Nokia 2.1

The reliable brand arrives with another budget phone for the budget crowd. Priced at Rs. 6,999, it seems like Nokia 2.1 does not have much to offer except their brand name.

Nokia 2.1 does not fit in the competition that it arrives in. It has inferior performance and a mediocre display. The design looks cheap as well. The Nokia 2.1 does not have much to impress, and hence it is not recommended even to average users going for a regular phone without many flagship features.

Nokia 2.1 disappoints with its design. As cheaper models are moving towards glass design, the plastic build of Nokia 2.1 does not look refined or feel good. It comes with a removable rear which can score in terms of nostalgia. Nokia tries to make sure that the set does not look cheap and so they have gone for the larger handset. The result is that it is not manageable in a single hand. It comes with the same width as the flagship iPhone XS Max, which means that it is going to difficult for people with small hands. Nokia 2.1 does not come with a fingerprint scanner or any certification regarding waterproof resistance, which is a disappointment when most phones have either of them or both. It also retains the old micro USB port and not the newer USB-C port.

Nokia 2.1 has a sizable 5.5-inch IPS LCD which comes with the older 16:9 aspect ratio. There is adequate screen space for any user to work with. The resolution is on the lower end at 1280 x 720 pixels which keeps it quite sharp and makes gaming and movies bright. The colours are less saturated than most phones, and the contrast is quite good. However, there is a slightly bluish tinge to the deep blacks on the phone. The screen has a screen protector, though it is not Gorilla Glass, so there is no guarantee. On pressing hard, the image tends to distort slightly. However, the screen as oleophobic coating preventive fingerprint smudges to fall on it.

Nokia 2.1 comes with a dated Snapdragon 425 which is a quad-core processor. It is partnered with a little 1GB RAM, making multitasking especially difficult. When the apps and opened and then closed, they can end up in a frozen state. It might close down many background apps also. The phone tends to stutter a lot and can experience an annoying slowdown which may be very frustrating. Even the virtual keyboard comes up slow. However, as a surprising twist, heavy games like Asphalt 8 can run quite smoothly in Medium setting. Light games run quite efficiently. However, on the whole, the phone is a very poor performer and can end up frustrating you with its freeze-prone performance.

The Nokia 2.1 comes with a primary 8MP rear camera. As a result, the images produced by this set is quite mediocre. Daylight shots are low on the details, and they also have poor dynamic range. However, if you turn on HDR, you might find them become a bit better. Surprisingly, the phone comes with Auto HDR. The shutter speed is quite fast, but when you are clicking HDR images, the phone processes the image in front while you are clicking photos thereby stopping any activity. Other phones generally keep it running in the background.

Low-light images are very poor. They capture a lot of noise and the visibility goes down. The pictures appear grainy.

The 5MP front camera is very quick and responsive but yet again, the image quality plummets. The selfies have a milky quality and they do not carry any fine details.

The two cameras can shoot videos up to 1080p, but since there is no stabilization, you can expect jerky footages.

One of the main focus of Nokia 2.1 is its battery life. It arrives with a massive 4,000 mAh battery, which tries to tackle Moto E5 and Moto G6 Play regarding their two-day battery life. Fortunately, Nokia 2.1 flourishes in this test. It has an excellent battery life, which, after moderate and light use showed to go up to two days without an issue. However, if you identify as a heavy user, the battery doesn’t drain very fast and can make the phone last for at least one and a half days. Unfortunately, the phone does not come with fast charging, so it is advisable that you leave it for charging overnight.

The Nokia 2.1 has a large screen which gives good immersive experience and a huge battery that runs for a long time. However, it has a very poor processor which will frustrate you when you are doing tasks on this phone. Therefore, while being a basic model, it is not the kind of basic phone that would be recommended to any average user. A much better phone would be Moto G6 Play, which will satisfy all your need with a better processor and good looks too.