Cepter Nivo A1 and V3 smartphones – Disturbingly cheap budget handsets

Electronics chain Power has launched two cheap smartphones under its own Cepter brand in the Nordic markets: the €99 Nivo A1 and the €149 Nivo V2, which are exceptionally cheap basic phones. Sure, everything has had to be tweaked, but for those who are happy with less, you still get pretty good value for your money.

Smartphone prices are rising, but at the same time a market has also emerged for more affordable models. The Power chain's own Cepter brand is responsible for this, which has previously focused on laptops, gaming monitors and televisions, but now also on phones. And affordable ones. The Cepter Nivo A1 costs 99 euros and the V2 149 euros. In a price range where the most important thing is functionality without special features.

Cepter's Nivo A1 and V2 are rebranded phones manufactured by the Chinese company ZTE, originally aimed at the Indian market. From there, Power has picked up two models that are suitable for Finnish conditions. The branding has been done "lightly", as even the phone's own info screen identifies the A1 as a ZTE Z2472 phone, or ZTE Blade A36, and the Nivo V2 as a ZTE Z2458, or ZTE Blade A70.

Although these are ZTE's ready-made models, Power brings Finnish-language user manuals, a clear warranty and maintenance path, and the reliability of service offered by a wide distributor, factors that may often be more uncertain in an affordable price range and random distribution.

Basic tricks, but…

You can't expect miracles at this price, but the quality feels decent, if a bit plasticky. The screens stutter when scrolling quickly and the color space is limited, although occasional video viewing is still possible. The A1 offers 90 hertz refresh rate and the V2 120 hertz, and the brightness is sufficient for basic use. Watching YouTube and TikTok content goes without a hitch.

There is a lot of storage space for its price range: 64 GB in the A1 and 256 GB in the V2. The cameras are basic: 8 Mpix in the A1 and 50 Mpix in the V2, and the quality of still images is sufficient for everyday use. FullHD videos are recorded at 1080p/30–60 fps. The biggest weakness is the juddering and stuttering of the preview (screen), which clearly makes it difficult to shoot, although the final shot is saved properly. The V2 saves images as exceptionally large files, around 10–12 MB, which indicates loose compression.

Both phones have a 5000 mAh battery that can easily last a day or more with light use. Charging power of 10-18 W extends charging time. Dual-SIM support and microSD expansion are both included.

The audio is modest, but the 3,5mm headphone jack is a useful addition. An IP54 rating provides basic splash and dust protection. The A1 runs Android 15 and the V2 Android 14, and both are promised three version updates and five years of security support.

Hold on, hold on…

Performance is a clear compromise between the two models. The Unisoc T7200 in the Nivo A1 and the T606 in the V2 – both are rather old octa-core chips with a Cortex-A75/A55 combination and 4GB of RAM. The power is enough for basic functions, but not much more.

In synthetic tests, the devices consistently rank at the bottom of the charts: in 3DMark's Wild Life test, the results remain at around 430-440 points and in the Extreme version at just over a hundred points, which practically corresponds to a screen refresh in individual frames.