Design
Nokia G21 uses a slightly curved back panel and sides, plus a grooved stripe finish for its back panel with a bit of branding. It’s a clean design that allows the phone to look a bit more than its price. You get a USB-C port, and a headphone jack, to the delight of wired headphone users, like me.
A feature that you’ll find in a lot of phones these today, this uses a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which also functions as the power button. There’s also a dedicated button to launch the Google Assistant.
The device’s 6.5-inch 20:9 HD+ display has a 90Hz refresh rate. Visibility in direct sunlight is decent, and the screen is satisfactory for media consumption.
Performance
Nokia G21 is powered by a Unisoc T606 processor along with 6GB of RAM. While it’s not the best choice for the price, you still get decent performance for typical day-to-day tasks. There’s also 128GB of storage which personally, should be ample, though those with a huge library of files may need to look elsewhere.
The phone works well for gaming too, depending on what you play. Something like Mobile Legends should not pose any issues, but you may not get a great experience with more resource-intensive titles.
Camera
With ample lighting, the triple camera system on the Nokia G21 does pretty well for its price. It has a 50MP main shooter, along with two auxiliary sensors for depth sensing and macro photography. Quality-wise, you get plenty of detail and decent dynamic range. Depth of field effect also looks convincing.
Software
Nokia is known for a clean almost-stock approach to Android, and it’s the same here. Almost no extra apps apart from Google apps. The brand also promises 3 years of security updates, which is an icing to the cake. At the time of writing though, the device still runs Android 11.
Battery
Nokia G21 houses a 5,050mAh battery, and supports up to 18W fast-charging. In theory, this should get at least a day of light to moderate use, but again, your mileage may vary depending on a number of factors, such as which apps you use.
Verdict
If you disregard its price (PHP 9,940 here at the time of writing), the Nokia G21 is a decent package – Good design, decent performance, good optics, almost stock Android, and great battery life. The only thing that’s holding it back from an absolute recommendation, is the processing package. They could’ve really made a better choice there.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
