The Nokia 5.3 was announced in March and quickly became an affordable favorite with reviewers thanks to its low price tag of £ 150. Few other phones in that bracket can offer the same level of performance along with a decent camera. HMD Global has now deemed it necessary to launch an iterative update in the form of the Nokia 5.4, and it looks like it’s becoming another popular mid-range option.
You might think little has changed, but there are a few key differences from its predecessor. The Nokia 5.4 has a cutout in the screen housing a 16 MP selfie camera instead of the last time a water drop / 8 MP combo. At the rear, the main camera has been upgraded to a 48MP sensor and the flash has been moved, although the overall aesthetic remains largely unchanged.
A Snapdragon 662 runs the show, putting this phone against the Poco M3 and Moto G9 Power in terms of performance. It’s a slightly modified version of the previous generation SD665 so we can expect it to do a decent job again. It can also be a bit more energy efficient. The same 4,000 mAh battery is on board, but does not charge particularly quickly (10W).
For some reason, it’s being marketed as a good side hustler phone. HMD Global has some funny stats to showcase the features of the Nokia 5.4. Apparently the battery can last for 42 commutes and the polycarbonate case can withstand the weight of a 10-year-old child. Cinema mode video recording is also discussed – 21: 9 and 24 fps for that “Hollywood-esque feel” – but what you’re really looking at is a reasonably priced, affordable phone with few bells and whistles. And there is nothing wrong with that.
HMD Global has long been the champion of the Android One program, and while that branding has caught up in the last year, the Nokia 5.4 still comes with the promise of three years of security updates and two years of OS updates. This pretty much makes up for the fact that it comes with Android 10 – let’s hope the Android 11 upgrade gets around the corner.
In the UK, the Nokia 5.4 will be available in Polar Night (blue) from December 18, with Dusk (purple) in January. You can get one from the Nokia site first, while Amazon and Argos will get the stock next month.