Nokia G21 review 2024: affordable smartphone

The Nokia G21 is a cheap 4G Android phone that could make a lot of sense if you want to buy SIM-free and put an end to your exorbitant monthly cell cost. We’re open to any Android phone, but the Nokia G21 doesn’t quite cut it. The display lacks the excitement of competing headsets.

It’s something you’ll probably notice whenever you use your phone outside. The colors on the screen are a little washed out, which might not bother you if you’re into a low-key vibe. The Nokia G21 isn’t 5G compatible since it uses a peculiar Unisoc CPU. This phone’s speaker isn’t very loud and has a very weak sound, thus it’s not great for playing loud games.

Nokia G21 Specifications

Nokia G21: Design

You can’t mistake a cheap phone like the Nokia G21 for a high-end one, but Nokia’s entry-level designs are honest in a way that’s nice to see. The back of the Nokia G21 is made of ridged plastic that doesn’t try to look like glass or metal from far away. It doesn’t have a layer that reacts to light, so it looks pretty normal. And the roughness on the back makes it easier to hold on to. Nokia chose a round camera cover for the device before this one. The Nokia G21 has a less eye-catching rounded square in one corner of the phone. You can buy this phone from its official website

Nokia G21: Display

The Nokia G21 is the lowest price of any phone with a 90Hz display that I’ve tested and evaluated. There has been a gradual increase in the number of high refresh rates screens coming from higher-end manufacturers recently, but you won’t find anything with a rate higher than 60 Hz for less than this.

Nokia G21: Cameras

The camera setup on the G21 may say more about its “monkey paw” style than anything else. It has a big 50Mp wide lens and a macro camera, but its predecessor, the G20, had an ultrawide camera. We bet that a lot of people would rather have an ultrawide than the macro used here, but the results are a bit mixed.

AI photography is something that Nokia is proud of (it’s even on the box), and it does have its uses. In Night Mode, for example, the same shot looks a lot clearer. Even in daylight, though, the images still don’t have enough clarity or color, and the colors are too muted and feel bland. There is a portrait mode, but the natural bokeh effect doesn’t seem important because the colors in the center are so dull.

Performance and Battery Life

In this situation, we don’t know anything about how well the Unisoc chip in the G21 works. It has an eight-core processor made with 12nm technology, which is a fairly current process. It also comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage by default, so it has the same resources as MediaTek and Snapdragon phones.

So far, everything about the G21 has been bad, so it’s nice to hear about one thing that has gone well: the battery life. Because it has a 5050mAh battery, a low-resolution screen, and a chip that doesn’t use much power, I often found that with light use, the G21 could last for a third day without too much trouble.

This is with the huge caveat that light use is all that can be done because there isn’t enough power. Even if you only use your smartphone every once in a while, this is a device that will keep going and going. This could be especially useful for people who move a lot.

Price and availability

In February of 2022, Nokia released the Nokia G21 with the even more affordable Nokia G11. While both devices are comparable, the second one’s camera is subpar. You should think about getting one if you only need a simple phone. The G21 costs $149.99 (about $299 Australian), which is close to $200. The product can be purchased from Nokia’s online store, but unfortunately it is not yet accessible in the United States.

Final Words

However, the Nokia G21’s cameras aren’t enough to make up for the device’s many shortcomings. The Nokia G21 has a decent look and a clean Android installation, which are both advantages, but its underwhelming performance and short battery life keep it from standing out from the pack.

Nokia G21 review: The good and The bad

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