The Nokia 5.3 Is a Dependable Phone for Under $200

I typically want all of the horsepower afforded by a flagship smartphone, like when I’m doing on-the-scene protection of stay occasions (keep in mind these?). Tweeting, snapping photographs, importing photos from my mirrorless digital camera to my cellphone, taking notes, jotting down questions, and responding to workforce members on Slack concurrently will be taxing—for me, certain, however particularly for the gadget I’m utilizing. The beefy processors and boatloads of RAM in pricier telephones make these fast-paced moments fluid and frustration-free.

But as of late, I’m not doing practically as a lot with my cellphone. I browse Twitter, learn Reddit, take some photographs over the weekend, ship emails and messages, watch reveals earlier than mattress, and perhaps play a cellular sport or two. I do not want apps to open in milliseconds anymore, and I do not want super-fast app switching. Chances are, most individuals do not want these issues both, even on their busiest days. The Nokia 5.3, a sub-$200 Android cellphone, may meet all the efficiency necessities that the majority of us demand from a cellular gadget. 

Cheap telephones are getting better than ever. Since the start of 2020, we have been arguing that you just do not need to spend $1,000 to get a good smartphone. This Nokia is simply one other nice instance of the development. It has some compromises, that are inevitable at its $200 value. But in case your price range cannot budge, that is the perfect bang on your buck.

Ample Power

HMD, the corporate that makes the telephones offered below the Nokia model identify, carefully competes with Motorola within the price range gadget house. Both corporations have a number of choices on the low finish of the Android market. However, HMD’s telephones have some vital strengths that additionally occur to show the most important weaknesses of Motorola’s gadgets.

For instance, Motorola is stingy with software program updates. Its Moto G Fast ($200) will solely get one Android improve—Android 11—in addition to two years of safety updates on a quarterly foundation. HMD, however, guarantees two Android model upgrades and three years of month-to-month safety updates on the Nokia 5.3. That’s partly as a result of it is a smartphone launched below the Android One program, a Google-run initiative that requires producers to stick to sure guidelines about how the on-device software program runs. Nevertheless, prolonged and extra frequent software program help equal a safer cellphone that doubtlessly lasts longer, with fewer bugs and extra new options over time.

Motorola additionally would not embrace an NFC sensor within the G Fast. This sensor permits you to use contactless funds like Google Pay—one thing I’ve been doing extra of because it limits the variety of surfaces I touch. Yet you may discover this NFC sensor current within the Nokia 5.3. It seems like a small factor, however I’ve often discovered myself and not using a pockets, and it is useful having the choice to make use of my cellphone to pay for issues.

Outside of these two factors, the Nokia 5.Three has so much in widespread with its Moto peer. It makes use of the identical Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor with Three gigabytes of RAM, and, equally, efficiency is simply OK. There are moments the place it could actually really feel snappy, and there are occasions when the subpar processor reveals its limitations, like when it takes too lengthy to open apps. But I by no means as soon as encountered a protracted sufficient pause that made me clench my enamel; I rely that as a win.