The Nokia G21 is a new budget smartphone from HMD Global that promises a three-day battery life and Android OS upgrades for the next two years. It also boasts a high refresh rate display, a feature slowly becoming the norm in the sub Rs. 15,000 price segment. With competitors like Redmi, Realme, and Samsung constantly upping their game, the Nokia G21 is relying heavily on its Android One roots and large battery capacity to attract users. But is the Nokia G21 the right choice for budget-conscious buyers? Let’s dive into a detailed review to find out.
Nokia G21 Price in India
The Nokia G21 is available in India for Rs. 12,999 for the base variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The other variant, with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, is priced at Rs. 14,999. HMD Global offers the Nokia G21 in two color options: Nordic Blue and Dusk (brown).
Nokia G21 Design
While most budget smartphones sport glossy back panels with gradient patterns, the Nokia G21 feels a bit more classic. It has a textured back panel made of plastic, which also helps to prevent fingerprints. HMD Global even includes a case in the box. The rear camera module is rectangular and positioned in the top left corner, with minimal protrusion.
The dewdrop notch on the Nokia G21 is fairly common in smartphones of this price range.
Following current design trends, the sides of the Nokia G21 are completely flat, but the corners are rounded for a comfortable grip. The fingerprint scanner is integrated into the power button on the side, making it readily accessible. The volume buttons are slightly higher on the same side but are still comfortable to reach with a single hand.
On the opposite side, the Nokia G21 houses a dedicated Google Assistant button and the SIM tray. The 3.5mm audio jack is located on the top, while the USB Type-C port is placed at the bottom, alongside the speaker.
The Nokia G21 features a 6.5-inch display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and an HD+ resolution. It has the dewdrop notch at the top and a thicker bottom chin. Overall, the Nokia G21 feels well-built and sturdy.
Nokia G21 Specifications and Software
The Nokia G21 comes equipped with modest specifications. It is powered by a Unisoc T606 SoC, which is an entry-level, octa-core 4G chipset with two ARM Cortex-A75 performance cores and six ARM Cortex-A55 efficiency cores clocked at 1.6GHz. The phone features an HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a maximum brightness of 400 nits. Storage expansion is possible with a dedicated microSD card slot.
Other notable features include support for Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi ac, NFC, and three satellite navigation systems. The phone packs a 5,050mAh battery with support for up to 18W fast charging, but HMD Global only includes a 10W charger in the box.
The side-mounted fingerprint scanner on the Nokia G21 provides quick unlocking.
The Nokia G21 runs Android 11 and is part of the Android One program, meaning you get stock Android with the promise of two years of Android OS upgrades. It’s a disappointment not to see Android 12 out of the box, which is becoming the standard for most manufacturers nowadays. My review unit was running the May 2022 Android security patch.
Although the UI is mostly clean, I found preinstalled apps such as ExpressVPN, LinkedIn, Netflix, and Spotify. These apps can be uninstalled to reclaim storage space.
The Nokia G21 offers several gestures for quick actions, such as double-tapping to wake up the screen, flipping the phone over to reject calls, double-tapping the power button to launch the camera, and more. It also includes stock Android features like Digital Wellbeing, which provides insights into your usage patterns.
Nokia G21 Performance and Battery Life
The Nokia G21 delivers acceptable performance for its price point. It handled casual games and mainstream apps without any noticeable hiccups. However, more demanding apps and games required longer loading times. Basic multitasking was possible on the 6GB RAM variant I had, but there wasn’t any RAM extension feature, which could be helpful for the 4GB variant. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner was quick for authentication. The quality of the HD+ resolution display was pretty average, which might be a dealbreaker for some, as full-HD+ displays are becoming increasingly common in this price segment.
Benchmark scores reflected my usage experience. In AnTuTu, the Nokia G21 scored only 198,068 points, while in Geekbench 5, it managed 306 points in the single-core test and 1221 points in the multi-core test. In GFXBench’s graphics benchmarks, it scored 34fps in the T-Rex test and 8.8 fps in the Car Chase test. These scores are in line with other budget smartphones, such as the Redmi 10 Prime (Review) and the Samsung Galaxy F22 (Review), which are also available in this price range.
The Nokia G21 features a triple-camera setup on the back.
Gaming performance on the Nokia G21 in games like Call of Duty: Mobile was strictly average. It defaulted to Low graphics and Medium frame rate settings. The game took a while to load, and I did encounter occasional rendering issues with objects in the game on certain maps. After playing for about 15 minutes, I observed a mere two percent drop in battery level, which was a good sign. The phone did become slightly warm after the gaming session.
Battery life is where the Nokia G21 truly shines. The frugal SoC and the large battery easily allow it to achieve two-day battery life, at least with my typical usage patterns. In our HD video loop test, the Nokia G21 ran for 20 hours and 4 minutes, an excellent performance. However, the slow charging speed of the bundled 10W charger resulted in the phone only charging 23 percent in half an hour and 45 percent in an hour. It took over two hours for a complete charge. Investing in a faster 18W charger would definitely be worth it to reduce charging time.
Nokia G21 Cameras
The Nokia G21 sports a triple rear camera setup, consisting of a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth camera. For selfies, it has an 8-megapixel shooter. The camera app is quite basic but offers different shooting modes. The 50-megapixel primary camera pixel-bins photos to 12.5-megapixels by default.
Nokia G21 primary camera daylight sample. (Tap to see full size)
Daylight photos from the primary camera looked decent when viewed on the phone’s screen, but upon zooming in, I noticed that details lacked sharpness. Textures and details on objects at a distance in landscape shots had a watercolor-like effect. The phone quickly enabled HDR in bright scenes, which helped capture decent dynamic range.
Nokia G21 primary camera close-up sample. (Tap to see full size)
Nokia G21 close-up sample with Portrait mode. (Tap to see full size)
Close-up shots were surprisingly good, featuring well-defined edges and crisp details. Pictures taken with Portrait mode were not as impressive. The phone was slow to capture each image, taking four to five seconds. This made it difficult to photograph pets, requiring multiple attempts for a good shot. Still objects performed better. Macro photos from the dedicated camera had mediocre details.
Nokia G21 Auto (top) and Night mode (bottom) camera samples. (Tap to see full size)
Low-light camera performance was mediocre. Objects were recognizable, but the photos lacked detail in darker areas of the frame. Night mode helped to produce a brighter image with better details, but it took over six seconds to capture a shot, requiring the user to remain still to avoid blurring.
Nokia G21 daylight selfie with Portrait mode (top) and low-light selfie with Portrait mode (bottom). (Tap to see full size)
Selfies were decent in both daylight and low-light conditions. Those taken with Portrait mode had good edge detection and managed to blur the background effectively.
Video recording on the Nokia G21 maxed out at 1080p for the rear camera. It lacked stabilization, resulting in shaky footage. Overall, the G21’s camera performance was strictly average. An ultra-wide-angle camera would have brought some versatility to this otherwise mediocre setup.
Verdict
The Nokia G21 is an Android One smartphone that offers a stock Android experience with guaranteed software updates for the next few years. It boasts good build quality and excellent battery life for everyday use. Given these strengths, the Nokia G21 should appeal to casual users who prefer a simple and clean Android interface. However, the fact that it ships with Android 11 instead of Android 12 is a bit disappointing. Power users might find the Nokia G21 slightly underpowered, and the cameras also fell short of my expectations.
If you can overlook these shortcomings, the Nokia G21 remains a reliable smartphone for casual use with excellent software support, which is uncommon in this price bracket. Those seeking more performance around the same price might want to consider the Realme 9i (Review) or the Moto G51 (Review). If you’re interested in the 6GB variant of the Nokia G21, the Redmi Note 10T 5G (Review) is a worthy alternative.
