Global smartphone giant brings R1,299 4G phone to South Africa

At R1,299, the HKMD Key promises to be a solid option for South Africans considering upgrading to a 4G-capable device before the country begins switching off its 2G and 3G networks.

South Africa is considering options for switching off the country’s legacy networks, taking into account that many residents with 2G and 3G devices would be left without cellular connectivity.

While the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) has published a policy document with switch-off deadlines, network operators have advocated for an industry-led approach.

They warned that the relatively high prices of 4G and 5G smartphones remain a barrier to entry and obstacle to switching off legacy networks.

Operators also asked for government assistance in helping to bring down device costs.

In August 2024, the Association of Communications and Technology (ACT) called for the government to scrap the previous proposed deadline of 31 December 2027.

According to ACT CEO Nomvuyiso Batyi, it is crucial that government first ensure residents are aligned when it comes to the phasing out of 2G and 3G technologies.

“South Africans do not want to be left behind, but in doing that, we have to make sure that all the stakeholders that are supposed to be part of that journey are aware of the consequences,” stated Batyi.

The ACT’s stance is that the switch-off project should be driven by industry and overseen by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.

“In making sure that no one is left behind, let us not have a set deadline and cause unnecessary panic. Let us make sure South Africans have affordable devices in terms of 4G,” added Batyi.

South Africa’s Communications Minister Solly Malatsi agrees. He told MyBroadband that he wants to enhance universal access to devices with 4G and 5G connectivity.

“We enhance universal access by tackling two things. One of them is making smart devices affordable. They are not a luxury. They are a basic necessity,” the Minister stated.

He said an option to help reduce the price of these smartphones would be to declassify them as luxury items, which would exempt them from luxury tax.

Malatsi said he did not want to abolish luxury goods taxes on all smartphones, but introduce a threshold so cheaper devices do not attract this extra import duty.

To this end, a leaked South African Revenue Service (Sars) budget summary document revealed that finance minister Enoch Godongwana planned to announce the removal of ad valorem duty on some smartphone imports.

However, the Budget Speech was postponed until 12 March 2025 as the cabinet could not agree on whether to increase the VAT rate from 15% to 17%. Therefore, this could be subject to change.

Enter the HMD Key

Human Mobile Devices (HMD) holds the licence to produce Nokia-branded devices but has reportedly abandoned the previously iconic brand in favour of its own name.

Its new HMD Key smartphone offers impressive specs and support for 4G connectivity for the R1,299 price point.

It should be noted that HMD doesn’t specify pricing for the Key in South Africa. However, PEP is currently running a promotion through which customers can win the device, which it values at R1,299.

Regarding specs, the HMD Key sports a 6.52-inch FHD display with a 60Hz refresh rate. The display is capable of 460 nits at peak brightness.

The device features IP52 water and dust resistance and runs a slimmed-down version of the Android operating system: Android 14 Go Edition.

The operating system is designed to run on smartphones with lower-end specs to ensure a smooth experience.

The HMD Key is powered by a Unisoc SC9832E quad-core SoC, paired with 2GB of physical RAM and the option to use 2GB of the device’s internal storage as virtual RAM.

The smartphone has 32GB of internal storage, which can be expanded by 32GB to 1TB with a microSDXC card.

Regarding photographic capabilities, the HMD Key has an eight-megapixel rear camera with flash and a 5MP selfie camera on the front.

Regarding connectivity, it supports a 4G cellular connection, Wi-Fi 4, and Bluetooth 4.2.

According to HMD, the Key’s 4,000mAh battery will provide up to 47 hours of battery life on a single charge.

Specifications for the HMD Key are summarised in the table below.