Nokia earbuds look to beat AirPods on price, battery life

Nokia earbuds look to beat AirPods on price, battery life

These days, it seems that every cell phone manufacturer is rolling out a line of wireless earbuds in an attempt to replicate Apple's success with the AirPod accessory. HMD Global, which manufactures and sells Nokia phones, has announced its own wireless earbuds.

There is at least one important difference between the new Nokia Power Earbuds and Apple's wireless offerings. While Apple's AirPods start at $159, the Nokia Power Earbuds will cost $99 when they become available on Amazon later this fall.

Even with the lower price, HMD Global has not skimped on battery life, as long as you keep a charging case nearby. According to the electronics manufacturer, the earbuds can provide up to 150 hours of playback when used with the charging case; AirPods can last up to five hours on their own, and with the charging case, playback time can extend to about a day.

The Nokia Power Earbuds do not have the dangling ends that characterize Apple's wireless earbuds. Instead, they are shaped like Samsung's Galaxy Buds Plus, earbuds that are placed in the ear using one of three different sized ear tips. Nokia's earbuds are IPX7 rated and can easily withstand sweat and rain.

HMD Global promises big, clear sound from the Power Earbuds' 6mm graphene drivers. This is meant to complement the ultra-black color of the new Nokia 8.3 5G smartphone, which will be available for pre-sale in the US on Amazon tomorrow (September 23) and will arrive at Best Buy in a few weeks.

The Nokia 8.3 5G is a Snapdragon 765G-powered 5G-enabled phone that already debuted in other parts of the world earlier this year; the $699 phone features a 6.81-inch display, four rear cameras, a 4,500 mAh battery It has a 6.81-inch display, four rear cameras, and a 4,500 mAh battery. It launches in the U.S. at a time when the similarly priced Galaxy A71 5G, Motorola Edge, and LG Velvet are already competing for smartphone shoppers unwilling to pay the high price for 5G.

HMD Global is also bringing two other Nokia phones to the U.S. that are aimed squarely at the sub-$200 market. (The Nokia 2.4 costs $139 and will be available for pre-order on Amazon on September 23 and at Best Buy this fall; the $179 Nokia 3.4 will appear later this fall.

The most notable feature of the Nokia 2.4 is its 4,500 mAh battery, which promises two days of battery life; the 6.5-inch phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage It features a 13-megapixel main camera, a 13.5-megapixel It has a 13-megapixel main camera and a 2MP depth sensor.

As for the Nokia 3.4, it has a 4,000 mAh battery and promises 2 days of battery life. a Snapdragon 460 system-on-chip handles the phone's processor and graphics, and it includes a 13MP main camera, 5MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 2MP portrait sensor. at 6.39 inches, it's a more compact screen than the Nokia 2.4.

Consider these phones as low-priced rivals to the Moto G Power, which, at $249, is $70 to $110 more expensive than these new Nokia phones. But the Moto G Power also delivers the best battery life of any handset we've seen in years, raising the bar for phones that promise to last longer on a charge.

Categories