HMD Global as the holder of the Nokia brand again made a surprise by launching a sequel to the Nokia G20. Yes! The smartphone is the Nokia G21, which arrives with improvements in the battery, screen and camera sectors. The Nokia G21 is powered by a 5,050 mAh battery, which is claimed to last up to three days with power saving mode.
Through his presentation, HMD Global claimed that battery power savings could reach 20% (instead of 10%). In addition, HMD Global has also boosted the maximum charging speed, to 18W (USB PD 3.0 compatible). Unfortunately, the device ships with a 10W adapter in the box.
Another improvement is that HMD Global managed to make the Nokia G21 5% slimmer, from 9.2mm to 8.5mm. An improvement that consumers should also be aware of is the high refresh rate support. This 6.5-inch LCD panel is equipped with a 90Hz refresh rate, so a first for the G-series.
Another first for the series is Netflix streaming support in HD, which is necessary since the screen still has 720p+ resolution. Also, if consumers want 3 days of battery life, they should enable adaptive mode for the display so it can drop to 60Hz to save battery when 90Hz isn’t needed.
Next, the camera sector. The Nokia G21 has a 50 MP sensor for the main camera. HMD Global has also embedded the Super Resolution feature, which is able to increase the detail of the captured image. There is also a Night Mode. Unfortunately, the 5 MP ultra-wide camera is omitted, leaving only a 2 MP macro camera and a 2 MP depth sensor.
The Nokia G21 does come with a much more powerful chipset – the Unisoc T606. This 12nm chipset has two Cortex-A75 cores and six A55 cores, quite different from the Helio G35 (Nokia G20) which only has eight A53 cores (not A55). Meanwhile, the GPU is Mali G57 MP1.
Also part of the chipset is a Cat LTE Modem. 4. The G series may have offered 5G connectivity, but this smartphone still uses 4G. The Unisoc T606 is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. It is a dual-SIM handset with three card slots (two SIM cards and one microSD card).
The G21 is “ready for Android 12”, which is another way of saying that this smartphone arrives in 2021 running Android 11. As part of HMD’s usual software support schedule, the Nokia G21 will receive two OS upgrades (i.e. Android 12 and 13 ) and three years of security patches.
The G21 will come with Spotify and ExpressVPN pre-installed (with a 30-day free trial for the VPN). Like its predecessor, the Nokia G21 also has a side-mounted fingerprint reader. The device is also equipped with an improved face unlock that can recognize the user with and without a mask.
Initially marketed in Europe, the Nokia G21 will soon be available for €170 (Rp2.7 million). There are only two color choices, namely Nordic Blue and Dusk. The sales package will also include a 10W charger and a USB cable. In some other countries you will get earphones, screen protectors and jelly cases.
Nokia G21 is also equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack port, which consumers can use in conjunction with Nokia Wired Headphones. The device will retail for US$31 (Rp. 400 thousand) and there is also a wireless version with 62 hours of battery life that sells for US $ 50 (Rp. 700 thousand).
There’s also the Nokia Go Earbuds2+, a TWS headset with a 24-hour battery life and an IPX rating (these will retail for US$40). The cooler Nokia Go Earbuds2 Pro are also on their way with low-latency audio support. It will sell for US $ 45 (Rp 600 thousand).
