Nokia G42 5G review

What would possibly in any other case have been an unremarkable budget-friendly smartphone from Nokia is rendered extra fascinating by its repairability. You’ll be able to crack the case of the cellphone and swap out the display, battery and charging port utilizing instruments and components offered by iFixit.

It’s not Nokia’s first response to the raft of right-to-repair legal guidelines which have arrived throughout Europe and the US, with the cheaper, decrease efficiency Nokia G22 already accessible, nevertheless it’s definitely probably the most fascinating, because it mixes efficiency, battery life, and the power to tear out that battery ought to it fail.

Design & Construct

• Vibrant color on the again
• Tightly put collectively
• Fiddly components

It’s a 2023 smartphone, you already know what it appears like. The foremost defining exterior characteristic of the G42 is its purple again, which is extraordinarily distinctive and nearly a disgrace to cover below a case. Gray and pink variants are additionally accessible, however neither lives as much as the purple cellphone’s wealthy hue. 

From the entrance, after all, it appears the identical as each different Android cellphone, with no dwelling button and only a small entrance digicam to pierce the seamless black of the Gorilla Glass display.

A seam of a extra necessary sort is discovered together with the cellphone. With the appropriate instrument – the evaluate unit I obtained got here with an iFixIt-branded toolkit that included screwdrivers, tweezers, suction cup, spudger and a number of guitar pick-like implements – you may open the plastic casing up by way of the SIM tray and exchange sure components.

The battery, charging port and display are all up for switching over, ought to they cease functioning, making this a super cellphone for the butterfingers who’s not afraid of a little bit digital tinkering. 

Ian Evenden / Foundry

Getting it open and prepared for components substitute includes undoing a whole lot of screws and clips, so it’s not one thing to be undertaken evenly if that is your solely cellphone. Working the opening choose across the corners is difficult, whereas prying out the battery brings with it a danger of fireside in case you pierce the fallacious bit, and the three.8mm screws are tiny sufficient to lose simply – and also you’ll have to undo ten of them simply to take away the duvet over the cellphone’s motherboard for entry to the battery cable.

The again of the cellphone lifts away simply as soon as the clips are undone, however the fingerprint reader housed within the energy button is hooked up to the case with a ribbon cable that’s itself held down with a small screw. Tearing this cable will definitely smash your day. 

For those who’ve constructed a PC from components then it’s not going to be fully exterior your capabilities, and getting a substitute display after dropping your cellphone on the pavement is quite a bit cheaper than an entire new cellphone. Guides can be found on the iFixit website, and in case you’ve ever used tyre levers to switch the inside tube on a motorbike you’ll have the appropriate thought about how eradicating the casing is achieved.

It’s a reasonably weighty cellphone at 193g and doesn’t come, as you’ll anticipate given it comes aside, with no IP mud or waterproof ranking.

Display & Audio system

• IPS display
• 90Hz refresh charge
• Solely 720p

At 6.5in throughout the diagonal, the G42 is a pleasant dimension that’s good for one-handed operation for all however the smallest customers.

A decision of 720p is actually the bottom you’ll need in a cellphone today, and given the scale of the display and the gap you’ll view it from it’s actually not an excessive amount of of a problem. Full HD (1080p) can be preferable, after all, however results in shorter battery life.

The 90Hz most refresh charge helps to maintain issues easy while you’re scrolling, and the largest downside with the display is its lack of brightness. I don’t anticipate an IPS panel to maintain up with the most recent AMOLED screens, however vibrant daylight just isn’t a good friend to the G42.

On the backside of the case lives a single speaker which may output sufficient sound for a video name however actually ought to be changed by a pair of excellent headphones (the more and more uncommon headphone socket could be discovered on the different finish of the cellphone) in case you’re utilizing it for video streaming or listening to music – there’s an FM radio on board if streaming music over 5G or Wi-Fi 6 doesn’t enchantment.

Specs & Efficiency

• Six-core chipset
• Good lower-mid-range efficiency 
• Not for gaming

The Nokia G42 sits on the backside of the mid-range when it comes to efficiency. Its Snapdragon 480+ chipset isn’t a match for Snapdragon 7 telephones just like the Honor 90 and it trails behind the Google Pixel 7a by 600 factors within the Geekbench rankings.

Ian Evenden / Foundry

However then it’s additionally lower than half the value of Google’s newest cellphone, and it roughly matches the somewhat equally named Moto G62 from final yr in our testing. This could come as little shock, because the Moto makes use of the identical chipset because the Nokia, however the G42 wins out when it comes to repairability – with a fingerprint sensor within the display somewhat than the ability button, Motorola’s cellphone doesn’t have the identical choices in case you smash it.

In any other case, there may be little or no to moan about within the G42’s efficiency in day-to-day use. This isn’t a cellphone that’s going to reply properly to being requested to play the most recent 3D Android video games, however there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying one thing much less intensive on it.

Apps swap easily, although they could take a while to load while you use them for the primary time, and there was little lag when utilizing the Google Photographs app to markup and make edits to photographs.

One of many highlights of the spec sheet is assist for 5G, which isn’t a given even on the top-end of the price range market. There’s additionally an honest 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, plus a microSD card slot.

Nokia G42 5G benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp essential digicam
• No ultrawide
• Poor 2x efficiency

There’s a 50Mp f/1.8 digicam on the again of the G42, alongside a 2Mp macro lens, depth sensor, and LED flash. It’s typically ok in case you feed it sufficient gentle, however picture high quality falls aside because it darkens, particularly in areas away from the purpose of focus – no shock there at this value.

There’s a 2x digital zoom that makes use of the very fact the 50Mp sensor bins its recordsdata right down to 12.5Mp to crop in on the picture and supply the tighter framing.

Ian Evenden / Foundry

The outcomes of this are usually not nice, particularly in video. Smearing units in early in case you attempt to use the zoom in video mode, the place 1080p/60fps is your highest possibility. Broad daylight is your best choice for imaging with this cellphone, however I discovered the auto-HDR mode was fairly able to stopping the silhouetting of darkish timber towards a white sky – one thing I didn’t anticipate to see. 

You can even take a full decision 50Mp picture, however actually should be in good gentle to do that, because it doesn’t profit from the picture high quality features of the binning course of.

The macro digicam is a 2Mp mannequin greatest used for magnifying fascinating belongings you discover whereas strolling round somewhat than for taking pictures you would possibly need to hold. Likewise, the front-facing 8Mp digicam is sweet sufficient for a video name or selfie in respectable gentle, however suffers from the identical drop intimately and color replica because the rear lens as soon as the solar begins to set.

Battery Life & Charging

• Battery life superb
• 20W quick charging
• Laborious to report battery life exactly

Battery life is difficult to guage exactly for the Nokia G42, as the usual take a look at we use to check fashions’ endurance – which simulates fixed utilization with the display on – wouldn’t run on it. The bottom it acquired was to 47% earlier than throwing an error that ended the testing, and this took a number of hours to get to. We discovered the identical factor with the Motorola G62, which shares the identical chipset, so there seems to be a conflict between Qualcomm and Geekbench there.

From this, and having used the cellphone, it’s potential to extrapolate that the battery life on this cellphone is definitely superb. Whether or not it can ever attain Nokia’s declare of three days between fuel-ups is massively depending on particular person utilization and whether or not the battery saver mode is judiciously utilized, however I believe it’s able to getting shut, particularly if it spends a whole lot of time with the display off.

Having watched the gradual drop of the battery share I’d say that two days’ use is well throughout the G42’s grasp.

Ian Evenden / Foundry

The 20W quick charging works precisely the best way you’d anticipate, the USB-C port gorging itself on electrical energy to refill the 5000mAh battery at a really respectable charge (for a price range cellphone anyway). I acquired 26% in half-hour with a suitably quick charger as a result of it’s value noting, there isn’t a charger included within the field.

Software program & Apps

• Android 13
• Not too many bundled apps
• Solely two years of OS updates

You would possibly assume that getting a repairable cellphone will imply it lasts longer than others, however the {hardware} is simply half of the fashionable smartphone equation. The software program updates a handset receives are as important to its continued usefulness as its battery and display, and the G42 has a barely disappointing future forward of it.

Nokia is providing two years of OS updates and three of safety patches. It comes with Android 13 out of the field, which is a pleasant OS to work with, however the truth it can by no means see Android 16 means you’ll seemingly be contemplating a substitute lengthy earlier than the battery or charging port wears out.

Nonetheless, when you begin the cellphone up it’s good to see there aren’t too many undesirable apps pre-installed on the cellphone. I noticed the ever present Reserving.com app, however little else in the best way of bloatware.

Ian Evenden / Foundry

Worth & Availability

For £199 it is a good worth cellphone. I’d somewhat have this than one thing cheaper, just like the ostensibly related Nokia C32, which sacrifices an excessive amount of on the altar of being extraordinarily low cost. Sadly, it’s not accessible within the USA – the $269.99 G400 5G shares some specs however isn’t repairable in the identical approach.

It is a good value to pay for a cellphone with 5G, 128GB of storage, and the type of efficiency and battery life on provide right here and it’s already discounted to £179 on the official retailer on the time of writing.

It’s accessible at Argos, AO, Very, Ebuyer and Amazon, in addition to directly from Nokia.

Try our chart of the very best price range telephones to see extra choices.

Verdict

The Nokia G42 is an efficient worth cellphone that mixes many shocking specs and QuickFix repairability into one notably purple handset (gray additionally accessible).

There are a few disappointments, nonetheless. The digicam high quality drops off rapidly as the sunshine fades. And with solely two years of OS updates on provide, I query its longevity regardless of the power for the proprietor to switch a smashed display.

Nonetheless, it feels good within the hand, it’s responsive while you open and swap apps, and having an FM radio and bodily headphone socket is one thing I miss from an older technology of smartphones that appears to have been misplaced on this present period of wi-fi streaming.

On the value Nokia is providing this cellphone for, it seems like a little bit of a steal. A correct mid-ranger for a price range value, with a purple casing that’s going to attract consideration everytime you flash it about.

Specs

• OS: Android 13
• Display: 6.56in IPS LCD, 720 x 1612px, 269ppi
• Chipset: Snapdragon 480+
• RAM: 6GB
• Storage: 128GB plus MicroSD
• Cameras: 50Mp f/1.8 essential, 2Mp macro, 2Mp depth sensor, 8Mp entrance
• Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, FM radio, USB 2.0 Sort-C, GPS, NFC
• Dimensions: 165 x 75.8 x 8.55mm
• Weight: 193.8g