Nokia XR20 – A Phone Design For A Long Run | Full Specifications

It’s not every day that I stumble across a smartphone capable of incredible feats. Most luxury smartphones these days look good and have a lot of cameras on the back, but that’s where the story ends. So, when HMD Global announced the Nokia XR20 in India, I was intrigued, especially given I’m the father of a 2-year-old who enjoys torturing devices. It also has a unique appearance and feels. So, when I got the review device, I had two huge questions: Is the Nokia XR20’s sturdy and robust design worth the premium price, and would it survive being passed down to my toddler? Please continue reading to learn how I came up with the answers.

In India, the Nokia XR20 is available for purchase.

In India, the Nokia XR20 costs Rs. 46,999. It comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in a single configuration. Ultra Blue and Granite are the two finishes available. I tested an Ultra Blue device.

Design of the Nokia XR20

HMD Global touts these phones in its marketing materials as “built for the long haul.” Which phone isn’t technically a phone? Holding this smartphone tank gives you a more fantastic notion of its purpose. It’s much bigger than I anticipated, measuring 171.64mm (H) x 81.5mm (W) (W). It’s also pretty thick at 10.64mm, but not as weighty as anticipated. Despite its extra robust casing, the Nokia XR20 is slightly heavier than an iPhone 13 Pro Max (about 240g). While this is a bit heavy for a smartphone, it’s not awful for a rugged gadget. Compared to my personal Google Pixel 4a, the XR20 feels like a small smartphone, which is unsuitable for one-handed use.

In terms of appearance, the Nokia XR20 looks the part and withstand a lot of abuse. Unlike most tough smartphones, which have pseudo-military style and are clunky at best, HMD Global has made this phone seem unique and modern.

A polymer composite and aluminium make up the exterior. According to Nokia, the interior has an aluminium frame. Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus, the company’s most complex current smartphone glass, protects the display. The polymer composite is comfortable to hold, but it is also highly durable. I put the phone on various surfaces, and it didn’t get a single scratch.

Let’s take things a step further because this is a robust phone with an IP68 classification. I carried it with me when I took a quick shower and even made a call while the water was flowing. It also didn’t respond well to touch input when flowing water on the display.

I felt convinced that the XR20’s rugged appearance made it unbreakable, which should give consumers some peace of mind. Indeed, getting the most out of this phone needs a lot of unlearning of what we’ve come to expect from our smartphones, which we’ve spoiled with bumper cases and scratch shields. I even dropped the phone numerous times from a height of roughly 1.8 meters (5.9 feet), and all I got was a small dent on the ring around the camera module.

 The Nokia XR20 should withstand whatever my life, as a typical consumer, throws at it, including my two-year-old toddler’s hands. If you’re a parent who had to deal with many broken displays or phones, this could be a good alternative.

On the left is a Google Assistant key, on the right is a power button with an inbuilt fingerprint reader, and just above it is a volume rocker. Nokia’s fourth special, red key, dubbed the “Emergency key”, is entirely programmable. I can modify the phone’s sound profile with a quick push while a long press brings up the calculator. You can attach these actions to several purposes, and you can even use this button to launch a specific program.

 The Google Assistant key had an unusually mushy and spongy feel to it. Because the voice assistant button is situated a little too low on the left side, I frequently activated it accidentally when I picked up the phone. Thankfully, I was able to disable the feature in the Settings.

 The Nokia XR20 is equipped with a 6.67-inch full-HD+ LCD. There are dual speakers on the bottom and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The bezel on all four sides is noticeably thick, and the added protection from the phone’s body makes it appear even more comprehensive.

Specifications and software for the Nokia XR20

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor powers the Nokia XR20. In the past year, HMD Global has used it in several smartphones, but most of them never made it to India, and the XR20 is the first to do so. The phone comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in a single configuration. A hybrid slot in the dual-SIM tray also allows external storage (up to 512GB).

The Nokia XR20 has dual 5G standby and supports several 5G bands. Wi-Fi ac/axe, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and the conventional satellite navigation systems are among the communication technologies.

The phone is equipped with a 4630mAh battery and an 18W charger. Because this is a high-end phone, it also has 15W wireless charging, which can be used with any Qi-compatible wireless charger.

 HMD Global promises three years of software updates as part of the Android One initiative. This robust smartphone comes preinstalled with Android 11. With slight Nokia customizations, the OS appears to be essentially stock. A custom came pre-installed Pro photo and Cinema video modes. The white balance setting in the Settings app can be used to change the display’s colour temperature. Even though most preinstalled apps were Google’s defaults, I could locate the Netflix and Spotify apps after setting up the phone. These can be uninstalled if they are no longer required.

 Performance and battery life of the Nokia XR20

Outdoor visit pre-installed with the Nokia XR20’s display, which is bright enough to handle direct sunlight. The viewing angles were likewise excellent. While the phone’s default colour temperature was a little too chilly (or bluish), you can adjust it to a warmer tone if necessary. The Nokia XR20, unlike most smartphones in and below this price range, lacks a high-refresh-rate panel, but given the smooth and near-stock Android software, I didn’t mind.

The 6.67-inch full-HD+ LCD panel is ideal for watching movies and playing video games. It works with gloves and damp hands, according to HMD Global. Compared to an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which was unusable in such a scenario, the display recognized swipes and taps more precisely with some water droplets thrown across it. When playing games or watching movies, the Nokia XR20 offers dual speakers that are powerful and clear. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone connection for using the FM Radio app with earphones plugged in.

Its benchmark test ratings were, as expected, closer to those of the cheap Motorola Moto G51 than the more expensive Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, thanks to Nokia’s decision to use the Snapdragon 480 SoC. In AnTuTu, the Nokia XR20 received 3,12,057 points, while Geek bench’s single and multi-core tests yielded 510 and 1,674 points, respectively. In GFX Bench’s T-Rex and Car Chase benchmarks, the phone managed 59fps and 14fps, respectively, and 3,413 and 2,403 points in 3DMark’s Sling Shot and Sling Shot Extreme benchmarks.

The Nokia XR20 behaves more like a budget smartphone than a luxury handset, but that doesn’t mean it’s stuttering or lag-free. In reality, the software was a breeze to use. Gaming performance, on the other hand, was far below average. Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends were two games I tried out. By Default, Call of Duty: Mobile was set to High visuals and frame rate. The game could be played in these settings, but there was a lot of lag and stuttering. The visuals were reduced to Medium, but this did not help. With the graphics set to Default, though, Asphalt 9: Legends ran nicely. Most other smartphones in this price range can run most high-end games at high settings.

 In our HD video loop battery test, the phone lasted 11 hours and 42 minutes, which is below average for a smartphone in this price range. Its 4,630mAh battery, on the other hand, easily lasted a day and a half of casual use, which included some gaming, photography, messaging, browsing through social media apps, and video streaming. In comparison to comparably priced smartphones, charging was relatively slow. The Nokia XR20 was able to charge from a dead battery to full charge in 2 hours and 30 minutes using the included 18W charger.

 Cameras Nokia XR20

A 48-megapixel primary camera and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera are included in the Nokia XR20’s dual back camera configuration. An 8-megapixel sensor is in charge of selfies. The camera UI is typical Nokia, but it also offers a Pro manual mode and a Cinema mode that allows you to record videos in the H-Log format with excellent dynamic range. Before this footage may be used, it must first be processed.

Photos produced with the primary camera had good quality and dynamic range in the daytime. The colours were too saturated, and the sharpness was too high. The overall results were barely adequate, owing to the luminance noise that I saw in most of the photos I took in daylight. I was also underwhelmed by the image quality recorded by the ultra-wide-angle camera. They lacked sharpness, had some odd blurred patches, and had a lot of ghosting so that I couldn’t use them.

The primary camera

The primary camera’s Portrait mode produced inconsistent results. Photographs of people came out sharp and clear, with good edge detection, but not of objects. More importantly, shooting a Portrait photo of a thing might be a pain because the camera requires a lot of adjusting before it accepts your frame and allows you to press the shutter button. There were multiple times when the camera told me to move quite far away from minor objects, and the results were not worth the effort.

The Portrait Mode:

Although there isn’t a macro feature like other smartphones in this price range, close-ups were sharp and clear with decent detail. When using the Portrait mode, self-portraits appeared shockingly clear and robust, with good contrast, although edge detection was below average.

I’ve seen considerably more cheap smartphones perform better in low-light situations. Noise levels increased after dusk, and the phone’s noise reduction algorithms made things appear pretty hazy. Switching to Night mode removes the haziness and increases contrast, but photos have a visible watercolour-like look and flat texturing. The outcomes will be marginally better if your subject or setting is filled with light, but they will still be tolerable.

In daylight, video recordings were of medium quality, with little detail. The low-light video had a lot of flaws in terms of fact. When panning, the camera also has trouble focusing rapidly. While stabilization was adequate when shooting 1080p video at 30 frames per second, 60 frames per second footage were unsteady and lacked stabilization. The ultra-wide-angle camera’s results were likewise below average. I received more excellent video quality and stabilization when I used the front-facing camera and the front-facing camera when I used the front-facing camera. Nokia’s OZO audio recording technology wowed me and sounded fantastic on the plus side on the plus side.

 Verdict

The Nokia XR20 is priced at Rs. 46,999 in India, but it faces stiff competition in the premium segment, including the Realme GT (from Rs. 37,999) and the OnePlus 9R, both of which provide significantly more excellent performance, quality, and features (from Rs. 39,999). Samsung has several well-rounded premium smartphones with IP68 ratings and wireless charging, such as the Galaxy S20 FE 5G (Rs. 39,999). With a little more money, you can get into the iOS world with the Apple iPhone 11  (Rs. 49,900).

 The Nokia XR20 will appeal to a select group of customers. Any of the luxuries mentioned above smartphones might be protected with a robust case, but it won’t provide the same level of security as the XR20. In short, if you’re looking for a powerful smartphone that can withstand far more than what most average consumers can throw at it, there’s nothing quite like it.

 Many consumers will appreciate the Nokia XR20’s potential to be more durable and dependable than a typical premium smartphone. Whether you should buy one depends on how much you torment your smartphone daily, how clumsy you are, and whether you are prepared to put up with its uneven camera performance. The other use case is undoubtedly for adventurous people who may find themselves outdoors for extended periods, such as those working on construction sites or in other dusty and humid conditions, adventure sports enthusiasts, and even new parents.