JOIN USNokia G20: Reliable budget phone with decent camera
HMD Global Oy recently launched the new budget phone Nokia G20 in India.
The new G20 is the top-end model among the two G-series phones. The other variant is the G10.
Nokia G20 competes with the Redmi Note 10, Realme Narzo 30 4G, Motorola G40, Samsung Galaxy M32 5G, among others in India.
On paper, it comes with a decent set of hardware, and also the build quality looks good for a budget phone. Here're my thoughts on the Nokia G20.
Design, build quality, and display
As mentioned in my first impression article, Nokia G20 features a solid body cover with a textured finish on the back.
It offers a really good grip for the hands to hold on to the device. Also, it has a sturdy frame around the edges with curved corners.
On the rear side, it features a visually appealing circular capsule housing four camera sensors with LED flash.
The phone comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on the right side, which also doubles up the power button. The biometric sensor works really well for a budget phone.
Also, on the opposite, you will find a dedicated button, which can be used to invoke the Google Assistant to do chores like finding news on the internet or ask for weather updates, Cricket scores, and do other tasks.
On the front, it flaunts a 6.5-inch HD+ (720 x 1600p) screen with a 20:9 aspect ratio, pixel density of 269 pixels per inch (ppi), supports brightness boost and OZO spatial audio features.
It houses a tiny 8MP sensor at the top in the center. With the uniform bezel around the edge with an 81.9 screen-to-body ratio, there is very obstruction to view content.
Performance
Nokia G20 houses a 12nm class MediaTek G35 octa-core (4 x 2.3 GHz Cortex-A53 + 4 x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53) CPU and is backed by PowerVR GE8320 GPU, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage (expandable up to 512GB).
For normal day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, opening apps, loading, and operating the camera, playing small games such as Temple Run, Candy Crush, and Angry Birds, the phone works smoothly. However, we can't same experience when graphics-rich games such as Asphalt 9, Call of Duty, and others. But, most of the rival brands in the segment too are made to play such games either.
This is more of a handy phone for children for online classes and also for senior citizens for interacting on video calls, browse social media platforms, or consuming multimedia content on OTT apps.
It runs pure vanilla Android 11 OS out-of-the-box. The phone is guaranteed to get two major OS updates, meaning it will get the Android 12 and 13 series. But, it remains to be seen if the company be able to deliver on time.
Nokia G20 comes packed with a massive 5,050mAh battery. It consistently delivered one and half days of battery life under normal usage. For the sake of testing, I binged a bit on videos and operating the camera for extended sessions, and also played a game to check its endurance. Pretty happy with it. The only qualm, it takes a quite too long time, around three hours for the 10W to get the phone fully charged from zero to 100 per cent.
Photography
The device features a quad-camera set-up featuring the main 48MP (f/1.79) and is backed by 5MP ultra-wide sensor with 2MP macro and 2MP depth sensors with LED flash.
It takes really good pictures in the sunlight and also under outcast cloudy conditions. The photos capture a good amount of details of the subject and colours too, look natural.
The wide-angle shots succeed in covering a wide area of the landscape.
In the night mode too, images retain the darkness, and yet manages to capture the details such as the coconut tree in the foreground and others in the background, street lights on the sides, and the cloud above. The pictures appear sharp on the compact screen of the phone, but when viewed on a computer, there is noise. Having said that, the quality is on par with rival brands in its class.
On the front, Nokia G20 features an 8MP shooter. It takes decent selfies in natural light conditions. Also, there is a Beautify feature that smoothens the face skin. It does a fine job removing acne scars to an extent.
Final thoughts
Nokia G20 is a reliable budget phone. Its build quality is good and in terms of performance, it works fine doing day-to-day activities and even while operating the camera.
The battery life is a big plus in this device, making it compelling for parents looking for a decent mobile for their children to attend online classes. Also, the camera of the Nokia G20 fares well and is on par with rival brands in its class.
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