Nokia 5 review: Numb3r5 don't lie

Synthetic benchmarks

The Nokia 5 is powered by the Snapdragon 430 chipset, much like its stablemate, the Nokia 6. That means an octa-core CPU that is a significant upgrade over the Nokia 3 and its quad-core processor, even if we're talking about the same Cortex-A53 cores, capped at a lowly 1.4GHz. The Nokia 5 only has 2GB of RAM, however, unlike the 6, which comes with either 3 or 4 gigs.

Unsurprisingly, the Nokia 5 posts virtually identical numbers to the Nokia 6 in the CPU-centric GeekBench. There are some variations between the other Snapdragon 430 or 435 equipped devices with both the Moto G5 and Lenovo K6 Power trailing the Nokias. The Exynos 7870 and 7880, represented by the Galaxy A3 (2017) and A5 (2017), outperform the S430 in the Nokia 5. So do the S625s (Moto G5 Plus, Redmi Note 4, Moto Z Play), predictably.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Moto G5 Plus
  4255
• Nokia 5
  2851
• Moto G5
  2580
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  1819
• Nokia 3
  1529

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Moto G5 Plus
  847
• Nokia 5
  672
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  670
• Moto G5
  618
• Nokia 3
  551

GeekBench 4 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  3958
• Moto G5 Plus
  3789
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3294
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3016
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3011
• Nokia 5
  2728
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  2719
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  2621
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  2099
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  1944
• Lenovo K6 Power
  1698
• Nokia 3
  1487

GeekBench 4 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  832
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  819
• Moto G5 Plus
  799
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  795
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  764
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  681
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  655
• Nokia 5
  647
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  641
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  638
• Lenovo K6 Power
  610
• Nokia 3
  557

In overall performance, the Nokia 5 takes a lead ahead of the other S430 competitors, at least according to Basemark OS II 2.0. It's on par with the Exynos 7870 rivals here, almost matching the Galaxy A3 (2017) and J7 (2016)'s score. The Snapdragon 625 devices are a little further ahead, with the Exynos 7880-packing Galaxy A5 (2017) having a commanding advantage.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  1417
• Moto G5 Plus
  1089
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  1050
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  1031
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  1007
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  999
• Nokia 5
  982
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  832
• Moto G5
  795
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  794
• Nokia 3
  568
• Lenovo K6 Power
  281

It's slightly different in Antutu - all of the S430 devices are packed tightly, less than 800 points splitting best from worst. This benchmark does a great job of showing the difference between the S625 and S430 too - phones with the 600-series chips inside post 40% higher scores than the S430 ones - again, not the least bit unexpected.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Moto G5 Plus
  63390
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  62316
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  62217
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  61616
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  61020
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  49094
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  45742
• Lenovo K6 Power
  44115
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  44089
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  44062
• Moto G5
  43755
• Nokia 5
  43392
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  43344
• Nokia 3
  28441

In the graphics department, the Nokia 5 does well with what it's got. Raw power coming out of the Adreno 505 may not be abundant, but it's more than an adequate to drive a 720p display, as the fps numbers from the onscreen tests in GFXBench can attest.

For example, the Galaxy A5 (2017) has the most oomph, and is capable of twice the frame rate of the Nokia 5 when rendering stuff at 1080p. However, when each device needs to render the content for its respective display resolution, the Nokia 5 is able to match the A5 (2017) in frame rates, thanks to having to render a little over half the pixels. The Snapdragon 625 devices with 1080p displays can't even compete with the Nokia 5 in onscreen testing.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  9.9
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  9.8
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  9.8
• Moto G5 Plus
  9.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  7.2
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  7.2
• Lenovo K6 Power
  7.1
• Moto G5
  7.1
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  7.1
• Nokia 5
  7.1
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  5.1
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  4.9
• Nokia 3
  2.2

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  15
• Nokia 5
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  14
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  9.7
• Moto G5 Plus
  9.7
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  9.6
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  9.6
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  9.5
• Lenovo K6 Power
  7.1
• Moto G5
  7.1
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  7
• Nokia 3
  4.5

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  9.1
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  7.2
• Moto G5 Plus
  6.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  6.2
• Moto G5
  4.6
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  4.6
• Nokia 5
  4.6
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  4.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  4.5
• Lenovo K6 Power
  4.4
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.2
• Nokia 3
  1.4

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Nokia 5
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  10
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  9
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  7.3
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  6.7
• Moto G5 Plus
  6.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  6.2
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  6.1
• Moto G5
  4.6
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  4.6
• Lenovo K6 Power
  4.4
• Nokia 3
  3.2
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  3.2

GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  5.2
• Moto G5 Plus
  3.5
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  2.5
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  2.5
• Moto G5
  2.5
• Nokia 5
  2.5
• Lenovo K6 Power
  2.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  2.3
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  1.9

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Nokia 5
  5.2
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  5.2
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  5.1
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  4.9
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  3.9
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  3.7
• Moto G5 Plus
  3.5
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  3.4
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  3.4
• Moto G5
  2.5
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  2.5
• Lenovo K6 Power
  2.4

Basemark X serves to show the difference between chipset and GPU tiers. The Snapdragon 625/Adreno 506 devices post identical numbers at the top of the chart, the Snapdragon 430/Adreno 505 ones, Nokia 5 among them, are in the middle (once more with little to separate them), and the Exynos 7870/Mali-T830MP2 Galaxies are in the back. The poor Nokia 3 is nothing but an also-ran.

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
  10446
• Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
  10424
• Moto G5 Plus
  10406
• Motorola Moto Z Play
  10401
• Xiaomi Redmi 4
  7608
• Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
  7604
• Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
  7522
• Lenovo K6 Power
  7475
• Moto G5
  7475
• Nokia 5
  7316
• Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
  5383
• Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
  5160
• Nokia 3
  2210

There's little to point out when it comes to the Nokia 5's scores - it's a standard Snapdragon 430 performer. That is to say, it's adequately equipped to handle general workloads, and some mobile gaming. The 2GB of RAM don't seem to adversely affect its benchmark results, while the 720p resolution is beneficial when it comes to graphics-intense tasks.