Nokia 5.3

Nokia 5.3 is expected to be released on July 24, 2020, at the price of Rs. 15,090.

Compared with Nokia 5.2, 5.3 has a larger screen, battery with bigger capacity, and more cameras on the rear. However, the two phones are powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor.

In comparison with Nokia 5.1, 5.3 has more internal storage, a larger battery, and a bigger screen.

Display

Nokia 5.3 is an affordable smartphone, and to achieve that price, Nokia has to make some sacrifices. The most noticeable is the screen, which is a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel.

YouTube video caps at 720p as the resolution is merely 1,600 x 720 pixels. While this is no big deal given the price of the handset, the lack of brightness is a real problem.

Even when you have turn brightness to maximum, looking at the screen under bright sunlight proves to be a challenge.

The inbuilt auto-brightness feature is of no help as it fluctuates wildly and always fails to reach the right point.

The screen is interrupted by a teardrop notch which houses the selfie camera. The chin bezel is minimal with the Nokia brand on top. The best way to have a decent screen on the Nokia 5.3 is to turn brightness to maximum and disable the Night Light, which is too intrusive with the colors.

Overall, Nokia 5.3’s display is pretty good for the handset’s price point, just don’t expect a real powerhouse.

When the resolution is low, some details might be lost, but to make up for that, the smartphone comes equipped with a cool color palette. It’s true the phone isn’t bright enough and there is no vibrancy and life but that isn’t what it is designed to do.

When opting for a phone like Nokia 5.3, what most users expect is a casual viewing experience.

The screen is large so besides the resolution, there is no other sacrifice here regarding the display.  

Processor

Under the hood, Nokia 5.3 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor.

The phone can handle casual tasks like social media, calls, running apps, and messaging with ease. If you do anything like watching YouTube videos, you will notice a slowdown.

With tasks like switching from orientation to landscape and vice versa, the phone might be delayed for a few seconds. If you play games and turning off the apps, the device pauses for some time again.

The same processor can be found inside Moto G Fast, Motorola Moto G8, and G Power and the performances are similar.

You may think there is no way you can play games on the Nokia 5.3 but that is far from the truth. The phone can support titles like Asphalt 9 Legends and have a good enough experience.

Of course, you cannot expect the phone to behave like gaming-centric handsets like ROG Phone 2 or the smoothest experience on the market. However, the phone will never fall into a situation when games are unplayable.

The Snapdragon 665 should perform better than SD660 when it comes to gaming. In tests with popular titles like PUBG Mobile, NFS, and Call of Duty, the phone can hold up well for occasional gamers looking for a cheap gaming phone.

RAM

Users can acquire the phone in 3GB, 4GB, or 6GB of RAM, quite decent for a phone at this price point.

If you go for the maximum RAM, which is 6GB, the phone can handle games with ease. However, 8GB is better if users want to have a future-proof handset, but there is no such option available for Nokia 5.3.

Battery

A massive battery of 4,000mAh powers the Nokia 5.3. You may think a low-resolution screen and a mid-range chipset will not be a burden on the cell but that is simply not true.

Nokia 5.3’s battery performs just like other handsets at the same price range on the market.

With average use, including taking some photos, make voice calls, using social media, gaming, sending messages, and watch some videos, the phone can survive for two days. However, on the second day, you have to reduce the intensity of the tasks.

Watching videos and you will see the phone’s battery drains faster than usual. The only option you have is wired charging, no wireless, and no fast charge either.

Camera

While it’s a budget-friendly phone, the Nokia 5.3 features 4 lenses on the rear and one camera on the front. Users can harness the power of primary 13MP/ f/1.8 snapper, a 5MP ultra-wide, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens.

On the other side, selfies are taken with an 8MP front camera.

The cameras do their job but have nothing impressive. Much like the screen, you should bear in mind that this is a budget-friendly phone and expectations should not be set too high.

All photos must be edited before they can be shared on social media sites.

Neither the standard nor the wide-angle camera can get the lighting right on their own. They either underexpose or overexpose shots. Expect to see great difference between the two lenses too. Macro shots have nothing special, the performance you should expect on a lens with only 2MP.

There is a Night Mode available but turning it on will make shots look just a little bit better than without it. The same is true for Portrait mode.

Nokia 5.3 can do a pretty good job detecting edges, as long as you can wait for it to finish the task.

The selfie camera works decently indoor but if you use it under direct sunlight, expect to have some washed-out shots.

The hardware is paired with slow software, making the whole thing a great disappointment.

While this is an affordable phone, which can sometimes justify below-standard performance. However, even with that argument, there is no good explanation for what Nokia 5.3’s cameras deliver.

Users have the right to expect consistency and speed at any price point and some even argue they would rather exchange a quad-camera setup to get a single, truly good snapper on this phone.