Nokia 5

The trio of phones announced by Nokia in the Spring of 2017 have left a significant mark on the entire Smartphone Ecosystem. Nokia 5 is the middle child – amongst the Nokia 3 and 6 – of that poignant and entrepreneurial endeavour. The Nokia 5, Tempered Blue, 16GB (2GB RAM) runs for Rs. 8,999. It comes with a 5.2 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display with 720 x 1280 pixels at 282 PPI (pixels per inch). This flagship is powered by Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 Octa-core processor and comes with 2/3GB RAM. It also has 32/64 gigs of internal storage that can be expanded up to 400GB with a microSD card. The phone runs Android 8.1 and a 2000mAh non-removable battery. It measures 149.7 x 72.5 x 8 mm and weighs 160gm. Further, it also houses a 13 MP primary camera on the rear and an 8 MP front shooter for selfies.

The phone is made of solid aluminium, unlike the plastic builder the Nokia 3. It comes in a matte black finish, with rounded edges and a curved back, giving a smoother vibe than the sharp-edged Nokia 6. Nokia has included a front mounted fingerprint sensor that acts as a home key. It’s surrounded by two well-labelled backlit touch keys for navigation.

The 16 gigs of internal storage can be pretty tight and Nokia has addressed that with the inclusion of an expandable memory through a microSD card. Just like its brothers, on the Nokia 5, there is no dust or water resistance. Further, all three of the Nokia phones use micro USB ports instead of the now commonplace Type C ports. The Nokia 5 has a single speaker at the bottom which is distortion-free and loud enough at max volume. With a 3.5 mm jack, you can plug in headphones and listen to the built-in FM radio as well.

The Nokia 5 has a 5.2 inch IPS LCD screen covered by Gorilla Glass. This display runs a 720p resolution which is not too bad for your day-to-day use but better can be expected in this price range.

Just like the Nokia 6, the Nokia 5 runs a Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor chipset with a 3 GB RAM. Although the phone performs better in efficiency tests than even the Nokia 6, primarily owing to its less demanding screen resolution, it falls on par with other mid-range competitors.

The Nokia 5 has a 13 MP main camera with a f2.0 aperture. Pictures are nice, sharp, and detailed, and there’s little visible noise. However, we are left wishing for a wider dynamic range because of the inconvenient use of the HDR mode, which works as an improvisation to counter the problem.

The 8 MP selfie cam has an autofocus a feature which is hard to find in this price range. The Nokia 5 records video at 1080p at 30 frames per second. However, there’s no 60 fps option. Videos have a lot of detail, textures look natural, and the final footage is quite good.

The Nokia 6 survives with a battery of 2000 mAH power which, as is turns out, is another feature it shares with the Nokia 5. Charging is relatively slow as you get about 1/4 of the battery in 30 minutes. The Nokia 5 runs on the latest Android OS with a Nokia overlay.

At the end of the day, the Nokia 5 is a decent phone. But is it a better deal than the Nokia 6, owing to the small gap in price between the two? With the Nokia 6, you get a higher resolution screen, more internal memory, stereo speakers and a faster charging battery.

On the other hand, the Nokia 5 has a longer battery life, a better camera and it offers you a chance to save up and not spend on the exorbitant the price tags that other smartphones carry.