Nokia 3 First Impressions: Entry-level Android phone

Just a few months back, we have seen the company releasing four new Nokia handsets, viz. Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 and the all new Nokia 3310. There are also rumors stating that the company will launch another device by name Nokia 9 sometime soon. All these give us an hint that HMD is trying to build a strong foundation in the Smartphones segment.

Since these new Android phones are placed at an affordable price range, there is no doubt as to how much Nokia fans are excited and pleased. Nokia 3, which can be considered as an entry level Android phone, is one from the lot which has created quite a fan-base already in India.

The exact launch date and price of the phone is not revealed yet, but as per the rumors, the device may cost around Rs. 9,800.

We were able to get our hands on this classic device - the Nokia 3 and we were pretty much pleased with it. Although, we reserve our rights to give the verdict for the review which we will be doing later, here is what we think of it when we first saw it.

Design and Display

With not-so-poor specs at a low cost, this phone may take on other popular brands, which offers similar features. This new Nokia 3 stands-out among other recently released Nokia phones because of its look. It comes with a polycarbonate body, unlike other Nokia phones. We can also see an anodized aluminum frame, which makes it look and feel rigid.

The phone is designed ergonomically with curved edges, which gives it a great looks, somewhat premium as well. This makes it very comfortable to use and one can operate single-handedly. It will be made available in silver, copper, tempered blue, and matte black color variants.

To speak about the display, the Nokia 3 has 5-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and is protected by a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass. With sharp and vibrant colors, it has a polarizing layer, which helps us to view the display clearly even on a sunny day.

We are going to review this display performance in detail in our comprehensive review soon.

Features and Specs

As mentioned earlier, the device has an average specs which makes it difficult to compete with the high-end phones. It is powered by a mid-range MediaTek 6737 octa-core processor, coupled with 2GB RAM, and 16GB native storage, which can be further expanded using microSD card slot. When we used the device a while, it did perform really well, as the UI was pretty smooth.

SEE ALSO: Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 India release likely slated for mid-June

The smartphone runs on Android Nougat out-of-the-box, and packs Google Assistant as well. It should also be noted that, Nokia 3 skips biometric security features in the device. On the other hand, Nokia 5 and 6 are well-packed with premium specs and powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor along with fingerprint scanner in the front.

Optics and battery

If you are a kind of person who is behind an affordable camera phone, then this may be a suitable device for you because of its not-so-poor optics and an reasonable price attached to it.

It features an 8MP camera on front and rear side accompanied by auto-focus and f/2.0 aperture value. When tested, we were able to capture vivid pictures with no distortions.

Though, Nokia 6 and Nokia 5 comes with a 16MP and 13MP primary camera respectively, all the three Android powered Nokia phones sport an 8MP selfie shooter. The complete camera review will be done in detail soon.

To speak about the battery capacity, the Nokia 3 houses a 2,650mAh Li-Ion non-removable battery. With low RAM and low resolution display, this is enough to back the phone for an entire day on a single charge.

Verdict

The launch of Nokia branded Android smartphones by HMD Global have created a new set of revolution in this segment. Especially, placing the device at an affordable price range excited everyone globally. Nokia 3 being the cheapest among other siblings, you can wait and watch how this gives a tough competition to its rivals, especially the ones coming from Indian manufacturers,.

With a pleasing design, build quality, along with decent specs, it created a positive first impression on the handset. Soon the in-depth review of the phone will be done and published in Gizbot. Until then, stay tuned to GizBot for more tech news updates.