Nokia G21 Dual 128GB 4GB RAM

Design.

The Nokia G21 has a gently rigid plastic rear, one that doesn’t attempt to present itself as glass or metal. There’s no light-reactive layer, so its appearance is within reason low-key. And the textured rear impact provides a few grip. The phone is available in two color options from us- Nordic Blue and Dusk. In the previous generation device, Nokia opted for a round camera housing. The new Nokia G21 comes with a more unassuming rounded rectangle that sits on the left corner of the device. It weighs 190 grams and is easy to curry around considering its dimensions – 164.6 x 75.9 x 8.5 mm (6.48 x 2.99 x 0.33 in).

Display.

The Nokia G21 comes with a 6.5-inch LCD display, which is exactly what we would expect from a budget tool. It’s a 720p panel, not the 1080p one you’d see blanketed in phones from the likes of Realme and Xiaomi. As we’ve seen in the early 2022 releases, even budget phones have a remarkable display but as you would guess that is not the case here. A performance test from GSMArena shows a 1631:1 (nominal) Contrast ratio score for the Nokia G21. That is below average, despite having a 90Hz refresh rate that makes menus appear to scroll more smoothly. The color depth is much of “RGB”, missing plenty of OLED and LCD-based units but which cost a little more. We don’t mind this less-saturated look since it comes for a very budget price with a large display. In general the G21’s Display is average.

Camera.

The camera is the principle reason to choose the Nokia G21 over the Nokia G11. The smartphone comes with a 50-megapixel grade-one sensor, which appears to be this semester’s hot resolution, visible in flagship phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S22. Of course the version of sensor here can’t compete with the ones in flagship phones, but it manages good images and video. The Nokia G21 Camera App offers a sound performance for a near low-level smartphone. Shoot during the day and it captures photos with a slightly warm color temperature, solid HDR processing and color that seems natural enough as a result of lack of oversaturation.

Performance and Software.

The Nokia G21 runs on Android 11, which is now the older version of the operating system. Nokia would have made some high-level changes – such as improving color in the menu system – if they would have gone for the latest Android 12.

But why might the Android 11 be a benefit on the Nokia G21 instead of the Android 12? This is because it runs the cleanest model of the software program. No leftover apps, and no vexed additional team-up elements. The software doesn’t affect the overall performance of the G21 either. The Nokia G21 has a slightly uncommon Unisoc chipset, the T606 (12 nm). This entry-level SoC is only used in more affordable phones such as the Samsung Galaxy A03 and the Nokia G11.  As stated by Techradar, It scores 1165 in Geekbench 5, which is far lower than the ~1640 achievable in a phone featuring the Snapdragon 480. Although there are a few lugs, the general performance of the Nokia G21 is reasonable and recommendable considering the Price.

Battery.

Nokia G21 is more affordable compared to the new Nokia G60 5G and Xiaomi Poco F4 GT but that doesn’t mean it beats the initial in every aspect. The Nokia G21 offers a larger battery than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Series and the iPhone 13 Series. Nokia claims that the 5050 mAh battery offers three days of battery life in their ‘real-world’ simulation of 5 hours a day of active general use. The G21 also supports Fast battery charging of 18W with USB Power Delivery of 3.0. GSMArena performance test of the battery also shows Endurance rating 126 hrs, which is perfect.