Nokia 5.3 review
Not everyone is interested in owning a top of the range, a smartphone with strong features and a high cost. We are often more interested in a cheap smartphone, but one that can provide a solid experience. But how far can you go in terms of price while maintaining acceptable (or even good) characteristics? Nokia tried to answer this question with a simple but functional phone, which costs around €200. His name is Nokia 5.3 and this below is our review after trying it.
Is it really a $ 200 smartphone?
Let's start by saying that, if you had to guess the price only from the appearance, you would have probably been wrong. Nokia 5.3 indeed has a lot of aesthetics clean e clean, in full accordance with the style of the Finnish house. The four rear cameras are framed in a circle of glass. The display, although flat, has pleasant rounded edges and frames that are all in all reduced.
However, there are several details that can 'betray' the price range of this device, none of which are necessarily negative: the reduced bezels have as an exception the lower edge of the phone, used to show the 'NOKIA' logo. The front camera is then inserted inside a teardrop 'notch', an increasingly less favored choice than the more discreet 'holes in the glass'. At the material level, then, we find a back in polycarbonate (aka plastic) which, as Nokia also claims, is durable, scratchproof e anti-fingerprint, but also a little "premium” to the touch. The weight also contributes to this latter effect extremely reduced, probably always due to the choice of materials.
One component for which the price range is less obvious is it screen. It is a panel LCD da 6.55" with an update rate of 60 Hz and one resolution only HD +. While on paper these are by no means the best features around, most of the time neither the low resolution nor the lower contrast are particularly noticeable, and it is indeed a pleasant display to use and look at.
Nokia 5.3 review: knowing your limits
Under the hood this phone we find a processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, with an integrated GPU Adreno 610 and flanked by 3, 4 o 6 GB of RAM, depending on the version. The chip, although recent, is still more limited than those of the 7 or 8 series. This, combined with the little RAM, makes this phone unsuitable for particularly advanced games, such as Fortnite, and to a pushed multitasking. In the latter scenario, moreover, with many open applications, the fatigue made by the processor becomes evident, with light ones slowdowns and some jerkiness. However, limiting itself to less expensive operations, such as the navigation, Chat, the social and multimedia playback, the experience is much smoother and totally acceptable.
The software mounted on this device certainly contributes to a daily experience without friction. Nokia 5.3 is indeed part of the program Android One, or the partnership between Google and companies like Nokia aimed at putting devices on the market without too many software frills. The operating system is therefore as close to the “Google” Android as possible, and operating system updates are also guaranteed for at least 2 years. At the moment, for example, the smartphone is equipped with Android 10, but it will soon be updated to Android 11, and next year will see Android 12 arrive.
Long-lasting battery, but unsatisfactory charging
Returning to the hardware, there are three departments to consider for this device: autonomy, audio and cameras. The first is definitely a strong point: thanks to the 4000 mAh, the low-power processor and the dedicated management software, easily surpass the 36 hours of autonomy, reaching almost two days. The recharge is less impressive: if in fact the processor would support the Quick Charge 3.0, which can reach i 36 W, apparently Nokia has limited charging to only 10W. This, combined with the size of the battery, leads to charging times that are not exactly contained.
The audio department itself is quite forgettable: in fact we only find one speaker on the bottom which, especially when the volume is turned up to the maximum, leads to some distortions. The ear capsule, although present, is apparently not contributing to the audio when the phone is rotated, and therefore does not provide an experience stereo. The only detail that saves this department is the presence of the audio jack, whose versatility and usefulness are always unbeatable.
Nokia 5.3 Smartphone with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB Storage (Dual...
- Screen: 6,55 ", 720 x 1600 pixels
- Processor: Snapdragon 665 2GHz
- Camera: Quad, 13MP + 5MP + 2MP + 2MP
A photographic exaggeration
The presence of a multiple photographic sector on a € 200 phone might surprise some, but it is actually a fairly established trend in recent years. Nonetheless, the four cameras Nokia's rears are still an exception, even if they don't necessarily translate into who knows what results. Let's first see the sensors present: we have a main camera from 13MP; a wide angle da 5MP; a room macro da 2MP; a depth sensor always from 2 MP. On the front, finally, we find a sensor from 8 MP, which we immediately dismiss by saying that it allows you to take good selfies, but does not stand out in a particular way compared to the others.
While megapixels aren't everything, the difference in resolution between the main camera and the wide-angle camera is quite noticeable. Nevertheless, the primary sensor returns more than good photos, also thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, and wide-angle photos, although of lower quality, are still acceptable. The depth sensor also does its job, allowing a bokeh effect fairly good for a phone of this range.
Less clear is the usefulness of the macro sensor: any advantage given by the short focal distance is offset by the low resolution of the photos. Its use is also limited to a few instances, such as close-up photos of fiori or food, but the quality is not satisfactory enough to return a "postable" result.
Even the available features are not all at the same level: if the aforementioned bokeh effect and artificial intelligence for scene recognition do their job, the mode is more disappointing. night or the slow motion
A phone that's worth its budget (or nearly so)
As anticipated at the beginning, Nokia 5.3 aims to be a cheap phone but solid in the basic functionality of a smartphone. And for its price, it absolutely succeeds in this goal: the background performance is good, the autonomy is excellent and the photographic department is acceptable. This, combined with the neat appearance and a beautiful display to look at despite some limitations, makes the device a great choice for this price range.
Yet, despite this, some distortions still remain, linked to the compromises made to obtain such a cheap phone. We are not convinced, for example, of the need for a macro sensor (except to increase the number of cameras to boast), when its cost would probably have been better spent in fast charging, in a little more RAM even for the base models or in an audio system stereo. However, it is a subjective choice, and probably each of us, having to "dial" a phone for a certain price, would make different compromises according to their needs.
Nokia 5.3
Pro 
- Careful design
- Pleasant screen to use
- Good main camera
- Long autonomy
- Good basic performance
- Audio jack
- High quality / price
Cons 
- Little performance in multitasking, both for the processor and for the little RAM
- Overall photographic department lacking
- Single speaker
- Slow charging
