Nokia 2 review

Nokia has been in its glorious past a company famous for its ultra-cheap and high-quality smartphones. With the new Nokia-HMD, it seems that history wants to repeat itself. After the unexciting Nokia 3, the company launched the Nokia 2.

Package

Inside the package, we find a USB-micro-USB cable, a pair of stereo headphones with an answer button on the wire and a small 5V/2A power adapter.

Build and Ergonomics

The Nokia 2 is a small smartphone that is comfortable to use and pleasing to the eye, albeit with a design that does not scream “premium”. However, it is certainly a surprise to discover that even on the lower end the frame of this smartphone is made out of metal. The back panel is instead made out of plastic and can be removed. The physical keys on the right side have a nice click and are easily reached. Perhaps the phone is a little heavier than we would have expected (161 grams), but this is due to the big battery. The smartphone is also IP52 certified, meaning it’s splash resistant.

Hardware

We have a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 212 processor paired to an Adreno 304 GPU. We then have only 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory. The internal memory will fill up very quickly, but luckily you can use a microSD card to expand it (and you can also set it as the main one). It is also good news that this memory slot is not shared with that of the secondary NanoSim since it is a dual SIM smartphone. As far as connectivity is concerned we find a b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 and FM radio. The features that are missing are the NFC chip, a fingerprint reader and even the classic notification LED. The latter is a big miss considering that Active Display is not present either. The speaker is positioned on the back and has a slight undertone quality but a fairly good volume.

Cameras

The Nokia 2 has an 8-megapixel camera equipped with flash LED. Photo quality is barely decent, although in line with other low budget products. HD videos are also barely decent. There is also a 5-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus.

Display

The Nokia 2 is equipped with a 5-inch display with HD resolution (1280×720 pixels). The resolution is more than adequate and outdoor readability is discreet. The display is protected thanks to the Gorilla Glass 3 technology that also has a great oleophobic coating.

Software

The Nokia 2 comes with a semi-stock operating system based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and does not offer any special additional functions except a couple of gestures. Overall, it performs its tasks smoothly, although under workload it can become unresponsive. 2GB of RAM would certainly solve many of these slowdowns. The upgrade to Android 8.1 Oreo, with its specific optimizations for low-end hardware, will fix some of these problems.

Battery life

The Nokia 2 is equipped with a 4100mAh battery that gives it a far above average autonomy. It is possible to reach two full days with a single charge and, with moderate use, even a third one.

Final Verdict

The Nokia 2 is an inexpensive smartphone that obviously can not offer exciting performance, but still does not disappoint and offers an overall positive user experience.