There had always been rumors of a 7th January launch of the Nokia N1 tablet in China. However, the Finnish company dismissed the rumors once and for all today, after announcing through its social media stream that the N1 tablet would indeed launch on the 7th of January, and in China. The tablet is known for a couple of things, which include a reversible (type C) USB connector, and the design, which according to many is inspired by the Apple iPad mini.
The complete specifications of the N1 tablet read as follows: there’s a 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 pixel display (something that Apple calls ‘retina’), a quad-core, 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 CPU along with 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of on-board storage. Unfortunately, there’s no microSD expansion on the device, which does sound like a bad idea, especially on a tablet. Nonetheless, other specifications of the N1 include an 8 megapixel camera sensor on the rear, a 5 megapixel snapper on the front, and a reassuring — at least on paper — 5300mAh battery.
The device will have Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, which is a welcome addition. Nokia is also holding a contest wherein a total of 800 winners will be picked, who will be getting a ticket to the media event. Another six will win VIP passes for the event. As for the pricing, the tablet is expected to sell at around the $250 mark worldwide, so in China it should be sold at around 1550 Yuan. Please bear in mind that official numbers, as for the pricing, are yet to be confirmed.
The device should make for a decent — and affordable — Apple iPad mini 2 alternative. Also, thanks to the Android OS that it will have on board, the N1 will allow for much higher levels of customization than the iPad mini which runs on Apple’s proprietary and closed source iOS operating system. Besides the lack of storage expansion, I don’t see a reason why people won’t be flocking to buy this one — Chinese OEMs have been selling iPad mini clones at about the same prices since the past few years.