Verizon Expected To Sell Nokia 2V As A Prepaid Phone

It was leaked last week that HMD Global will release a new version of the Nokia 2.1 in the United States exclusively from Verizon. Now, new information has surfaced claiming that the handset will be sold as a prepaid phone.

Last week, notorious leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) revealed on Twitter that a Nokia-branded handset would arrive to Verizon and that it would be called the Nokia 2.1V. In a follow-up tweet, Blass clarified that the device would actually be called the Nokia 2V when it’s released in the U.S. and that it would be sold as a prepaid phone.

Selling the Nokia 2V as a prepaid handset seems to make a lot of sense since Nokia may have been a big name in the cellphone industry a long time ago, but right now a lot of people are not familiar with the brand. Blass said that Verizon may be looking to introduce a low-end and low-risk handset to customers to test how well it will be received.

“They're treating Nokia the same as any other untested OEM, which is to say they're seeing how HMD Global operates as a partner. I wouldn't expect them to go with anything of consequence,” Blass said.

The Nokia 2V is expected to feature the same specs as the Nokia 2.1, which was released this past summer in select markets. This means that the Nokia 2V will come with a 5.5-inch LCD display with a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 and the standard aspect ratio of 16:9. The handset should also have Gorilla Glass covering display. Inside, the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

As for cameras, the Nokia 2V will have a single 8-megapixel camera on the back that’s capable of 720p HD 30fps video recording. Meanwhile, the selfie shooter will have a 5-megapixel sensor. Overall, the Nokia 2V is a low-end Android smartphone that’s specifically targeting customers who are on a budget. One thing that’s great about the handset though is that it has a massive 4,000mAh battery, which should deliver an impressive battery life.

On the software side of things, the Nokia 2V is expected to run Android 8.1 Oreo Go Edition, which means that it will have pre-installed Google “Go” apps. It’s being speculated that the phone may only cost just above $100, according to Ubergizmo.