Nokia 5.4 features a subtle design.
Nokia 5.4 was recently launched in India. In recent times, the companies are aiming for bigger and better and letting their budget segment users rot with older technology. With the 5.4, Nokia s to satisfy the ever-growing needs of budget smartphone shoppers.
The Nokia 5.4 comes with a massive 4,000mAh battery along with a 6.39-inch display with great performance for the budget. So should you pick one up? Let’s find out in this review.
Nokia 5.4 Review: Specifications
Nokia 5.4 sports a 6.39-inch IPS LCD display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor paired with 4/6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The storage is further expandable using a microSD card slot. It runs on Android 10 with an stock UI out of the box. All of this is backed by a 4,000mAh battery.
On the optics front, the Nokia 5.4 features a quad rear camera setup including a 48-megapixel primary camera, 5-megapixel ultrawide sensor, a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. Upfront, there is a 16-megapixel selfie snapper.
Nokia 5.4 Review: Design and Display
Nokia 5.4 brings a pretty design to the table. The smartphone carries the company's design language with the Nokia branding on the chin bezel . The rear has the camera lens on the top centre in a circular camera bezel which looks nice. The rest of the body is plastic with a subtle design.
It sports a 720p HD display.
On the front, the Nokia 5.4 sports a 6.39-inch IPS LCD panel with a punch-hole display. It has thin bezels offering a great experience apart from a really fat chin with Nokia branding which is a design trait used by the company in all its phones. The punch hole display brings a modern edge to a smartphone in this price range.
As for the placements, Nokia 5.4 sports a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge. The charging port is surrounded by the speaker grille and the primary microphone. The right edge houses the power button and volume buttons. On the left edge, there is a SIM tray that can accept two SIM cards and a dedicated microSD card along with a dedicated google assistant button. This button is not remappable which is a lost opportunity. The top edge of the phone is mostly left clean with the exception of the secondary microphone and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Coming back to the display, it is a 6.39-inch IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 720x1560 pixels. Honestly, it is a 720p display, and a 1080p display would be a much better addition for this price range. Overall, the display gets bright enough that you can manage to read in direct sunlight and the viewing angles are good enough for day to day usage. The display offers adequate colour accuracy. Honestly, a 720p at this price range is quite a disappointment. However, if you don’t consume much media content on your phone, it may not be an issue.
Nokia 5.4 Review: Performance, Software and UI
Nokia 5.4 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor paired with 4/6GB of RAM. Our review unit came with 4GB of RAM along with 64GB of storage. With the phone being priced around Rs. 15,000. The processor is good enough for the price point. However, I feel the app loading times could have been faster. Nokia can fix this with a quick OTA update.
There is a punch-hole design with a selfie shooter upfront.
I also tried playing Call of Duty Mobile and it ran just fine with minute lag and heavy heating of the device. You can play heavy games on the smartphone, but it's not recommended due to its heating issues. In day to day usage, for the price you pay, the performance is a bit less. It may be due to poor power optimization or only 4GB of ram on our review unit.
The Nokia 5.4 runs on Android 10 stock UI. Software is one area that is hard not to appraise on Nokia Phones. The Stock Android 10 with just Google Apps and a support app from HMD Global provides one of the cleanest experiences out there. Android 11 update is expected to roll out soon. On top of that, the company has promised guaranteed Android updates up to two years and security patches up to three years. One complaint I had was the company could add the ability to remap the Google Assistant button. Right now it can only be disabled to have a dead button on the phone. Ability to remap it would open so many possibilities.
Nokia 5.4 Review: Cameras
Nokia 5.4 sports a quad-camera setup at the back. The setup comprises a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 5-megapixel wide-angle sensor, a 2-megapixel depth sensor and a 2-megapixel macro-sensor. The smartphone also gets Pro Mode and Cinema mode.
It sports a quad-camera setup at the back.
During our tests, the Nokia 5.4 managed to click some decent shots under good lighting. The 48-megapixel sensor takes 12-megapixel binned shots by default. It struggles to adjust to close up shots and the colours are a bit warm most of the time. In grainy images. The ultrawide sensor is only 5-megapixel and hence doesn't provide great quality photos. The 2-megapixel macro sensor produces unusable images.
The main feature of the camera is its Cinematic mode along with the ability to record H-Log video. While shooting in Cinematic mode, we are locked in at 21:9 aspect ratio and 24fps. You can manually adjust white balance, exposure, focus and ISO before or during the shoot. Also, it has a flat colour profile so that you can adjust it later in a video editing software of your liking. The other main feature is the OZO spatial audio which worked pretty well too.
These features are not offered in stock camera apps, and not especially at this price range. However, this is a niche feature that I don’t think many users will ever care enough to use.
The selfies are good, nothing special but nothing bad. The 16-megapixel sensor is able to capture adequate shots in low light as well as on bright sunny days.
Nokia 5.4 Review: Battery
The battery segment is where the Nokia 5.4 should outshine its competition. The handset comes with a 4,000mAh battery. During my time with the device, light to medium usage got me a little less than two days of usage. Even with heavy usage, the phone lasted a day. However, while watching the 720p video, the battery drops heavily. Also, the battery numbers are not impressive considering it's just a 720p panel.
With the battery being so huge, the charging speeds take a hit. The smartphone comes with a 10W standard charger in the box. With the included charger it takes more than two hours to charge the phone completely.
Nokia 5.4 Review: Verdict
The chin holds the Nokia branding.
Nokia 5.4 starts at Rs 13,999 for the 4GB RAM variant while the 6GB RAM variant comes in at Rs 15,499. For that price, you get a decent display, an average camera setup and good performance. The H-Log video support along with OZO spatial audio is a unique feature and act as an added bonus for the buyer. The phone looks great and is durable, but the plastic frame and back make it feel a little cheap in hand.
Another great thing about this phone is the stock Android experience along with the guaranteed software updates. Overall, The Nokia 5.4 is a decent package and you can definitely consider it as your next smartphone.
