Nokia 5.3 test: $ 199 can really buy a great smartphone
"The Nokia 5.3 offers everyday performance and future-proof software at an affordable price."
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Two days of battery life
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Large screen size
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Two years of software updates
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NFC for Google Pay
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Camera disappointed
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The screen lacks brightness
High-performance smartphones that cost $ 400 can do everything that many people expect from a cell phone, but what about phones that cost half as much? The Nokia 5.3 from HMD Global only costs $ 199 or £ 149. After a week on the phone, however, I can safely say that you won't cut the quality and performance of a more expensive model in half – in most regions. at least.
The Nokia 5.3 will surprise you with its functions, its software and its general capabilities as an everyday smartphone. No, the camera and screen aren't the best models, but you shouldn't expect them to be. If you buy the Nokia 5.3 and know what it can and can't do, you get one of the best smartphone values I've seen in a while.
design
The back of the Nokia 5.3 is made of a plastic composite that is easy to grip but has no pleasant texture. It also has some flex and curves around the side to hit the plastic frame, which then leads into the 6.55-inch screen. The phone is 8.5 mm thick and weighs only 185 grams. It feels good in the hand but is wide, so owners with small hands may find it uncomfortable.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
In addition to the volume rocker and the SIM compartment, there are two other buttons on the housing of the Nokia 5.3. The power switch is an obvious necessity and is located under the volume rocker. A notification light is built in that is bright and eye-catching. It pulsates when there are messages waiting for you on the phone. This is useful when there is no screen and the positioning is unusual and noticeable.
The second button feels superfluous. It's on the opposite side and calls Google Assistant. I often accidentally pressed it when I picked up the phone or juggled with one hand. This is annoying, because unlocking the phone adds several extra steps, or taking extra seconds to cancel at other times. There's a way to turn the button off, but there's no way to reconfigure it for something more useful. Nokia has added a 3.5mm headphone jack and a single speaker at the bottom. It has a lot of volume but no bass, which results in a hard and thin sound.
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On the back is a quad sensor camera module that protrudes very easily from the body and is attached over a fingerprint sensor. The design is no different from many other phones in recent years, including the OnePlus 7T and the Poco F2 Pro, and is harmlessly attractive.
This phone doesn't look like it will cost $ 199, and that's the big advantage here. You don't get an ugly phone that screams "cheap" when you take off or look at it, but a reserved and balanced design. I suggest that you buy the Nokia 5.3 in either cyan or sand instead of the boring charcoal color of my test model to make the phone more attractive.
screen
The 6.5-inch IPS LCD screen on the front shows where money was saved. The resolution is 1,600 x 720 pixels, which means that YouTube videos are played with a maximum of 720p. While this is perfectly acceptable for a phone at this price, I have found that it suffers from a lack of brightness. I had to crank up the brightness most of the time, and even then it is difficult to see in bright sunlight. The automatic brightness function is also annoyingly random and rarely settles on a single level before fluctuating again and never at the right point.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
With the selfie camera at the top of the screen there is a drop notch and at the bottom a small chin bezel with Nokia logo. Assuming the maximum brightness and the intrusive night light function that reduces the blue light (it affects the colors too much, especially when scrolling), the screen is suitable for everyday use. Just don't expect it to be a media powerhouse.
However, you can expect it to be satisfactory. The low resolution means that details are missing, but I found the screen to have a very cool color palette by default. It cries out for more brightness, and some videos may lack life and vibrancy. However, this is not the real aim of the phone, and the Nokia 5.3 works well for casual viewing. I also like that the screen is huge, so you don't feel that the low price has led to other visual compromises outside of resolution.
camera
Even phones that cost $ 199 now have four lens camera sensors, but they shouldn't. The main camera of the Nokia 5.3 has 13 megapixels and an aperture of 1: 1.8. There is also a 5-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a 2-megapixel macro lens. The selfie camera in the teardrop notch has 8 megapixels.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
It's functional, but not inspiring. As with the screen, expectations have to be mitigated because it is inconsistent and rarely took a photo that I want to share without editing. Neither the wide-angle nor the standard lenses provide the right lighting every time, either over- or underexposed, and the dynamic range also varies greatly between the two. Macro shots are as overwhelming as you would expect from a 2 megapixel sensor.
There is a night mode, but the shots are only slightly better than those without, and also a portrait mode. Edge detection is decent, but you have to wait for the camera to process the shots. When you switch to the selfie camera, the results often look washed out in bright conditions. However, the results are acceptable indoors.
If you combine all of this with slow software, the Nokia 5.3's camera is a letdown. This is a cheap phone and it will never take the best in terms of the camera, but there should still be a standard that needs to be maintained. Fast software and constant performance are required at all costs. I would rather have a camera with a lens that takes good photos than a camera with four lenses that takes mediocre photos.
Software and performance
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor with 3 GB, 4 GB or 6 GB RAM supplies the Nokia 5.3 with power. My rating phone is 4 GB and can handle tasks like social networking apps, messaging and calls with ease. If you do something more intense, including using YouTube, speed can suffer. Switching from landscape to portrait mode takes a few seconds, for example, and quitting performance-hungry game apps leads to a longer pause while the phone sorts itself out.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The benchmark tests are as follows:
Geekbench 5: 308 single core / 1312 multi core
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 1129 (volcano)
It's the same chip used in the Motorola Moto G8, Moto G Fast, and G Power, and the results are similar. Do you think you cannot play on Nokia 5.3? Think again No, it's not a ROG Phone 2, but I played Asphalt 9 Legends happily enough. Sure, it's not the smoothest experience, but it never develops into a situation that makes it unplayable. 1945 and playing Hill Climb Racer was fine too.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The Nokia 5.3 is an Android One phone. This means that the software is similar to Google Pixel phones, with no special user interface, additional apps, or other changes to Google's basic Android style. Android One also ensures regular and timely software updates. The phone receives Android 11 when it arrives and will be updated for the next two years in total. This is a serious selling point and ensures that your cheap smartphone purchase will not be out of date in the near future.
Aside from a few performance stutters, it runs very smoothly, and I think it's good that it has a dark mode and also comes with NFC for Google Pay. Again, this is another big advantage since some competing devices don't have this feature at all.
Battery and security
The 4,000 mAh battery in combination with the low resolution screen and the mid-range processor gave me great hopes for the battery life of the Nokia 5.3. In reality, it was nothing better than most other phones, regardless of the specification. I mostly tested the Nokia at home and therefore connected to Wi-Fi most of the time.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
For me, average usage includes social media, some photos, some video and voice calls, and news and a little bit of games. The Nokia lasted almost two full days, but only if the second day is less intense than the first. Video puts additional strain on the battery. The charging process takes place only via cable, and here too there is no quick charging.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
Security is exactly what you want: a simple but secure fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone and a face unlock, both of which are fast and largely reliable. However, the rear fingerprint sensor didn't work well with wet fingers. It has a handy feature that swipes down to pull down the notification shadow on the screen.
Price, guarantee and availability
The Nokia 5.3 can be purchased in the US for $ 199 from Amazon. In the UK, it costs £ 149 and is available in Nokia's own online shop, Amazon and Argos.
The device is warranted for two years in the United Kingdom, but only for one year in the United States.
Our opinion
When reading this review, you run the risk of believing that the Nokia 5.3 is not worth buying. As with any phone, I've pointed out the drawbacks, but it's important to put them in context. The Nokia 5.3 costs $ 199, it does everything a smartphone could want, and it does some things quite well. You can find much better phones, but at the same time the Nokia 5.3 can easily handle what most people need a phone for.
It's refreshing to see that at $ 199 you buy an attractive, modern smartphone that plays top games, runs all your apps, and has enough power and battery to be a reliable companion for everyday life. Just be prepared for the fact that it doesn't have the excellent photography or display quality that you would expect from a model over $ 700.
Is there a better alternative?
For $ 199? The options are limited. Take a look at the Motorola Moto G Power for $ 249 or the Motorola Moto G Fast for $ 199 if you want similar alternatives. However, to really buy a better phone, you have to spend a lot more. We recommend the Apple iPhone SE for $ 399, the Poco F2 Pro for $ 500, or the OnePlus 8 for $ 600. Google has set the Pixel 3a. However, if you find another one, it is a solid buy.
How long it will take?
The Nokia 5.3 is not waterproof, but the composite back is scratch-resistant. Thanks to the Android One platform, HMD Global also promises software updates for the next two years. This is a significant advantage over the Motorola alternatives. Provided you don't expect your own phone to change use, Nokia 5.3 easily holds the entire two-year guaranteed software update period.
Should you buy it
Yes. Don't let the negatives catch you and instead rejoice that you can buy a powerful everyday smartphone for $ 199.
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