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GLOBAL – Today we announce the Dual SIM Nokia X1-01 and first shipments of the Dual SIM Nokia C2-00. These phones offer a Dual SIM experience superior to any other models on the market, remembering the settings for up to five different SIM cards – and with no compromise on battery life, music features or messaging.

Dual SIM, Dual-Standby devices allow users to choose which SIM card to use for calls, messages and other functions, and switch between them easily from call to call. The ‘Dual-Standby’ part means that you can always receive notification of calls and messages on each account – rather than having to switch your SIM cards on and off.

We’ll be pointing out some of the many reasons people want Dual SIM devices in another post later today, but one of the most obvious is being able to save money by having two different deals from operators – perhaps one offers inexpensive local calls, while another is better value for long distance, for example.

Both devices are no-nonsense, inexpensive phones that offer an exceptionally long battery life. That’s up to 43 days standby time and 13 hours talk time on the Nokia X1-01 – or 36 hours if you choose to play music solidly. The Nokia C2-00 offers a still-gigantic 19.2 days standby time, with 5.75 hours talk time. Both devices are aimed at developing markets where, often, a steady and reliable power supply isn’t yet a reality. The daily top-up that many smartphone users in other regions have become used to isn’t always an option in some parts of the world.

Nokia X1-01

The Nokia X1-01 is a music machine, as evidenced by the massive speaker on the back, which can deliver up to 106 phon. A phon (and you’re forgiven for not knowing – we didn’t until we looked it up on Wikipedia) is a unit of perceived loudness. If you have 106 of them in a mobile device, it’s loud enough to serve as a makeshift home-entertainment system. The speaker has also been specially tuned so that there’s little distortion, even when turned up to eleven. The Nokia X1-01 has in fact got the loudest and clearest speaker Nokia has ever produced!

The device offers support for up to 16GB of storage using the SD card slot – enough for thousands of songs on board. It offers an FM radio, of course, and also an MP3 music player with dedicated music keys and one-click creation of a favourite playlist. The 3.5mm AV jack can be used to plug the output into headphones or even louder speakers. The Nokia X1-01 also has a flashlight on the top. That’s a useful feature for anyone, but especially so if you can’t rely on the power supply or where civic lighting doesn’t exist.

In addition to remembering the settings for up to five separate SIM cards, the Nokia X1-01 also lets you give each SIM its own logo, music signature or ringtone.

Nokia C2-00

The Nokia C2-00 offers a number of additional features. The main one is the way the SIM cards are arranged, offering Easy Swap, a feature that’s only on offer from Nokia. One SIM card is stored internally, like a traditional phone. The second card is easily accessible through a slot in the side – so you don’t have to open or even switch the phone off to change SIMs. This is especially useful for people who want to use more than two SIMs, such as if the phone was to be shared between different members of a family, a group of friends or various community members, for example.

While the Nokia X1-01 runs the Series 30 operating system, the Nokia C2-00 runs Series 40, which offers some key advantages in the form of internet access, a web browser and Nokia Messaging for email. The Nokia C2-00 also sports a VGA camera and allows for MMS messaging. There’s support for up to 32GB of storage using an SD card, allowing users to carry thousands of photos, videos and music files.

In selected markets, the two phones will be offered with Ovi Life Tools: bringing news, market prices, entertainment, health advice and education services to people who are likely to find it difficult to get these things in other ways.

The Nokia X1-01 and Nokia C2-00 will ship this quarter in India, China, South-East Asia/Pacific region, Middle East and Africa, Eurasia and Brazil. Before local taxes or subsidies, the X1-01 will cost €34 while the C2-00 will cost €45.

As ever, let us know what you think in the comments.