Nokia C12, C12 Plus, Nokia C12 Pro: Three identical twins with a Nordic-style design

Another set of 2018-ish phones released 5 years late. They are also identical, quite identical.

Nokia has quietly announced three new phones, one with extra drop resistance thanks to the rugged pattern-like design. Some say if you drop the Nokia C12 Pro, it will cause a nuclear explosion.

Kidding aside, Nokia is known for its durability. Now they are popular for their simple, easy-to-use, and upgrade-ridden user interface, and the three C12 phones continue with that. Yes, it uses the vanilla Android UI because PureUI may not be available to smartphones.

Nokia C12

The Nokia C12 is a typical budget phone that may have been about 3 years ago. The design is dated with its thick chin and large bezels. It’s also obviously made of polycarbonate plastic. However, the software inside is thankfully within this year’s standards.

It has three colours: Light Mint, Dark Cyan, and Charcoal. It also has a standard HD+ (1600x720px) IPS LCD. Nothing fancy here. It also uses a questionable UNISOC SC9863A octa-core CPU with a 28nm process, a chipset that conflicts with Nokia’s promise of security as the chipset is known to have vulnerability issues. You only have 2GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage so expect it to run Android 12 Go. The storage is thankfully expandable via MicroSD Card.

There’s the battery, it’s quite small by today’s standards. Only 3000mAh of juice. It also has a MicroUSB port. Don’t fret, it’s still qualified for use in the European Union because the USB-C policy is yet to be mandated. Outdated still, and the phone could have been made in 2018 and no one will bat an eye.

It has a single 8MP camera with LED Flash at the back and a single 5MP selfie shooter. We’re also not too keen on the camera experience in this one. One cool thing about this is the IP52 rating. You don’t get to see that anywhere on an ultra-budget device. There’s also a 3.5mm jack so you could listen to your favourite music tracks. No fingerprint scanner here though which is a shame because many phones within its price tag are already equipped with one.

It is available in Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria but no word has been mentioned yet about its availability in the Philippines. It has a hefty price tag of EUR 119 (~Php 7.1K) and with that price, you could almost get a Cherry Mobile Aqua S10 Pro and even a budget Infinix phone like the Hot 30i with much better specs and a USB-C port.

SPECS:

• 6.3″ HD+ (1600x720px) IPS LCD
  • IP52 dust and splash resistance
• UNISOC SC9863A (28nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 8MP (Primary)
  • FRONT: 5MP
• Android 12 Go with Material You
• 3000mAh, 5W charging
• MicroUSB, 3.5mm jack, MicroSD Card Slot, Face Unlock
• Dark Cyan, Light Mint, Charcoal
• PRICE:
  • 2/64: EUR 119 (~Php 7.1K)

Source: Nokia

Nokia C12 Plus

A phone that’s nearly identical to the C12, the C12 Plus offers a bigger battery—

It’s available in India with the same colour options. It’s also a lot cheaper because taxes aren’t as heavy there.

SPECS:

• 6.3″ HD+ (1600x720px) IPS LCD
  • IP52 dust and splash resistance
• UNISOC SC9863A (28nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 8MP (Primary)
  • FRONT: 5MP
• Android 12 Go with Material You
• 4000mAh, 5W charging
• MicroUSB, 3.5mm jack, MicroSD Card Slot, Face Unlock
• Dark Cyan, Light Mint, Charcoal
• PRICE:
  • 2/64: INR 7,999 (~Php 5.3K)

Source: Nokia

Nokia C12 Pro

The Nokia C12 Pro thankfully has some distinct qualities from its siblings, most notably, the durable back which HMD claims can survive drops. I mean, it’s a Nokia phone. Durability is literally their game; that also includes the IP52 splash resistance rating as with its siblings.

Like the other two, the phone is offered in Dark Cyan, Charcoal, and Light Mint colourways. As for the specs. It’s identical to the C12 Plus. And this too is available in India for INR 7,499 (~Php 5K) but the company overvalues it at INR 9,199 (~Php 6.1K).

SPECS:

• 6.3″ HD+ (1600x720px) IPS LCD
  • IP52 dust and splash resistance
• UNISOC SC9863A (28nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 8MP (Primary)
  • FRONT: 5MP
• Android 12 Go with Material You
• 4000mAh, 5W charging
• MicroUSB, 3.5mm jack, MicroSD Card Slot, Face Unlock
• Dark Cyan, Light Mint, Charcoal
• PRICE:
  • 2/64: INR 9,199 (~Php 6.1K) Discounted to: INR 7,499 (~Php 5.3K)

Source: Nokia