HMD Global – The home of Nokia smartphones launched a bunch of smartphones at MWC19 Barcelona, this February. While most were upgrades to the existing series like the Nokia 3.2 and Nokia 1 Plus. The Finnish startup also announced two new series – the midrange Nokia 4.2 and the flagship Nokia 9. While the media went gaga over the Penta camera smartphone Nokia 9. The Nokia 4.2 is a hidden gem, especially in that pink sand colour. It really feels nothing like a budget device thanks to its premium hardware and pristine Android One software.
Now, let’s look at the specs of the device and move to the review part –
GENERAL
| Release date | February 2019 |
| Form factor | Touchscreen |
| Dimensions (mm) | 148.95 x 71.30 x 8.39 |
| Weight (g) | 161.00 |
| Battery capacity (mAh) | 3000 |
| Colours | Black, Pink Sand |
DISPLAY
| Screen size (inches) | 5.71 |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Resolution | 720×1520 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19:9 |
| Pixels per inch (PPI) | 269 |
HARDWARE
| Processor | octa-core |
| Processor make | Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 |
| RAM | 3GB |
| Internal storage | 32GB |
| Expandable storage | Yes |
| Expandable storage type | microSD |
| Expandable storage up to (GB) | 400 |
| Dedicated microSD slot | Yes |
CAMERA
| Rear flash | Yes |
| Front camera | 8-megapixel (f/2.0, 1.12-micron) |
| Front flash | No |
| Rear camera | 13-megapixel (f/2.2, 1.12-micron) + 2-megapixel (f/2.2, 1.75-micron) |
SOFTWARE
| Operating system | Android 9 |
CONNECTIVITY
| Wi-Fi | Yes |
| Wi-Fi standards supported | 802.11 b/g/n |
| GPS | Yes |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v 4.20 |
| NFC | Yes |
| Micro-USB | Yes |
| Headphones | 3.5mm |
| FM | Yes |
SENSORS
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes |
| Proximity sensor | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes |
IN THE BOX
- Nokia 4.2 handset
- 3.5mm Earphones
- Charger
- Micro-USB Cable
- SIM Ejector Tool
- User Manual and Warranty
The Nokia 4.2 comes in a square slideout box which is reminiscent of HMD Global smartphones that have launched in the past. In the box, users get the Nokia 4.2 handset, all the supplied accessories like Micro-USB cable, Power Adaptor, In-ear handsfree, SIM Pin and the usual documentation.
DESIGN AND DISPLAY
- 5.71 inches IPS LCD
- 720 x 1520 pixels, 19:9 ratio (~295 ppi density)
- Dedicated Google Assistant Button
- Breathing Notification Light embedded in the Power button
The Nokia 4.2 has slim bezels all around the sides of the screen, even above the teardrop notch at the top. There is a chin/bottom bezel, with the Nokia logo on it. The device comes with a unibody design with the back and front covered with glass for a more premium feel. But as with most glass back smartphones, this too is a fingerprint magnet. Though it shouldn’t be the case with the Pink Sand colour.
On the front, there’s a waterdrop cutout at the top that houses the front camera module, and there’s a slit above the housing for the earpiece speaker.
The left gets the SIM tray that can accommodate two active 4G SIM cards and a dedicated MicroSD card. Below the SIM tray is the dedicated Google Assistant Button.
On the right are the volume rockers and the power key that comes with an embedded breathing notification light. I know a lot of people who take a decision if the phone has a notification light or not. To all those people, take my word for it that this is the best implementation of the notification light on a smartphone.
On the top are the 3.5mm headphone and a secondary microphone. On the bottom is the Micro-USB port along with Speakers and Microphone on either side.
On the back is the fingerprint scanner below the dual-camera setup with Nokia branding in the middle and Android One badge at the bottom.
Since I have been using bigger phones like Pixel 3 XL for a while now, I ended up touching the flash module most of the time whilst trying to unlock. But since you get Face Unlock, you can always use either of them to unlock the device.
HARDWARE AND PERFORMANCE
- Snapdragon 439 (12 nm)
- 3000mAh Battery
- 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM
- Adreno 505 GPU
- Dedicated MicroSD Card slot (up to 400GB)
Yes, Nokia 4.2 is one of the first smartphones to be powered by the SD439 SoC. The Snapdragon 439 is a 12 nm processor with eight Cortex A53 cores – four clocked at 1.95GHz, and four at 1.45GHz. In India, we only get the 3/32GB variant with expandable memory up to 400GB via MicroSD card.
The global variant gets NFC but that has been excluded in India. For connectivity, you get Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, FM radio, 3.5mm jack, a Category 4 LTE modem with 150Mbps download speeds, and VoLTE.
Nokia 4.2 handles day to day tasks with a breeze and I never had a problem with it. Of course, it’s not meant for intensive tasks or graphics-heavy gaming. But you are getting a lot of goodies for that price so we can’t complain. For the geeks out there who want to know the benchmark scores, the 4.2 has an Antutu score of 88.701.
SOFTWARE
- Android 9.0 (Pie)
- Android One experience – No Bloatware, No Ads
- Dedicated Google Assistant Button
The Android One experience that the Nokia devices offer is by far the best reason to buy them. Android One devices receive at least two years of OS upgrades, monthly security updates for 3 years and also have Google Play Protect integrated. It also means the device comes with the latest version of stock android without any bloatware out of the box. In this case, Nokia 4.2 comes with Android 9 Pie straight out of the box.
Like all other Android One devices, Nokia 4.2 offers pure android experience with the only addition being the custom Camera app and the Nokia support app for after sales service.
Even the dedicated Google assistant button has a few tricks up its sleeve.
CAMERA
- 13 MP, f/2.2, 1/3″, 1.12µm Rear Camera
- 2 MP, depth sensor
- Phase detection autofocus
- 8 MP, f/2.0, 1/4″, 1.12µm Selfie Camera
The Nokia 4.2 comes with dual lens setup comprising of 13-megapixel main camera with a 2-megapixel depth-sensing camera to get you some decent Live Bokeh photos. The teardrop notch on the front has an 8-megapixel camera for selfies.
As mentioned before the camera app has been tweaked by the engineers at HMD to give you a custom experience. The app has a Pro mode, Live Bokeh (Portrait) mode, Square mode, Time-Lapse, Panorama and Google Lens mode. Surprisingly, the Bothie mode is missing in the camera app. Has Nokia given up on its Bothie mode or is it the limitation of processing power that it lacks it?
The smartphone captures some decent shot both with or without HDR but the Live Bokeh needs a lot of refinement even with the depth sensor in place. Users can also shoot in RAW mode but then they can’t edit the depth information on the device.
The resolution for video recording is FHD 1080P for both front and back cameras.
Here are some photo samples for your reference –
THE UNBIASED VERDICT
First things first, this device is not for people who are ready to trade-off user experience and build quality for a powerful processor or more RAM. Like all other Nokia smartphones, this device is for people who want a holistic experience, who want premium build quality and pristine user experience.
In a nutshell, the Nokia 4.2 won’t throw ugly ads at you when you are in settings, you won’t have to wait for codes and get frustrated to buy the device, and your device will always be the first to get updates. That alone makes it worth it for INR 10,990 for the 3GB/32GB variant.
Yes, we would have loved the inclusion of Type-C USB port and a brighter, more vibrant display.
Availability
The Nokia 4.2 comes in two colours, Black and a stand-out Pink Sand at a recommended best buy price of INR 10,990 for the 3/32GB storage variant.
Nokia 4.2 will be available exclusively on Nokia.com/phones for a 7-day period starting 7th May and exclusively across select retail outlets and partners like Croma, Reliance, Sangeetha, Poorvika, Big C and MyG starting 14th May.
Nokia 4.2 will be available pan-India across top mobile retail outlets and Nokia.com/phones starting 21st May.
The launch offers include –
Launch offers with instant INR 500 off on Nokia 4.2 till 10 June 2019. Consumers can use promo code “LAUNCHOFFER” to avail this limited period offer when purchasing Nokia 4.2 on www.nokia.com/phones. T&Cs apply
Nokia 4.2 consumers get free six-month screen replacement worth INR 3,500 covered under Nokia phone screen protection insurance, brought to you by our partner, Servify. T&Cs apply
Consumers purchasing Nokia 4.2 using HDFC Bank Credit and Debit cards on EMI and regular transactions done through Pinelabs terminals in offline stores will receive a 10% cashback. Consumers can also avail 10% cashback when they use HDFC consumer finance. This offer is available at retail outlets till 10th June ‘19. T&Cs apply
Vodafone and Idea subscribers will receive INR 2,500 instant cashback by way of 50 vouchers of INR 50 each. These vouchers can be redeemed on recharge of INR 199 and above. T&Cs apply.
Disclaimer: We tested the Nokia 4.2 smartphone(3GB/32GB) as our primary device on Jio 4G VoLTE network for one week. All our reviews are unbiased and are published without the brand getting to read it before you guys. We don’t change our reviews on pressure from brands and that’s the reason we are not sent review units from companies like Samsung.
