Nokia G60 5G Review | Decent and eco-friendly
HMD Global continues to bet on the affection that Brazilians have with the Nokia brand by announcing new devices here whenever possible. The most recent launch was the Nokia G60 5G, a mid-range smartphone with a focus on cost-effectiveness, sustainability and many years of system upgrades.
On paper, it looks interesting. But in practice, does it work? I have been following Nokia smartphone launches in Brazil for years, so no one better than me to check whether the G60 5G is a good alternative to the Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi models sold here. Here we go?
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Dated but sustainable look
If there wasn’t a Nokia logo on the device, the G60 would easily pass for any simpler Motorola Moto G — and not just by name. Its rear cameras have an arrangement almost identical to that of the Moto G52, while the drop-shaped notch is very reminiscent of the Moto E22.
This certainly takes away points in terms of originality, but it does not invalidate the entire design of the device, as its sustainable construction is the highlight. While many companies pride themselves on taking the charger out of the box, HMD Global makes a device with a back cover and frame from recycled plastic.
And the most interesting thing is that you “feel” it in the footprint of the device. The grainy texture of the back cover is very pleasant to the touch, in addition to being very beautiful.
At the bottom of the cell phone, we have a 3.5 millimeter (mm) headphone jack, USB-C input, microphone and its only sound output, since there is no stereo sound. The hybrid drawer is on the left side, supporting two operator chips or a chip and a memory card (microSD).
Good 90Hz Full HD display
Regarding the multimedia experience, the Nokia G60 5G does the “beans and rice” with its 6.58-inch IPS LCD screen and Full HD resolution. The edges around the panel are pretty thick, but shouldn’t be a problem for those who like big devices.
Overall, we have a nice mid-segment quality without too many standouts. Colors are good, the definition is interesting, and I also didn’t notice light leaks around the front camera, something relatively common in cell phones with LCD screens.
We also don’t have a 120 Hz refresh rate here, but 90 Hz is enough for good fluidity, even more so because of the “pure” Android interface.
The multimedia set is completed by a simple speaker on the bottom that suffers when playing any content, when not being able to identify the instruments. I would say that it pleases a little with content such as podcasts, but for the price range, models like the Galaxy A34 and Motorola Moto G53 deliver much better performances.
settings and performance
The Nokia G60 5G is a notch above the Nokia 5.3 and 5.4, so make the leap to the very capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor. In addition, the version that arrives in Brazil has 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, a combination that is more than enough for any day-to-day task.
In my tests, the G60 5G performed very well in most social networking, instant messaging and video streaming applications. Through the light interface, the Snapdragon 695 5G worked with some slack, so all navigation through the interface, opening applications and switching between them happened without gagging or considerable slowdowns.
In games, the Adreno 619 GPU easily handled Asphalt 9 at default settings, as well as Subway Surfers. I also did not notice an above average heating in any of the activities performed, which had a positive influence on performance and battery life.
Regarding the synthetic benchmark tests, the Nokia G60 5G achieved an overall score of 400,217 points in AnTuTu 9, placing it between the Galaxy A14 5G (361,334 points) and the Galaxy A34 5G (476,919 points). In fact, if we consider its configurations, we are talking about a more basic intermediary.
“Pure” Android and lots of updates
The Nokia G60 5G is one of the few devices currently running Android One. For those unfamiliar with the program, participating smartphones, generally basic and intermediate, are guaranteed for more than a year of system updates and slightly modified interface — the famous “pure Android”.
That said, we still have all the key features of Android One here: a three-year promise of Android and security updates, which is great for a sustainability-oriented phone like the G60 5G.
The device came with the factory-installed Android 12 operating system, but at the time of writing this review, Android 13 was already available for download. That is, it received all the customization and security innovations that other more current intermediate models, bringing only the closest interface to the Pixel line.
I like Android without modifications because it is extremely lighter than other interfaces such as One UI and MIUI, in addition to bringing almost none bloatware (pre-installed apps not very useful).
Cameras leave something to be desired
The cameras of Nokia’s new cell phones never stood out in relation to competitors, and it wasn’t with the G60 5G that this changed — in fact, from my experience with some mid-range smartphones from the brand, I felt that it got worse.
On the back, the main 50 MP camera was the only one I was able to test, as the camera app simply crashed 99% of the times I tried to switch to the ultrawide camera — it only worked once after updating to Android 13. I questioned Please contact Nokia’s advisors if there was any awareness of this issue, and I will update this review as soon as we receive a response.
In addition, the camera application is not at all intuitive, with confusing icons and little text. The Brazilian Portuguese translation of some camera modes is also not very well done.
Regarding image quality, the 50MP main camera is pretty basic. HDR is inaccurate, so in one click, the photo can display vivid colors and adequate dynamic range, and, in another attempt, completely blown sky. In my tests, everything happened very randomly.
The few photos taken with the ultrawide camera, in turn, have a lot of gain in saturation and sharpness, which makes them look like oil paintings. Here the HDR is also very imprecise, although I didn’t find it the worst of problems.
Not to say that the entire photographic set of the Nokia G60 5G was bad, the front camera even surprised me with good definition and pleasant colors. It’s nothing impressive, but in a mobile context, it’s great.
In videos, the Nokia G60 5G records at maximum Full HD with 60 frames per second (fps), which is great, but the recording quality is pretty basic too. The interesting thing about this cell phone is the Dual Sight feature, which uses both the rear and front camera for recording.
average battery
With 4,500 mAh, the battery of the Nokia G60 5G is on average for its main competitors in Brazil. Performing various everyday tasks such as games, social networks, instant messaging and watching videos on YouTube, the cell phone consumed 33% after 6 hours, with about 4 hours 45 of screen on in automatic mode.
Practically, the Nokia cell phone could last about 18 hours away from the socket in actual use. For comparison, its performance was better than that of the Galaxy A14 5G, which reached about 17 hours in the same test, and slightly inferior to that of the Galaxy M54, with approximately 20 hours.
It’s worth mentioning that usage time varies depending on the type of app, mobile network strength and various other factors. You may be able to extract a better time, but you may also need a shot in a shorter time than the tests available on the internet.
The smartphone even supports 20W fast charging, with compatible power adapter in the box, which is great.
direct competitors
Considering Nokia G60 5G configurations and price, you can think of Motorola Moto G53 5G and Galaxy A34 5G as its direct competitors. The Motorola model is more accessible, costing R$ 1,300, and delivers a 120 Hz screen, a more pleasant design and good performance with the Snapdragon 480+ 5G.
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The Galaxy A34 5G is priced more similarly to the Nokia G60, in the range of R$ 1,700, but delivers power, battery, cameras and a more premium experience. In addition, it offers up to 4 years of Android updates, against 3 years for the Nokia model.
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Is the Nokia G60 5G worth it?
The Nokia G60 5G is an intermediate cell phone with few negative points, but two of them hurt it a lot: camera and price. It arrived in Brazil in black for BRL 1,999, but it can already be found in the BRL 1,750 range, which I still consider high for the set delivered.
To compete in the tough mid-range market in Brazil, it could cost R$1,500 less, as it would compete with simpler models like the Moto G53, and not with the new Galaxy A34 and Galaxy A54, clearly better in all aspects than the company’s cell phone. Nokia.
If it arrives in the aforementioned price range, it would certainly be one of the most interesting smartphones for sale in Brazil, despite the below average cameras. Its highlight would certainly be its very interesting sustainable proposal and many years of system updates — things that some brands still do not offer.
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