NOKIA X30 5G – ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE enough to trash it?
Ever since Nokia got back on track in the mobile phone world, there have been rare occasions where I have been able to get my hands on their products. I won't stay here to tell you the story of the brand, which has always been appreciated at a hardware level, a little less at a software level (Windows Phone) and therefore the new approach with Android OS could be the perfect combination for a big comeback style. Today, thanks to the press office of the historic brand, which today responds to the name of HMD Global, we bring you a review of their current spearhead, a mid-range in reality, which has also made headlines for its sustainability towards the environment Curious? Well then sit back for the Nokia X30 5G review.
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On offer on Amazon
SALES PACKAGE
Let's start by saying that with the purchase of a Nokia X30 5G, the company will plant 20 trees, giving a breath of fresh air to our planet increasingly affected by pollution. The ecological vocation of the Nokia X30 5G can be seen from the first contact with the sales package, compact and made of recycled cardboard. Inside we find the smartphone, the clip for opening the SIM tray and only the USB Type-C charging and data transfer cable. No earphones, protective cover but above all power supply, which you will have to buy separately considering a maximum charge supported at 33W. Also missing is a film to protect the display. Well on the one hand the ecological soul, but then why insert so many manuals, when for the good of the environment it would have been enough to insert a QR Code that referred to the manuals? As for the protective case, you can find compatible ones directly on Amazon or take thein its original form, at the price of €24,99, directly on the official Nokia store.
DESIGN AND MATERIALS
The sustainability of Nokia X30 5G does not only pass through the packaging and the initiative of the 20 trees planted for each device sold but also through the construction of the device itself, such as to define the device as the most environmentally friendly smartphone ever produced so far. In fact, the mid-range branded Nokia is made entirely with recycled materials, starting from a 100% recycled aluminum frame and back cover obtained using 65% recycled plastic. Recycled does not mean less resistant, indeed in terms of construction and assembly our Nokia is beautiful, solid, robust and resistant.
In terms of size, Nokia X30 5G has dimensions equal to 158.9 x 73.9 x 8 mm and a weight of 185 grams, making it comfortable to keep even in your pocket and without weighing down your hands and wrists after prolonged use. As already anticipated, the frame is in aluminum with satin finishes on the entire surface and glossy in the frames of the frame, recalling the style of the camera bump, where we find 2 optics and the LED flash as well as the writing "50MP OIS Camera" which made me bode well in terms of photo and video performance. The back cover is made of plastic, also recycled, with a good oleophobic treatment meaning a high aversion to dirt and fingerprints. There are two colors available, the Cloudy Blue or the Ice White, the latter in my possession. Clean lines and slightly squared shapes that help the grip with the device, but the weight distribution is not perfect, so you will have to be careful to unlock the smartphone with the fingerprint, whose sensor is positioned below the display, as you could incur bad falls of the device.
On the left profile we do not find disturbing elements while the volume rocker and the on / off button are mirrored, which can also be used (if held down) to call up the Google voice assistant. Nokia has dedicated the upper side to two microphones for capturing stereo sound in video and with noise reduction function in calls, while the main microphone is located below, Type-C input for charging with OTG support (no output video), the mono speaker and the SIM tray capable of hosting two in nano format but the memory expansion by means of a micro SD card is absent. Also noteworthy is the presence of the IP67 certification.
DISPLAY AND AUDIO
Frontally, Nokia X30 5G is confirmed with a traditional design, adopting a display that incorporates a central punch hole that encloses the selfie camera while the edges appear rather thin on the sides but more pronounced on the upper and lower sides, all rigorously protected by a Corning glass Gorilla Glass Victus, one of the most resistant around. As anticipated, we find a biometric reader under the display, well positioned but poco efficient in unlocking and daily use. Fortunately, there is the facial release which instead proved to be reliable even in low ambient light conditions.
The display adopted by Nokia X30 5G is a beautiful OLED panel with a 6.43 inch diagonal in 20:9 and FullHD + resolution, whose peak brightness reaches 700 nits, a value that is not exaggerated which does not guarantee that a use with satisfaction in spring or in summer, as well as offering a 90 Hz refresh rate. Widevine L1 certification is not missing for high quality streaming but unfortunately there is no compatibility with HDR10 / HDR10+ video standards nor Dolby Vision. In consideration of the selling price, I would have expected something more, although it must be recognized that the quality of the contents on the screen is quite good, with excellent color fidelity and viewing angles. At the software level, the settings are scarce but we can change the white balance, enable the adaptive refresh rate and poco other. Discreetly performed by the brightness sensors calibrated in a conservative way while the proximity sensor, the latter of a physical type, avoids the unpleasant situations experienced with Redmi / Xiaomi / devicesPOCO. Finally, there is the possibility of reviving the screen with a double tap or by lifting the phone, a watchful screen function that is, it will not turn off recognizing that you are looking at it other than Always On Display.
The audio is unfortunately mono, powerful but not as immersive as I would have expected. Overall, you can enjoy watching TV series and other multimedia content, but the absence of stereo sound in comparison to competitors does not score a point in favor of this smartphone. On the other hand, good microphones that capture the voice with extreme clarity, cutting external noise equally well, an excellent thing in conversation during city traffic, where in the capsule the quality is very good.
HARDWARE, PERFORMANCE AND CONNECTIVITY
Nokia positions this X30 5G in the mid-range of the market, which from my personal point of view is not a strategically indicated decision, on the contrary I would say counterproductive, because if on the one hand it is true that on an economic level the device is more accessible in terms of users, in same range we find too many devices that offer a lower price and a much higher quality/price/performance ratio, such as the recent POCO F5.
Speaking purely of the technical data sheet, under the hood of the Nokia X30 5G we find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, a 6nm octacore solution with a maximum clock of 2.2 GHz which is accompanied by the Adreno 619 GPU and compatibility with 5G networks. For the Italian and European market, there is only one version with 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage, with no possibility of expansion. In everyday life, the phone runs well without particular slowness problems with the possibility of use even in gaming with a good stable framerate and temperatures always under control. A hardware that runs well but which is actually more suitable for devices with a lower cost than that of the Nokia X30 5G, in fact when you ask it to give an extra push, the effort is felt all over and in multitasking you notice how this processor does bottleneck to the system.
Ok connectivity: Dual-type 5G, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, dual GPS, Dual WiFi, FM radio and the possibility of using an eSIM, not obvious in the mid-range, almost a rarity, are present. However, it should be noted that the modules used are not of the latest generation, although overall they all work very well. On the other hand, uncertainty in the connection speed of the smartphone, which in my case has always been subjected to 4G+ as I was unable to benefit from 5G services: in fact, at times I found myself having to disconnect the data module to restart the connection, as if it had remained blocked without real data reception.
SOFTWARE
Nokia's software is based on the Android One project, in fact Android 12 completely stock and free of any bloatware. The company promises a 3-year OS and security update plan, but at the moment, despite some time having passed since the official launch, we still find version 12 of the green robot and the March 2023 patch on board, therefore promises are currently not fully kept.
Net of this, the operating system is fluid and the interface is minimal and simple without giving up the typical features of smartphones with stock Android. The Google apps are the masters, but also the presence of the FM radio and an integrated VPN. However, the sometimes inaccurate translations are out of tune, such as those present in the Camera app as well as a slightly annoying bug due to the system launcher: every time you return to the home you will inevitably notice a noticeable slowdown in the animations. I'm inclined to think that it's a good thing that Nokia didn't develop its own UI otherwise the bugs would have been even more. Another strange thing is the telephone dialer, basically the stock one from Google, but although the terminal is ultra-certified it does not allow you to make telephone recordings, while on devices such as Xiaomi / Redmi /POCO this is allowed. Oddities…
CAMERA AND VIDEO
Reading the wording 50 MP OIS Camera on the bump camera gave me great hopes in terms of photographic and video performance. doing some research, however, I discovered that the lens used (GN5) is the same as the Samsung Galaxy S22 but on balance, after a few shots and videos, I had to repent of the positive reviews. The 50MP primary lens precisely, with an f/1.9 aperture which enjoys both optical and electronic stabilization, returns good shots during the day but above all in terms of video performance it offers poor quality. Not so much for the colors captured but above all because the videos can be recorded at a maximum of 1080p 60fps without stabilization, which comes into action only at 1080p 30fps, where we find many inaccuracies and frame drops comparable to the Nokias of decades ago are also recognized. Snappy and focused videos that sometimes struggle to recover, where the only strong point is the audio capture by the microphones.
As secondary optics Nokia has inserted a 16 MP ultrawide with 123 ° FOV and f / 2.4 aperture. In reality, even for photos the results are fluctuating, sometimes excellent and in other cases we find an "unbalanced" white balance, details poco marked and insufficient dynamic range, especially in the sun. It suffers indoors, where the smartphone does not manage shutter speeds well and the photos will often be blurry. Even at night the results are Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hide despite the company pushing on the Night mode, with apparently brilliant features, such as the one called Tripod, but which overall does not behave much better than other competitors.
The front camera is 16MP, but since it is a 4 in 1 sensor, the shots are in fact at 4MP, with good and realistic color rendering, with lots of detail and fairly saturated colors. Even with the front lens we can enjoy stabilization, but only digital, but only for videos at 1080p 30 fps, while without this function we can get to record at 1080p 60fps, ideal for vlogs at home or where we don't need movement. It just needs to be understood whether this poor performance can be resolved with one or more software updates or if everything is related to the processor and therefore we must keep this Nokia X30 5G as it is.
AUTONOMY
Considering software and hardware that are not at the top, exaggerated autonomy is expected from the 4200 mAh battery inserted under the body, as promised by the manufacturer up to 2 full days. Unfortunately this is not the case, at least in my use, I have always arrived in the evening but with a minimum charge residue. With a probable 33W power supply it is possible to fully charge the smartphone in poco more than an hour but I often had to give the recharge a tap during the day, in order not to risk finding myself with the phone switched off. Luckily I was able to deactivate the AOD otherwise I would not have arrived in the afternoon. In some cases, however, I managed to touch the 7 hours of active screen, but I think it's a calculation error of the battery app, because in the day in which I recorded this data, I didn't use the smartphone much (perhaps it added the data of two days ). Finally, I signal that wireless charging is absent. It must be said that my specimen has passed through the hands of many reviewers, so I would not like it to have done any "damage". Too bad and strange because Nokia also certifies the battery up to 800 recharge cycles.
On offer on Amazon
PRICE AND CONCLUSIONS
During the course of this review I unfortunately had to highlight significant "inaccuracies" that become unforgivable faults in relation to the price. The competition surrounding this Nokia X30 5G is fierce both in terms of performance and price, putting the device even more in a bad light, which taken individually does not totally disappoint, but at present it is struggling to capture the hearts of users. On the official Nokia store, the X30 5G is offered at €449 (the day-one price list was €599), the same price you can find it on Amazon, but at least here you have the opportunity to try it and proceed with the return .
In any case, we are talking about an important figure which in fact has nothing exceptional that can justify such a high price. It is a smartphone that does not keep its promises, such as for autonomy, OS updates, the exceptional night performance, if not that of sustainability. Its ideal price? In my opinion (I don't want to exaggerate) but its placement is equal to 279 maximum 299 euros, so if you find it at this price then I can recommend it otherwise bet on something else.
