HMD has officially announced its new HMD 105 4G School Edition device. This new device takes on from the 105 4G device, which was launched in Q3 2024; however, it makes a few changes to prepare it for use by a specific target audience.
The new 105 4G School Edition, as the name suggests, is designed for use by students. While this sounds interesting, the 105 4G School Edition isn’t a smartphone, and this is the entire point of its existence.
This new device is a feature phone that has been completely stripped down for use by students with extra parental features. Let’s now have a closer look at this device that is targeted for students.
HMD Aims To Remove Distractions For Students With The New 105 4G School Edition
Smartphones come with a ton of smart features that help users stay online, play video games, make calls, take pictures, and so much more. Feature phones, on the other hand, are simpler and lack most of the smart features that smartphones offer users; however, most feature phones come with games and other interesting functions.
While feature phones offer fewer distractions in comparison with smartphones, the games they offer can also serve as distractions for users. This is what the HMD 105 4G School Edition hopes to fix.
With this device, HMD offers a bare-bones, stripped-down version of the 105 4G device without access to the web, preloaded games, and a voice recorder. The device also gives parents access to PIN-protected controls that can be used to disable functions like Bluetooth, MMS, and FM Radio.
Some are currently questioning how features like Bluetooth and FM Radio can serve as distractions to students. However, the idea of this device is clear: remove distractions from devices that students use.
Specifications Of The New HMD 105 4G School Edition
Despite its stripped-down nature, the new HMD 105 4G School Edition comes with okay features for a feature phone. Here are the specifications of this new device tailored to help reduce distractions among students:
- Display: 2.4-inch OVGA display.
- Battery: 1450mAh
- RAM: 64MB RAM capacity.
- Storage: 128MB, expandable to 32GB with a Micro SD card.
- Software: Undisclosed.
- Protection: IP54 for Europe.
- Colours: Cyan.
Other features that this device comes with are dual flashlights, 4G connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Like other feature phones, the new HMD 105 4G School Edition comes with a removable battery.
Perfect Timing For The Launch Of The HMD 105 4G School Edition
Over the past few months, regions like the UK, Canada, Greece, Hungary, and Poland have been working to ban the use of smartphones in schools. The leading reason for this ban on smartphones in schools across these regions is that the devices serve as distractions to students.
This view is shared not only by the governments of these regions but also by some parents. So while the government works to keep smartphones out of school, parents in these regions might also be working to keep their children away from smartphones.
Now HMD is offering such parents a tool to help keep their children sharp and focused as students while being able to communicate with them. The launch of the new HMD 105 4G School Edition is perfectly timed with the fight against smartphones among students in various regions.
Will parents see this new device as a solution to the distraction issue with their children? We can’t say, but the sales performance of this device might give insight into this question.