The next version of Nokia 5, or the Nokia 5.3, is almost globally available, and the first reviews of this affordable midrange phone are mostly positive. After being declared by the Royal Mail as dangerous goods and withheld for two weeks in the UK, we finally received our own Nokia 5.3 for testing and reviewing purposes.
But, you didn’t have to wait long for a review of this device since while waiting for it, we got a new member of Nokiamob that had a chance to get 5.3 and do a nice video review you can check below.
However, now that we have 5.3, it is polite to do the unboxing of the device, so here it goes. The Nokia 5.3, together with Nokia 1.3, Nokia 5310, and Nokia 8.3, is coming in a slightly redesigned box. The redesigned is applied to the front graphics and better position of the Nokia logo. The box could be of better quality, but the one we got was battered by Royal mail since they thought it was smuggled goods, and in the process of screening the product they lost the official jelly case, so we won’t be testing that one. While the case will make this gorgeous device look uglier, it will preserve its good looks since the phone unwillingly touches the floor in its lifetime at least two times. My Nokia 7.2 looks like a skydiving veteran that had at least two parachute launching problems.
When you open the box you get the phone presented first in a printed foil that is promoting Google assistant and the dedicated hardware button for this service. Below the device, you get the folded cradle with a SIM door key, and below is a basic guide and product and safety info. The box comes with a 10W charger, a USB-a/USB-c cable, and HS-34 basic earphones.
The device we got for a test is aimed at a UK market since it is coming with a 10W UK plug. Again Nokia Mobile is sending the charcoal version, which does look great, but I would like to review sand or cyan versions that are way cooler than charcoal.
We got a TA-1234 DS model with 4GB of RAM and 64 GB of ROM, which is more than generous for the price. The model comes with an SD665 processor, a newer version of SD660, which was built in the Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 7.2. I like the design and build quality of the phone, which I find better than the same price range devices coming from Xiaomi or redmi. The matt finish at the back looks nice, and the borders between the back cover and coated aluminum frame are seamless.
The back of this €189 phone is what will attract most of the buyers, and maybe the cyan and sand color. The phone is a part of Android One family which means you’ll be getting at least two major Android updates and bunch of security patches in the next three years.
Nokia 5.3 comes with a 13 MP main shooter, which is great, while the rest of the cameras are not performing so well, but GCam helps. Here is just a few shots I took yesterday but do consider that the resolution is significantly reduced to conserve the server space. I’ll add some full resolution photos to our flicker account when I finish the review.
Anyway, I’ll be testing the phone in the next 10 days, so if you would like to know some specific things about it, do leave your comment below the text.
Cheers to Nokia Mobile that provided us a review device.