Nokia 5 3GB RAM

The Nokia 5 has two main factors working in its favour – the pure interface with timely Android security and system updates, and the build quality which is one of the best in its price range. Unfortunately, areas like performance and cameras aren't up to the mark when you consider the competition. If a Nokia smartphone is what you've set your heart on though, we suggest opting for the slightly more expensive Nokia 6. 

Nokia smartphones of yore have been commended for their sturdy design, and HMD Global has continued this philosophy with the Nokia Android lineup. The Nokia 5 is possibly one of the best constructed devices you'll see in this price range, with an all metal unibody design, precisely drilled ports and well crafted buttons with good tactile feedback. That said, the design of the phone itself is nothing to write home about. The smartphone features prominent bezels all around the screen. Below the display you'll find two capacitive backlit Android navigation keys, with a slim fingerprint sensor/ home button wedged in between. The fingerprint sensor works well for the most part, but ended up not recognising my fingerprint on more than one occasion. I also noticed a slight delay while unlocking the screen.

The stock Android software is one of the perks of the Nokia 5. Not only does it run Android 7.1.1, but you also get the monthly Android security patches bang on time ­– in some cases even before Google's own Pixel smartphones. The benefit of stock Android is that the phone is entirely free of bloatware, although users who want some of the extras we've come to enjoy from custom ROMs like OxygenOS and MIUI might be left wanting for more. For example, basic stuff like displaying battery percentage isn't enabled by default, and you'll have to enable the System UI tuner (press and hold the settings icon in the drop down menu for 10 seconds) to get this feature.

The Nokia 5 comes equipped with a 13MP rear camera with PDAF, f/2.0 aperture and a dual-LED flash. In the front, it gets an 8MP selfie camera, which surprisingly comes with autofocus – a rarity even on flagship cameras. The camera interface is a barebones affair without any bells and whistles. You get the basics like HDR, Panorama and Beautify, but not much else. In a way, this simplifies the shooting process, but some folks might prefer a richer experience. As far as the image quality goes, the Nokia 5 can take decent images in bright daylight, but indoors and in low-lighting, it struggles. I ended up with a lot of noisy images and blurred shots, so this isn't a device I would consider if a good camera is one of your pre-requisites. Having autofocus on the front camera is a nice touch, but again, you get usable selfies only in bright lighting. Take a look at some of the image samples below to see what I mean.

The Nokia 5 is powered by Qualcomm's budget Snapdragon 430 SoC and Adreno 505 GPU, paired with just 2GB of RAM. By contrast, most of the competition in that price range, including the formidable Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, get the capable Snapdragon 625, which is one of the most reliable SoCs currently available. While the stock Android interface helps to some extent, I found the Nokia 5 to be a bit on the sluggish side in daily usage. You'll find delays while opening some apps and multi-tasking, and a bit of lag while gaming as well. This could be a concern if you're a power user, but for the more casual customer, it shouldn't be a deal breaker.