The Nokia G21 is a latest price range smartphone from HMD World. It guarantees a three-day battery life and Android working system updates for the following two years. The G21 additionally contains a excessive refresh charge show which is slowly turning into widespread within the sub Rs. 15,000 value section. The competitors is heating up on this area with manufacturers like Redmi, Realme and Samsung always making an attempt to outdo one another. The Nokia G21 leans closely on its Android One roots and enormous battery capability to enchantment to purists. So, must you contemplate the Nokia G21 when you're on a decent price range? Right here is my evaluate.
Nokia G21 value in India
The Nokia G21 is priced at Rs. 12,999 in India for the bottom variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The opposite variant with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is priced at Rs. 14,999. HMD World affords the Nokia G21 in two finishes, Nordic Blue and Nightfall, which is brown.
Nokia G21 design
Whereas most smartphones within the price range section are inclined to sport shiny again panels with gradient patterns, the Nokia G21 feels a little bit college. It has a textured again panel that’s fabricated from plastic, similar to the remainder of the telephone. This texture helps retain fingerprints. HMD World additionally features a case within the field. The again of the Nokia G21 homes an oblong digicam module within the higher left nook that doesn’t protrude a lot.
The dewdrop notch on the Nokia G21 is kind of widespread in smartphones on this value vary.
In step with present design traits, the edges of the Nokia G21 are utterly flat. The corners are rounded, so it doesn't dig into your palm while you maintain the smartphone. HMD World has gone for a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that’s built-in into the ability button. The quantity buttons are situated a little bit greater on the identical facet, however are inside attain when utilizing the telephone alone.
However, the Nokia G21 has a devoted Google Assistant button and the SIM tray. The three.5mm audio jack is current on the prime, whereas the USB Kind-C port is on the backside with the speaker.
The Nokia G21 has a 6.5-inch show with a 20:9 side ratio and HD+ decision. It has the dewdrop notch on the prime which remains to be widespread in telephones at this value vary. The show additionally has a thick backside chin. General, the Nokia G21 feels nicely constructed and durable.
Nokia G21 Specs and Software program
The Nokia G21 has modest specs. It’s powered by a Unisoc T606 SoC which is an entry-level octa-core 4G SoC with two ARM Cortex-A75 efficiency cores, and 6 ARM Cortex-A55 effectivity cores, all clocked at 1.6GHz. The Nokia G21 has an HD + show with a refresh charge of 90 Hz and a most brightness of 400 nits. Storage enlargement is feasible by way of a devoted slot for a microSD card.
There may be assist for Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, NFC, and three satellite tv for pc navigation methods. The telephone packs a 5,050 mAh battery with assist for quick charging as much as 18W, however HMD World bundles a 10W charger within the field.
The facet fingerprint scanner is able to unlock the Nokia G21
The Nokia G21 runs Android 11 and is a part of the Android One program which suggests you get inventory Android and a two-year promise of Android OS updates. It's nonetheless a little bit disappointing to not have Android 12 out of the gate, which is what most producers supply right this moment. My unit was operating the Might 2022 Android safety patch. Though the UI is generally clear, I discovered apps like ExpressVPN, LinkedIn, Netflix and Spotify pre-installed. These apps may be uninstalled to reclaim area.
The Nokia G21 affords numerous gestures that will help you get issues accomplished rapidly. For instance, you are able to do a double-tap gesture to get up the display, flip the telephone to reject calls, double-tap the ability button to launch the digicam, and some extra. It additionally has Android options like Digital Wellbeing that provides you an incredible perception into your utilization habits.
Nokia G21 efficiency and battery life
The Nokia G21 affords acceptable efficiency for the value. It was capable of deal with informal video games and mainstream apps with none hiccups. Nevertheless, extra demanding apps and video games require an extended time to load. A primary degree of multitasking was doable on the 6GB RAM variant I had, however there was no RAM extension function that would have been helpful for the 4GB variant. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner was fast at authentication. The standard of the HD+ decision show was additionally fairly common. This might be a deal breaker for some, as full-HD+ shows usually are not unusual on this section.
The benchmark scores echoed my consumer expertise. In AnTuTu, the Nokia G21 scored solely 198,068 factors, whereas in Geekbench 5, it managed 306 factors and 1221 factors within the benchmark's single and multi-core exams, respectively. Within the GFXBench graphics benchmark, it managed 34fps and eight.8fps within the T-Rex and Automotive Chase take a look at suites. These scores have been in keeping with different price range smartphones, such because the Redmi 10 Prime (Assessment) and the Samsung Galaxy F22 (Assessment) that are additionally obtainable on this value vary.
The Nokia G21 has a triple digicam setup on the again
Gaming efficiency on the Nokia G21 in video games like Name of Obligation: Cellular was strictly common. It defaults to “Low” and “Medium” body charge graphics. The sport took some time to load and I noticed occasional points with rendering objects within the sport, on sure maps. I performed the sport for about quarter-hour which resulted in a mere two % drop in battery degree, which was good. The telephone obtained a little bit heat to the contact on the finish of my gaming session.
Battery life is the place the Nokia G21 excels. The frugal SoC and enormous battery permits it to simply hit the two-day mark, at the very least with my typical utilization. In our HD video loop take a look at, the Nokia G21 ran for 20 hours and 4 minutes, which is an excellent time. Sadly, the sluggish charging velocity of the bundled 10W charger resulted within the telephone charging to simply 23 % in an hour and a half and as much as 45 % in an hour. Charging the battery took over two hours. I really feel it's price investing in a sooner 18W charger to scale back charging time.
Nokia G21 Cameras
The Nokia G21 has a triple rear digicam setup. It has a 50-megapixel major digicam, a 2-megapixel macro digicam, and a 2-megapixel depth digicam. For selfies, it has an 8-megapixel shooter. The digicam app is fairly primary and has completely different taking pictures modes to select from. The first digicam 50-megapixel pixel-bins picture to 12.5-megapixel by default.
Nokia G21 major digicam daylight pattern (faucet to view full measurement)
Daytime pictures from the first digicam seemed good when seen solely on the telephone's show, however I seen that particulars weren't as sharp when zoomed. Textures and particulars on objects at a distance in panorama photographs are inclined to have a watercolor impact. The telephone was fast to allow HDR in shiny scenes which helped the telephone seize a good dynamic vary.
Nokia G21 major digicam close-up pattern (faucet to view full measurement)
Nokia G21 close-up present with Portrait Mode (faucet to view full measurement)
Shut-ups have been surprisingly good with well-defined edges and crisp element. The photographs captured with Portrait Mode weren’t that good because the telephone was sluggish to seize photographs, taking 4 to 5 seconds every time. Because of this, clicking photos of pets was robust, and I wanted a number of makes an attempt to get a correct shot. Nonetheless issues went higher. Macros pictures from the devoted digicam had mediocre particulars.
Nokia G21 Auto (prime) and Evening Mode (backside) digicam samples (faucet to view full measurement)
Low-light digicam efficiency was strictly common. Objects have been recognizable, however photos lacked element within the darker areas of the body. The night time mode helped present a brighter picture with higher particulars, however it took greater than six seconds to take a shot, throughout which I needed to stand nonetheless to keep away from any blur within the output.
Nokia G21 daytime selfie with Portrait Mode (prime) and low-light selfie with Portrait Mode (backside) (Faucet to view full measurement)
Selfies have been first rate in each daylight and low-light situations. Those that clicked in Portrait Mode had good edge detection and managed to blur the background nicely.
Video recording on the Nokia G21 was maxed out at 1080p for the rear digicam. It lacked stabilization which resulted in shaky footage. General, the G21's digicam efficiency was strictly common, and an ultra-wide-angle digicam may have introduced some versatility to this in any other case mediocre setup.
Verdict
The Nokia G21 is an Android One smartphone that delivers a inventory Android expertise, with the promise of assured software program updates for years to return. It affords good construct high quality and glorious battery life for day-to-day use. Given its good qualities, the Nokia G21 ought to enchantment to an informal consumer who prefers a easy and clear Android interface. Having mentioned that, I'm a little bit upset that the G21 ships with Android 11 and never 12. Energy customers would possibly discover the Nokia G21 a little bit underpowered. The rooms additionally fell wanting my expectations.
If you happen to can overlook its flaws, the Nokia G21 remains to be a dependable smartphone for informal use with good software program assist, which isn’t widespread on this value vary. Those that need extra efficiency across the similar value can contemplate the Realme 9i (Assessment) or the Moto G51 (Assessment). If you happen to're trying on the 6GB variant of the Nokia G21, you need to contemplate the Redmi Observe 10T 5G (Assessment) as a substitute.
