HMD Adds an AI Button to Nokia’s 235 4G and Three Sibling Phones

HMD has put a dedicated AI button on four new Nokia feature phones headlined by the Nokia 235 4G 2nd Edition, bringing an AI assistant to a Nokia-branded keypad phone for the first time. The phones run S30+ software, pair 4G connectivity with a removable 1,450 mAh battery, and bundle 180 days of free AI access. HMD’s own product page warns that extending access beyond the trial requires a smartphone app, an awkward chain for a product family sold on simplicity.

HMD Global Oy is a licensee of the Nokia brand for phones, with Nokia itself remaining a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. The four devices sit on HMD’s official site today, with pricing and wider availability still pending, and they form the most concrete expression yet of the company’s 2026 roadmap for AI on feature phones.

Four Phones, One AI Button

HMD Global has launched the Nokia 235 4G 2nd Edition, the Nokia 215 4G 2nd Edition, the Nokia 210 4G, and the Nokia 200 4G in select global markets. All four run the S30+ operating system and ship with a dedicated AI button built into the keypad, a piece of hardware absent from every prior Nokia-branded keypad phone. Pricing for each model and broader market rollouts have yet to be announced, and the quartet is currently listed only on HMD’s Nokia 235 4G 2nd Edition product page and the equivalent pages for the other three.

HMD has held the right to make phones under the Nokia brand since its licensing deal, and the company frames the new line as part of a wider reset of what a feature phone can do. The Helsinki-headquartered firm outlined three pillars at MWC in March 2026: a built-in digital wallet, video calling, and an AI assistant. The four phones in this launch carry the latter two, with the wallet service rolling out separately in India first.

Each handset shares the same internal hardware platform that has defined HMD’s keypad range for years, including 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of internal storage. MicroSD expansion reaches up to 32 GB across the family, leaving plenty of room for the modest photos the cameras are designed to capture rather than for storing video.

Press Once, Talk to the Phone

Press the key and Sikey AI listens for a voice command. According to HMD’s product page, the assistant can turn on the torch, open the rear camera, set reminders and alarm clocks, place calls to contacts, or answer simple questions, all without leaving the home screen. Available languages include Russian, French, Arabic, English, Thai, Chinese, Hindi, Romanian, Greek, Polish, Ukrainian, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, and Bulgarian, putting a useful share of the world’s feature-phone demographic in scope.

The button sits where the keypad user expects a center action key, keeping the layout familiar to anyone who has handled a 215 or 235 before. Short answers render on the same QVGA display used for the menu system, and the Cloud Phone Service that ships alongside streams news, weather, sports scores, and short videos through browser shortcuts without eating into the 128 MB of internal storage.

The 180-Day Catch

The contradiction sits in the billing. Every model ships with the AI button enabled and 180 days of free assistant access bundled in. Once that window closes, HMD’s product page states plainly, “Service fees for the AI assistant apply after the free trial period of 180 days. A smartphone app is required to purchase a subscription.” For a buyer who bought the phone specifically to escape smartphones, the renewal path runs through the very device they were trying to avoid.

Independent coverage of the launch noted the awkwardness too, calling the arrangement “ironic” because the buyer needs an actual smartphone to renew the assistant on a phone marketed around simplicity. Subscribers must register the AI service through HMD’s companion app on a second device, which leaves the keypad phone unable to act on its own billing account once the trial ends.

The fine print appears on HMD’s own product pages rather than in third-party paperwork, and the company has not yet said what the subscription will cost or exactly which markets the paid tier covers. The 180-day window gives buyers just over half a year to decide whether the voice assistant, the Xpress Chat video calling, and the Cloud Phone Service are worth renewing through another device.

Cloud Phone Service and Xpress Chat

The feature phone’s usual weakness has always been how it handles multimedia. HMD’s answer is two-fold: the Xpress Chat app handles video calls and voice messages using the front-facing VGA camera, and the Cloud Phone Service streams content from the cloud without installing native apps. Xpress Chat works across HMD’s own devices and on Android or iOS once the recipient installs the app from Google Play or the App Store, a deliberate cross-platform decision that keeps feature phone users in the conversation.

Cloud Phone Service covers live news, weather forecasts, sports scores, and short-form videos, all loaded through browser shortcuts that already live on the home screen. The service renders cleanly on the 2.8-inch IPS panel of the two upper-tier phones and on the 2.4-inch QVGA panel of the entry-level 210 and 200. Nothing about this requires the AI assistant, so users who decline the paid tier after the trial can still check headlines and place video calls.

Specs That Run Through All Four Phones

Every phone in the lineup shares the same removable 1,450 mAh battery, and the 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of internal storage are identical across the four models. MicroSD expansion tops out at 32 GB on each, the S30+ operating system is universal, and the differences show up in screen size, camera configuration, and weight.

Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C charging, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, FM radio with wired and wireless modes, and dual Nano SIM slots round out the connectivity list on every model, including the full Nokia 215 4G 2nd Edition specifications. The two upper models measure 128.85 x 55.8 x 12.86 mm, while the two smaller models measure 126.07 x 50.5 x 13.95 mm and weigh under 93 grams each.

HMD’s Three-Pillar Reset of the Feature Phone

Building on our leadership in feature phones, our teams are reimagining what these devices can deliver, from AI and communication to financial access and digital services.

That was Jean-François Baril, HMD’s chairman and chief executive, speaking at the company’s March 2026 announcement in Barcelona. The dedicated AI key shipping today is the most concrete piece of that wider push.

The financial-access pillar already runs on a separate track through the company’s Indian rollout with fintech partner Kivi and blockchain payments specialist Polygon Labs. Video calling and AI have now gone live on hardware most users hold in one hand. HMD positions feature phones as the on-ramp to digital services for households where the keypad device is the only connected gadget in the home, a market the company says it has historically led.

India is the first stop for the wallet service, while the new AI button pushes into mature markets where buyers want a digital break without giving up the convenience of a voice assistant. The strategic bet is straightforward, and how Nokia’s hardware empire missed the smartphone era remains the cautionary tale HMD’s licensing deal cannot afford to repeat.

Buyers running the other direction are part of the picture too. The phone-free boom behind the new feature phone cycle has pulled new customers into basic handsets, and HMD is selling into that shift as much as into legacy Nokia demand.

Pricing and Availability Still Off the Table

No price tag has been published for any of the four phones. HMD has also not announced which regions outside the launch markets will receive the lineup, leaving the global rollout schedule an open question. Until that information lands, the phones sit in an unusual in-between state, officially announced, fully spec’d, listed on HMD’s product pages, but absent from the retailer catalogs where a feature phone normally lives.

HMD has framed 2026 as the year it reimagines the segment, and the rollout details will tell buyers how seriously that claim translates into shipped units. Until the day prices go live, the dedicated AI button is also the clearest test yet of whether a voice assistant on a keypad can outlast the trial that paid for it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Nokia feature phones have a dedicated AI button?

The Nokia 235 4G 2nd Edition, 215 4G 2nd Edition, 210 4G, and 200 4G all carry a dedicated AI button. HMD has listed all four on its product pages but has not published pricing for any of them.

Is the Nokia AI assistant free?

HMD bundles 180 days of free AI access with every model. After that window closes, service fees apply through a paid subscription, and pricing for that tier has not been announced.

Do you need a smartphone to keep using the AI after the trial?

HMD’s product page states that a smartphone app is required to purchase the AI subscription once the trial ends, a step that runs counter to the “dumb phone” pitch the hardware leans on.

What screen does the Nokia 235 4G 2nd Edition use?

The 235 carries a 2.8-inch IPS panel running QVGA resolution, paired with a 2 MP rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front camera used by the Xpress Chat video calling app.

When will Nokia 235 4G 2nd Edition pricing be announced?

HMD has not published prices for any of the four phones and has not set a date for doing so. Wider regional availability has also not been disclosed.