When the iPhone was announced in 2007, it changed the way we interact with phones. Suddenly we were typing and tapping on screens. Since then there have been improvements in the camera department and some useful features have come in but smartphones look pretty much like the smartphones of last year or the year before. Will things change a lot in the next year? Nope. In India 5G is still some time away. With the economic squeeze not helping the cause, one company is thinking straight — HMD Global, the home to Nokia phones. It’s a company with a plan... a plan to make phones last.

It recently closed a $230-million dollar investment round, which will help accelerate the company’s 5G mission and expand its presence. Keeping this in the background, we received the Nokia 5.3 review unit. It’s the exact opposite of a splashy phone; it’s for anybody with limited cash to splash. It’s a phone with a few tricks and those tricks are executed well.

Made for the long run

The design is quite simple because at the asking price one can’t expect many frills. Yet, the simple finish assures a couple of things. After a week’s usage there were no scratches on the back of the phone while the front tells a similar story because of the Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

The 6.55-inch HD+ display make images appear sharp. There is good contrast level and definitely a reasonable degree of brightness. Taking the phone on a spin in the garden, we didn’t face any problem reading or sending messages. The only trick Nokia seems to have missed here is offering that one big feature which Realme or Redmi keeps offering on budget devices, like the 90Hz refresh rate on Realme 6i. Also, the bezels could have been thinner; the chin has enough space to sport the Nokia logo.

HMD makes up for this with two big offerings. The phone comes loaded with stock Android 10, which means enjoying Android like Google wants us to. There is no annoying bloatware or ads popping up. The second big hitter is especially important — two years of Android upgrades and three years of monthly security updates. In other words, when Android 11 arrives, you will have it. When Android 12 (or whatever it’s called) appears, your phone will get the update.

Good night photography

Coming to the camera, there is a quad camera set-up on the back. One gets the feeling that smartphone brands feel that budget phones requires more lenses. It’s unnecessary. On the Nokia 5.3 the set-up comprises 13MP, 5MP ultra-wide angle, 2MP macro and 2MP depth. First the positives. If you get the lighting right, the 13MP shooter will make you a happy person. There is no useless colour saturation and the pictures have good contrast. Moving into ultra-wide mode is also good under sunshine. The camera can be slightly slow under uneven lighting indoors. And the macro camera is like chasing other brands; quite unnecessary. Compensating for the cons is the night mode, which does an amazingly good job in this category. Not only that, the mode can be used for both primary and ultra-wide shooters. Equally good is the depth sensor.

Keeping the show running is Snapdragon 665, which is a good choice. It offers better battery efficiency as well as an updated GPU, allowing improved gaming performance. But compared to Snapdragon 675, this one has slower image processing power. Playing something like Call of Duty was a smooth experience; it’s a good processor for gamers on a budget.

The smartphone has two more features that are enjoyable. One is the notification glow on the power button. Second, if the user swipes down on the rear fingerprint scanner, the notification shade is seen on the screen. A request: Make the Google Assistant button programmable!

Is it for you?

Getting a phone free of gimmicks and a promise to offer two years of Android upgrades is not easy. With most phones in this category, bloatware turns out to be a problem. Despite a few quibbles in the camera department, this phone is a capable offering. The 4,000mAh battery has enough power to last a day and a half if we push the device. It’s an example of a phone that can be recommended to users across categories; it’s for people with reasonable expectations. Nokia 5.3 is a perfectly capable everyday phone.

At a glance

• Device: Nokia 5.3
• Display: 6.55-inch HD+, 20:9 aspect ratio, 450nits
• Camera: Main — 13MP + 5MP + 2MP macro + 2MP depth; front — 8MP
• Storage: 4GB/6GB, 64GB; supports up to 512GB via microSD
• Processor: Snapdragon 665
• OS: Android 10 out of the box
• Upgrades: Two years of Android upgrades and three years of monthly security updates
• Battery: 4,000mAh
• Price: Rs 13,999 (4GB RAM) and Rs 15,499 (6GB RAM); pre-booking is on, sales start on September 1