Nokia 7.2 review

Competition

The Nokia faces some stiff competition and it's not only the Xiaomis and Realmes it needs to deal with (which it very much does), but there are also Galaxies and Motos if you're outside of Asia and are somehow skeptical about the less prominent brands (which you shouldn't be).

Let's start with the Galaxy A50 - as most Samsungs today, it comes with a Super AMOLED display and it's superior to the Nokia's. It'll also comfortably outlast the 7.2 in an endurance race, while the Nokia possibly inches ahead if you have to choose between these two uninspiring camera setups.

Samsung Galaxy A50 • Motorola One Vision • Huawei P30 lite • Realme 5 Pro • Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro

The Moto One Vision would take better pictures with its primary cam than the Nokia, but it's missing an ultra wide-angle unit, which the 7.2 does have - you need to pick between the two. Battery life is similarly bad between the two, as are their somewhat flawed displays, but the Moto comes with a punch-hole selfie cam, which sometimes gets in the way. The One Vision is a bit cheaper too, which can't be a bad thing, can it?

Another of the more global players and one that pre-dates the whole US-China thing, the Huawei P30 lite is a viable alternative to the Nokia 7.2. The P30 lite has the vastly longer battery endurance and a more color-accurate display, plus an overall superior camera experience, save for the lack of 4K video recording. The Google support future of the Huaweis is shaky though, so it's worth keeping in mind.

On to the 5 Pro, one of the latest Realmes to offer fantastic value for money. Once more, the Nokia 7.2 loses badly in battery life, while also trailing significantly in performance, only to be narrowly beaten in display quality. The Realme takes nicer pictures and superior videos, too (gorgeous 1080p/60fps if that's your thing). The only minor hiccup here is that the Realme 5 Pro may not be an option to everyone looking at the Nokia 7.2, simply due to its limited regional availability.

Xiaomis have made their way to more continents through official channels, and we're looking at the Redmi Note 8 Pro as a more capable alternative to the Nokia 7.2 for the same or even less money. The Redmi has much better battery life, offers a leap in performance over the Nokia and delivers an overall superior camera experience, save for the dismal 1080p video.

Verdict

The Nokia 7.2 looked like a promising phone on paper, and we hoped it would offer the same understated goodness that we remember the 7 plus for. That ended up not being the case though.

For the price Nokia is asking for the 7.2 you can have better camera quality, superior display, longer battery life, beefier chipset - often more than one of these on the same phone. As such, the 7.2 is hard to recommend to anyone but the die-hard brand loyalist on a budget.

Pros

• Frosted glass back feels nice, is hard to find in the midrange.
• Android One delivers the Pixel experience at a fraction of the price, timely updates are nice to have too.
• Good video stabilization in 1080p/30fps.
• Has a Nokia badge?

Cons

• While decently bright, the display's prevalent blueness is nigh impossible to get rid of, black illumination is noticeable too.
• Battery life isn't competitive, neither is charging speed.
• The chipset is showing signs of age, more powerful and power-efficient options are available.
• Unimpressive camera output despite promising hardware.
• No 1080p/60fps video, meh 1080p/30fps footage.