BackNokia 5 has its work cut out, against very competent Android phones
The Nokia 5 lands in a segment which already has some well established rivals
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The Nokia 5 Android phone will be available in retail stores from Tuesday at Rs12,499. The smartphone has been manufactured by Finnish company HMD Global which has the rights to manufacture and distribute smartphones under the Nokia brand name.
It comes in a single 16GB storage and 2GB RAM variant but has four colour options—matte black, silver, tempered blue and copper. It is driven by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 chipset and runs the latest Android Nougat (7.1.1) with stock Android interface. The 5.2-inch screen offers a resolution of 1,280x720p.
It is a good-looking smartphone and comes with a metal back, stands 149mm tall, weighs 160g and has a fingerprint sensor.
HMD is offering some freebies for initial buyers of the Nokia 5. Vodafone subscribers will get 5GB data per month at a monthly payment of Rs149 for three months. Makemytrip users will get a discount of Rs2,500 on hotels and domestic flights.
It’s competing in a segment which has some very good options. Here are some of them.
LG Q6
Rs14,990
This smartphone brings the fun of a near bezel-less display to the affordable segment. It has the form factor of a 5-inch screen smartphone but offers a 5.5-inch display with an impressive resolution of 2,160x1,080p and unique aspect ratio of 18:9. LG has used the same Full Vision screen we saw in the more expensive G6 smartphone. It gives the screen a more edge-to-edge and immersive appearance. The Q6 weighs just 148g, is only 142mm tall and has a shiny glass back.
It is powered by a slightly superior Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 octa-core chipset paired with 3GB RAM. It runs the latest (7.1.1) version of Android Nougat with LG UI on top.
Honor 6X
Rs13,999
Honor 6x is one of the best-looking smartphones you can get in the affordable segment. It is also sleek (8.2mm) and weighs just 162g. The 5.5-inch display is a treat for gamers and movie buffs. It has a resolution of 1,920x1,080p. It is notable for the polished looking Emotion UI which runs over Android 6.0. It runs on Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin 655 octa-core processor, 4GB RAM and offers 64GB internal storage with the option to add more via microSD card. Its key highlight is the dual camera setup which includes 12- and 2-megapixel cameras.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
Rs12,999
The Redmi Note 4 is a slightly bigger smartphone than the Nokia 5 yet weighs 165g. It comes with a bigger 5.5-inch screen which offers a higher resolution of 1,920x1,080p. It also packs in a bigger 4,100mAh battery. What really makes it tower over the Nokia 5 is the more powerful Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 chipset which has been paired with up to 4GB RAM. It has more internal storage (64GB) and supports microSD cards. The Redmi Note 4 was launched with Android 6.0, but the update to Android 7.0 is finally being rolled out to users.
Coolpad Cool 1
Rs12,879
Coolpad Cool 1 offers a bigger 5.5-inch (1,920x1,080p) screen and packs in 4,000mAh-plus battery, like the Redmi Note 4, yet weighs just 167g. It runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor with 4GB RAM. Internal storage stands at 32GB but one can add more using a microSD card. Its only limitation is that it runs a two-year-old Android 6.0 but has one if the best designed custom UIs in this segment. It is also one of the few smartphones with dual cameras (13 megapixels) at this price point.
Lenovo Z2 Plus
Rs11,999
If you are looking for something more powerful than the Redmi Note 4, the Z2 Plus is a slick option in the budget segment right now. It is powered by Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 820 Quad-Core chipset which is usually seen on mid-range and high-end smartphones. This makes the best option for gamers, if they can live with the screen size. The Z2 Plus offers a 5-inch screen but has a resolution of 1,920x1,080p. It is also a very good-looking smartphone with a glass back and weighs 149g.
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