The Nokia 5.4 smartphone, a competitive price phone with a luxury design and great camera performance, is taking on the titans of the budget smartphone industry. However, the Nokia 5.4 is not as good an idea as it appears, as it is worse in numerous areas than its predecessor, and it is marginally more expensive this time.
Is the Nokia 5.4 enough to persuade people away from popular cheap options like the Realme 7 in such a competitive market? While there are certainly more capable budget choices available, Nokia offers something that the majority of them do not: a stock version of Android with the possibility of an OS upgrade in the future.
In terms of general appearance and feel, the Nokia 5.4 & its predecessor, the Nokia 5.3, may be difficult to distinguish. It has the same modest design as the previous model, with a curved plastic back that shimmers in the light and around the camera housing on the back, but it now comes in two new colors: Polar Night and Dusk.
A fingerprint scanner sits immediately below the centrally-placed camera housing on the back, a USB-C connector for charging and networking is on the bottom, and a 3.5mm headphone jack is also present — just like the Nokia 5.3.
It’s a stylish-looking phone on the surface, especially for the budget market, with the curved back letting the phone sit comfortably in the hand, however, the fully-plastic shell makes it seem cheap — it even creaks a little when you squeeze it.
While there are obvious architectural similarities, the 2 smartphones are not identical in terms of display. The Nokia 5.4 has a smaller screen than its predecessor, with a 19.5:9 IPS LCD panel measuring 6.39in, down from 6.55in, as well as a hole-punch camera replacing the waterdrop notch.
Given our complaints that the Nokia 5.3’s mixture of a large display and HD (720 x 1600) resolution resulted in a noticeably soft-looking display, it’s a smart move for Nokia to try & reduce screen size in an attempt to increase pixel density, but you’d have preferred to see an increase in resolution – especially given that much of the competition sports something close to FHD.
Despite this, the somewhat lower resolution (720 x 1560) implies the pixel density is nearly comparable to that of its predecessor, implying that the same issues exist. Text isn’t as sharp as it could have been, photos are mushy, and the same thing happens when watching a video.
The display also is limited to 60Hz, whereas the Realme 7 has a higher 90hz display for a more fluid mobile experience. The brightness is its saving grace; with a full brightness of 461cd/m2, it isn’t the worst smartphone to be used in direct sunshine.
And there has been a noticeable degradation in several aspects of the Nokia 5.4, the photography section has experienced an update. On the back of the phone, there’s a 64-megapixel main camera, up from 13-megapixels in last year’s model, flanked by a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel macro, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor, all of which are identical to last year’s model.
Images captured with the main 64Mp camera are well-lit and crisp, with reasonably accurate color reproduction thanks to the pixel-binning technology used, and low-light performance is good because of the f/1.8 aperture and a special night mode. Of course, it won’t be capable of competing with flagship cameras, but the photos taken by the main camera are likely to amaze you.
The problem is that although last year’s main camera was excellent. It’s the secondary lenses that pulled the experience down overall, as well as the Nokia 5.4 is no different.
Even in ideal lighting circumstances, the 5MP ultra-wide camera can’t quite match the colors created by the main snapper. In reality, the colors in some images were drastically different from those captured by the main sensor, often seeming overly vivid or faded out. Aside from camera adjustment, photos in well-lit circumstances have decent quality. Albeit images grow softer and coarser when light levels decrease.
The 2MP macro lens was most likely included as an afterthought to boost the camera count & make the Nokia 5.4 appear more appealing on paper – a practice utilized among most budget phone manufacturers – as well as the hit-or-miss performance, reflects this. Apart from being a unique lens that you’ll probably use once or twice, it has trouble focusing.
The phone’s selfie camera has been improved to 16 megapixels, up from 8 megapixels in last year’s edition. It’s great for selfies and video chats, and the built-in portrait mode improves photographs by automatically blurring the background with good edge detection.
The rear cameras can record in 4K@30fps, however, the front cameras can only record in 1080p@30fps.
Surprisingly, the Nokia 5.4 appears to be a performance reduction when compared to the Nokia 5.3 from last year — at least on paper.
While the Nokia 5.3 had Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665, the Nokia 5.4 now has the Snapdragon 662. As well as 4GB of RAM & 64GB of storage, depending on the model. There is a model with higher storage and RAM, with a 6GB/128GB combination. But it does not appear to be heading to the UK.
Day-to-day performance is fine, the apps open swiftly and with no apparent lag. The Adreno 610 GPU is capable of light gaming. But don’t expect AAA titles to operate at 60 frames per second with high-resolution textures. This is apparent in the benchmarks. Where the Nokia 5.4’s performance is comparable to other low-cost options like the Xiaomi Redmi 9.
Of course, with Snapdragon 662, it’s not quite as fast as last year’s Nokia 5.3 in terms of processing power – though it’s not far behind. Whether or not this is a dealbreaker will mostly depend on what you want to do on your smartphone. But it’s disheartening to see in 2021 when the cheap market is so competitive.
In terms of connectivity, you’ll receive Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, 4G, a USB-C connector, and a 3.5mm headphone socket. You’ll get slower Wi-Fi, with compatibility for Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, as opposed to the Nokia 5.3’s quicker 802.11 b/g/n/ac. That means it can’t connect to dual-band Wi-Fi, resulting in worse Wi-Fi performance while downloading apps & streaming when contrasted to similarly priced competitors.
While it’s difficult to overlook the fact that there are affordable smartphones that outperform. The Nokia 5.4 in terms of specs, Nokia stands out by providing stock Android 10 out of the box. That’s a welcome break from the likes of Realme & Xiaomi. Each has its own take on Android and usually arrives with a slew of bloatware pre-installed.
The Nokia 5.4 smartphone is part of the Android One family. That means it will receive monthly security upgrades for three years. There will be an upgrade to Android 11 and possibly Android 12. At some point in the future.
That’s astonishing for any Android phone, much less even one that costs so little.
A 4000mAh battery keeps the Nokia 5.4 smartphone running. In a better-specced phone, this wouldn’t be cause for celebration, but given the phone’s small 720p display and underpowered processor, it’s not a bad provision.
It will easily last that day of moderate use and well into the second. That figure will drop to a day for power users, but then again, this isn’t a smartphone for power users. Video and gaming content is not well served by its screen and processor.
Still, if you’re looking for a phone with a lot of battery life at a low price. The Moto G9 Power including its 6000 mAh battery is a far better option. The Nokia 5.4′ smartphone’s numbers are nowhere near those of this competitor’s inexpensive phone.
With the Nokia, You discovered that an hour on Netflix streaming at 50% brightness depleted 12 percent of the battery. With screen brightness set to 100 percent, the Moto G9 Power lost only 7% of its power.
The box includes a small 10W charger, which brought it from 50% to 54 percent in 15 min and up to 57 percent in 30 minutes. That’s not very quick, especially when phones like the Poco X3 Pro. As well as the Realme 7 has far faster 30W+ chargers.
While the Nokia 5.4 smartphone costs £159.99 in the UK, it’s worth noting that, despite the smaller display, additional thickness, and slightly less powerful processor. It was £10 more expensive than the Nokia 5.3 last year, making this a tough sell. Especially when compared to the 90Hz-enabled Realme 7. Of the kind that you can get for as little as £149.99 right now.
It costs $249.99 in the United States, but with much fewer competitors in the budget market. It may be a more appealing option.
You receive the benefits of Android One, as well as the stock Android 10 is unrivaled by the likes of Realme and Xiaomi, so if that’s a deal-breaker. The Nokia 5.4 smartphone is available through Amazon in the UK & Nokia in the US.
In comparison to its predecessor, excepting the budget market. The Nokia 5.4 is a bit of a hit-or-miss proposition. With phones like the Realme 7 and Xiaomi Redmi 9 offering equal levels of performance with much better displays and, perhaps, a better overall look and feel.
Even at £159.99/$249.99, the Nokia 5.4’s combination of a smaller display, and HD (720 x 1560) resolution. But Snapdragon 662 processor – down from the 665 last year – makes it a tough sell.
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