Approximately two decades in the past, I reviewed the $200 Nokia 5.3, which was promised two decades of Android OS upgrades and 3 yrs of stability updates. How has HMD World, the organization licensing the Nokia manufacturer, fared? It only just deployed Android 12 to that machine, which is a 12 months-previous variation of Google’s operating process.
That is a massive delay, but at least that price range telephone will get six far more months of safety updates in advance of its support officially ends. Regretably, issues have gotten worse. Now I have the new $270 Nokia G400 5G, which will only get two years of safety updates and zero commitment to Android OS updates. It will likely get Android 13, but who’s to say, since HMD is not producing any promises? This feels like a stark mindset change from a organization that prided by itself on providing speedy updates and prolonged program support back in 2016.
Today, most Android cellular phone makers provide a software determination policy so you have a very clear photograph of how very long the system will be supported. The $250 Samsung Galaxy A13 5G, for instance, will get two OS updates and 4 many years of safety updates. That is wonderful, and it usually means you can hold on to the unit devoid of stressing about it turning into a buggy, unsecured mess after two yrs. It lets you hold on to your product for that lengthy if every thing else is in performing order, cutting down the want to devote on another cell phone. It is just hard to recommend a smartphone in 2022 when you have no idea if it will get the most current version of its running method.
Wonderful Hardware
Photograph: Nokia
The sad thing is the Nokia G400 is a rather respectable phone. It appears to be like bland and dreary, coming in just a gloomy grey, and doesn’t seem at all like a “Nokia” cell phone. But the 6.58-inch Lcd display screen is sharp, colourful, and even has a 120-Hz display refresh charge, so it feels sleek and responsive when you interact with it.
General performance is decent. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+ chipset inside reliably operates all the apps you’d want, though you will have to wait around right here and there for points to load. (It is restricted by the 4 GB of RAM.) But around the study course of two months, I was equipped to use it just high-quality to answer to e-mail and messages, browse Reddit and Twitter, make cellphone phone calls, and even enjoy casual online games like Alto’s Odyssey. The software program is inventory Android 12, which is pleasant, so you get really little bloatware (any of which is detachable), and the interface looks slick.
The 5,000-mAh battery cell has specified me a day and a half of typical use, and you get all the characteristics you’d want in any phone in 2022, like sub-6 5G connectivity on all important US carriers (sure, which includes Verizon, which numerous unlocked Nokia gadgets have customarily been incompatible with), a headphone jack, fingerprint sensor, and a MicroSD card slot to grow on the paltry 64 GB of inside storage. I’ve utilized the NFC sensor to faucet and pay at the subway turnstiles right here in New York City, and you even get a charger in the box.