The Nokia 7.2 is the latest in the 7 series by HMD. In true Nokia fashion, it boasts of solid build quality, and as part of the Android One program, Nokia will be providing Android updates consistently as well. But the 7.2 is more than just another Nokia phone — its camera tells a different story.

Beautiful Nordic design with all the essentials

When you talk about Nokia, you think build quality and the Nokia 7.2 really does feel like a solid phone. There’s Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and back held together by a polymer composite frame, which Nokia says is twice as strong as polycarbonate and half the weight of aluminum. The phone is massive but still very comfortable to hold because of its rounded edges.

The Nokia 7.2 comes with a matte, frosted glass back in either Cyan Green or Charcoal. Both variants look elegant and the Cyan Green model that we have gives off that signature Nordic look expected of a Nokia.

At the back you’ll see a circular arrangement for the camera module with the ZEISS branding proudly shown off. Some people say this reminds them of recent Moto phones but this design language actually first popped up in Nokia’s Lumia line back in the day — first with the iconic Nokia Lumia 1020 PureView, and then a few more phones after that.

Button and port placements are located where they usually are. The power button on the right side also doubles as the notification LED light.

There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top.

A tray for dual nano SIM cards and microSD card on the left. Below that you’ll find the Google Assistant button. There’s no way to officially remap it to something potentially more useful but if you’re a big Google Assistant fan then there’s a dedicated button just for that.

At the bottom, you also get a USB-C port. No compromises here.

Dated internals, no problem

The Nokia 7.2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, which is a little bit dated, it’s almost 2 years old and is the same one found in its predecessor, the Nokia 7 plus.

Nokia is not the only brand to use older, more reliable processors for many of their smartphones. Xiaomi was (in)famous for using the Snapdragon 625 for nearly three years.

A lot of people have criticized Nokia online for choosing the older Snapdragon 660 instead of something newer like the Snapdragon 675. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot of reasons companies do this, one of them is to ensure better tuned software that makes the best use out of that processor. Another is to get consistent software updates faster because they just have to adapt for a fewer number of processors.

Other brands like to market their phones as “super powerful” because they need the extra power in those processors to pull off their clunky Android AOSP skins on top of everything else. There also isn’t really that much of a dramatic difference between Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 675.

On top of this, the Nokia 7.2 runs Android One. There’s no clunky skin on top, so that processor has more space to work with, theoretically speaking.

In everyday operations I faced no slowdowns or lag at all on the Nokia 7.2, except for the camera. Everything else was quick and as smooth as you’d expect on a phone in this price range. You can still play PUBG Mobile just fine, but I’d stick to medium settings.

The phone comes with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM, with either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage respectively. There’s the microSD card slot incase you want additional storage.

The Nokia 7.2 runs Android 9 Pie out of the box, but since this is an Android One Phone, it should be getting Android 10 anytime soon.

Everything from the clock to the notification dropdown are all stock Android and the interface is bloat-free. It’s your usual standard Android homescreen with a swipe-up multi-tasking menu and app drawer. There’s multi-window support, and Google’s default apps for gallery and music, a file manager, and Google calendar, and even the FM radio app.

Nokia promises two major OS updates (so that’s Android 10 which should be coming soon, and Android 11 whenever that pops up next year), and an extra third year of monthly patches for the phone for a total 3 years of software support. This is huge compared to how most Android smartphone companies abandon their non-flagship smartphones after a year or so.

Clunky but really good cameras

The triple camera setup at the back is the most important feature of the Nokia 7.2. It has the 48MP Quad Bayer sensor, which Nokia calls Quad Pixel, behind an f/1.8 aperture lens. Along with that there’s an 8MP 118-degree ultra wide-angle, and 5MP depth sensor, while at the front there’s a 20 megapixel selfie camera.

All four cameras have Zeiss optics. There’s prominent branding sitting in the middle of the camera lenses to remind you of it. There’s even bokeh modes inside the camera app that have the German optics brand’s name used — ZEISS Modern, ZEISS Swirl and ZEISS Smooth. These are for the bokeh modes that offer a DSLR-like portrait experience, which blurs not only the background but also the foreground. It also works at night and even if you have HDR enabled.

The ZEISS Bokeh styles look really unique and stylish and the Nokia 7.2 does a good job of separation between the subject and surroundings. You can change bokeh modes after taking the photo, so you can decide later what looks better.

The rear camera’s quality overall is really good, but the ultra-wide camera tends to lose details in low light situations.

You can opt to use the night mode in low light conditions. The phone can automatically detect if its handheld or on a tripod. It combines about 8-10 exposures in handheld, and up to 20 if on a tripod, to deliver better detail and HDR. This helps with noise reduction and dynamic range and it works with the ultra-wide angle camera too.

The selfie camera on the Nokia 7.2 also does a great job. I really loved the selfies I took with this phone.

Here are more sample photos.

Average battery life

Nokia proudly proclaims that you’ll get two days out of the 3500 mAh battery of the Nokia 7.2 and that’s mostly true. It’s not the largest that you’ll see in a phone this size but it’s much larger than the 3060mAh used in the Nokia 7.1.

With light to medium usage you’ll definitely get home every day with some solid amount of battery life percentage to spare. Even if you’re at the office and about to head out to meet friends on a sudden evening plan, you’ll feel confident knowing that the Nokia 7.2 will still last you throughout the evening.

But on moderate to heavy usage, you’ll definitely have to charge it up every night or risk it running out of battery early the next day.

Of course, if you’re going to be doing a lot of gaming or video-watching, you will see battery life go down faster than usual.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

With its new range of Nokia smartphones, HMD is really banking on build quality, and consistent software updates to compete against the razzle dazzle of its Chinese competitors. Nokia is also hoping to stand out in this very aggressive price range with the 7.2’s Zeiss-branded triple cameras. But are build quality and camera enough?

The honest answer is — it depends on the market you’re buying this phone in. If you’re considering the Nokia 7.2 on the American continent or Europe at EUR 249, go out and get it right now. It’s a great phone, and that camera is worth it. The only thing that comes close is the more expensive Pixel 3A.

In India and the rest of Asia, however, the Nokia 7.2 has a some very aggressive competition to deal with at almost exactly the same price range.

There’s the Realme XT which is a better phone in almost every way, except for camera quality. There’s also the Realme X — an all-screen phone with a pop-up selfie camera.

At the end of the day though, the Nokia 7.2 stands out in a sea of value for money midrange Chinese smartphones because of software support. They have a proven track record of keeping their phones updated and secure. If this is important to you, it’s a no-brainer.

Starting at INR 18,599 in India, and PhP 15,990 in the Philippines, the camera on the Nokia 7.2 is one of the best in its price range and the build quality is solid. If these all check the right boxes on your list, the Nokia 7.2 might just keep you happy for a very long time, and help you create some great memories along the way.

Continuing the legacy, Apple announced the iPhone 11 series in September and response has been widely positive. The phones pack the latest A13 Bionic chipset, exponentially improved cameras, and best-in-class display.

However, Apple’s secret weapon is a generation old iPhone that is often perceived to be low-cost. In developing regions like India, the latest offerings are extremely expensive and amid a global slowdown, demand has remained unchanged.

Apple’s secret weapon is the iPhone XR and its recently announced price-cut. The phone is now available for INR 44,990 (US$ 635), down from its launch price of INR 76,900 (US$ 1,100). And, even though it’s one-year-old, the specifications are still class-leading with an A12 processor, kick-ass single-lens camera, and smooth iOS experience.

Apple’s market share has taken a massive beating in the country due to increasing competition from OnePlus and Samsung. Being a very price-sensitive market, the iPhone XR has been selling like hotcakes since the official drop. In fact, further discounts were also available during festive sales and the device was out-of-stock in no time.

Apple is doubling down on India and has been slowly ramping up local production to avoid import duty as high as 20 percent. Older models like the iPhone 7 and iPhone X are already being sourced locally and the brand has now started with the iPhone XR.

Multiple sources confirmed to IANS that production of the iPhone XR is up and running at Apple supplier Foxconn’s facility in Sriperumbudur, Chennai.

For years, Apple has been accused of ignoring the Indian market, but multiple developments this year have confirmed that the brand is indeed serious about establishing itself. After almost a decade of trying, the brand finally got approval to directly sell products in India and not rely on third-party vendors that are termed “Authorised Resellers”.

There have also been reports about an iPhone SE 2 launching in the first quarter of 2020 and if this materializes, India will be a primary market for the low-cost iPhone.

OPPO just announced at a Qualcomm 5G Summit 2019 in Barcelona that they will be launching a Qualcomm-powered dual-mode 5G smartphone at the end of 2019.

OPPO’s 5G Chief Henry Tang made the announcement saying, “The unrelenting efforts from OPPO and other industry peers have paved the way for the rapid adoption of 5G, with users in select countries and regions already becoming early adopters of OPPO’s 5G smartphones.”

The announcement was preceded by Singapore’s plan to roll out 5G mobile networks in 2020. The plan indicates there will be 5G coverage for at least half of Singapore by the end of 2022.

Tang said OPPO is now actively working with more than a dozen global operators to accelerate the commercialization of 5G worldwide. Moving forward, OPPO will consistently introduce more 5G products to its global markets.

SEE ALSO: The new online generation: Explaining 5G internet