GB/32GB version.