Nokia C21 Plus review

Cheaper telephones are all the fad in fashionable instances, and that’s making the market rather more aggressive. Nokia, as soon as the king of the cellular, is now making a play for the budget-conscious client that doesn’t need their machine to chop too many corners.

The Nokia C21 Plus is nearly that. It affords an enormous display, strong on a regular basis efficiency, and options like a fingerprint scanner and face unlocking for round £100. Whereas there are compromises made to get there, it actually is hard to argue with the £109/€129 price ticket given what’s on provide right here.

Design & Construct

• Giant show with bezels and chin
• Micro-USB port
• Fingerprint scanner on again

Bigger telephones are beginning to homogenise a little bit bit, and Nokia’s newest doesn’t do a terrific deal to step away from the group right here. The C21 Plus affords the just about all-screen entrance that you simply’d count on elsewhere, save for a small chin on the base of the show. 

There are nonetheless bezels, although, and in contrast to one thing just like the Motorola Moto G22, you received’t discover a gap punch digicam – the front-facing snapper is buried within the prime bezel through a tear drop notch.

The highest edge has a 3.5mm headphone jack, whereas the left aspect is naked save for a SIM tray on the highest aspect. On the appropriate, there’s a quantity rocker and a sleep/wake/energy button. There’s a small, round fingerprint scanner on the again panel, too, however for somebody with massive fingers it might be difficult to identify – however there’s facial recognition unlocking, too.

The most important disappointment, although, is the micro-USB port on the backside. It’s been some time since I’ve seen one, in reality, and its non-reversible nature makes plugging the C21 Plus into the included charger a minor trouble that I assumed USB-C had alleviated.

My evaluation unit is the Darkish Cyan variant, however the different possibility is Heat Grey. The matt end does a great job of mitigating fingerprints, however you’re nonetheless certain to select up some smudges.

Display & Audio system

• 6.2in 60Hz LCD
• 720×1200 decision
• Just one speaker

I’ve been important of LCD shows prior to now, notably at this decision, however the low value level right here makes a 720p show really feel a minimum of a little bit simpler to swallow than on some telephones that price extra.

Watching movies on it, both via downloaded Netflix exhibits or streaming via YouTube, was a satisfactory expertise. Which will sound like damning with faint reward, however I’ve examined some telephones the place the decision causes content material to seem devoid of color and element. Sadly, viewing angles aren’t nice, although.

Lloyd Coombes / Foundry

One other challenge, and one thing that’s quite common with telephones of this value bracket, is the dearth of twin audio system. There’s just one right here, primarily based within the backside of the cellphone, that means treble, mid, and bass is all coming via the identical level.

Whereas issues get a little bit tinny as the amount goes up, although, we now have to offer Nokia credit score – whereas bass and treble get pushed into the mids, that mid-range “EQ” impact doesn’t grate an excessive amount of. Once more, it’s a backhanded praise maybe, however typically you’ll discover that audio on telephones of this value will push a lot into mid frequencies that even your favourite music might be ruined.

Specs & Efficiency

• Low benchmarks don’t inform the entire story
• 32GB or 64GB of storage, with microSD assist
• Positively not a cellphone for avid gamers.

If you happen to seemed on the C21 Plus’ specs, you’d little question fear a little bit; 32GB of inner storage isn’t lots, and 2GB of RAM could be very low in at present’s world the place telephones provide simply as a lot energy as some computer systems.

The dangerous information is that the benchmarks aren’t significantly better. A Geekbench multi-core rating of 475 is unlikely to offer you numerous confidence, and GFX Bench’s array of benchmarks gave solely round 5.7 frames-per-second on the Aztec Ruins Vulkan regular take a look at (3.3fps on the excessive model).

That every one however guidelines out many common video games (and numerous those we’ve used for testing prior to now), however the numbers solely inform half the story. That’s as a result of Android 11 Go, a light-weight model of Google’s cellular OS, is rather more optimised on a tool similar to this.

Because of this regardless of the low numbers, flicking between apps, notably Google mainstays like Drive, Docs, YouTube and extra, is rather more fluid than you’d count on. Even the keyboard, which may generally lag a little bit on telephones with such modest specs, feels snappy and responsive.

Issues can all the time be quicker, certain, however in case you’re shopping for a cellphone to textual content, make calls, and fireplace off some emails, the C21 Plus will serve you very effectively certainly.

Lloyd Coombes / Foundry

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Digicam & Video

• 13Mp rear digicam
• 2Mp depth sensor
• 5Mp selfie digicam

It’s clear that compromises have been made with the C21 Plus’ 13Mp digicam to hit that value level, and any budding shutterbugs ought to undoubtedly keep away from each the entrance and rear snappers right here.

It’s not dangerous, per se, however indoor pictures are devoid of color and low-light conditions will yield bland pictures (see the 2 pictures of the dinosaur for examples of this).

Sapping the color via overexposure additionally tends to decrease the element, as noticeable within the picture of flowers exterior. Outside pictures do fare higher for essentially the most half, though low-light eventualities may cause a prolonged delay whereas the picture processes. Shifting the digicam on this window may cause some actually blurred pictures, too.

The front-facing digicam can also be a no-frills affair. The 5Mp sensor takes in loads of gentle, but additionally tends to make issues a bit too brilliant, throwing off the distinction and resulting in a lot softer pictures.

Portrait mode does work effectively, nevertheless. As you may see within the instance, it does effectively to tell apart across the hair and ears, though in testing (previous to a haircut!) it did wrestle with longer, fluffier hair.

By way of video recording, you may seize 1080p video at 30fps however you’ll need to play it again elsewhere for one of the best viewing expertise because of the machine’s 720p decision. You’ll additionally want a gentle arm as there’s no optical stabilisation on provide.

Battery Life & Charging

• Requires charging each day
• Gradual charging through micro-USB

The 4000mAh battery is non-removable, and whereas our benchmarking app crashed a few instances, usually use the Nokia C21 Plus was gasping for a cost by the tip of the day.

That’s a disgrace, due to how spectacular some funds cellphone batteries might be, however that micro-USB port additionally contributes to some very sluggish charging. We have been capable of get simply 17% when charging from the included 10W charger for quarter-hour, and 32% after half-hour..

Lloyd Coombes / Foundry

Software program & Apps

• Android 11 Go is light-weight
• Some apps received’t run
• Takes a while to get used to swiping on the chin

Whereas I do know the benchmarks I logged aren’t pulling up any bushes, the important thing factor is that Nokia has additionally realised this. In consequence, it has skipped placing the full-fat model of Android on the C21 Plus and opted for the rather more light-weight (and fewer bloated) Android 11 Go.

That does have some drawbacks, in fact. Other than some apps merely not with the ability to run, there are additionally extra incremental updates. On the plus aspect, although, the set up is smaller, and you continue to get entry to a lot of your Google favourites like Docs, Drive, and Chrome. Nokia is promising two years of updates to 2024.

There’s one thing that felt a little bit off throughout testing; whereas the C21 Plus by no means felt notably sluggish in any regular duties, the small chin on the backside of the display often interfered with my swiping upward to return dwelling. After a number of tries I grew to work round it, however it did make these early hours really feel much less responsive than they might’ve been.

Value & Availability

Between the 720p display, the functional-at-best digicam, and the Micro-USB port, it’d be honest to say there are many minor drawbacks to the C21 Plus.

And but, with a value this low, I’m keen to forgive a lot of them. The C21 Plus is simply £109 within the UK – available direct in addition to Amazon, Argos and Very. It’s not on the official Nokia US website however you should purchase a 3/32GB mannequin from Amazon for $124.

It prices €129 in Europe, the place you may get it direct from Nokia.

A cellphone with a show this huge would as soon as have price an terrible lot extra, and except you’re determined for higher battery life, it is available in at a great £50 cheaper than the Motorola Moto G22 however affords significantly higher efficiency.

Positive, you may choose for a bigger inner storage possibility, however for my cash, I’d advise simply popping a microSD card in to increase.

Verdict

Niggles just like the micro-USB port and lack of an even bigger battery shouldn’t deter a budget-conscious person from contemplating the Nokia C21 Plus. Its benchmark outcomes could seem on the unflattering aspect, however real-world efficiency is strong in on a regular basis use.

With two years of Android updates anticipated, and face and fingerprint unlocking too, the C21 may feasibly be your each day driver for the following couple of years. It’s not an all-singing, all-dancing sort of machine, however it does greater than sufficient to justify the modest outlay.

Specs

• Android 11 Go Version
• 6.52in display with 20:9 facet ratio and 720×1600 decision
• Unisoc SC9863A Octa Core 1.6GHz chip
• 2GB RAM
• 32/64GB inner storage
• microSD card slot (as much as 256GB)
• 13MP Most important digicam with 2MP Depth digicam
• 5MP Most important digicam
• Rear panel Fingerprint scanner
• Face Recognition
• Coronary heart price monitor
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Headphone jack
• Micro-USB
• 4000mAh non-removable battery
• 76x165x8.6mm
• 191g
• Launch colors: Darkish Cyan, Heat Grey