Finally, Nokia has expanded its 5 series by launching Nokia 5.3 in Nepal after 6 months of India-launch. The phone has been unveiled with the target of posing a competition to already existing budget phones in Nepal. With Nokia’s brand and well-known durability, Nokia 5.3 can lure the Nepalese market with its unique design. The phone offers exciting features with some compromises too. So, let’s find out what the phone is capable of and if it can be the best option for you or not.
Nokia 5.3 Overview
Build & Display
Nokia has definitely cut some corners from the design perspective to lower the price. They have used Corning Gorilla Glass 3 instead of 5 on the front and plastic on the back. In terms of display, the phone has a 6.55″ HD+ IPS LCD display panel with 720 x 1600 pixels resolution. We have seen the phones with FHD+ display at this price segment but HMD Global has decided not to include it.
Performance
Talking about performance, the phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 which is an octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver) processor. This is a decent processor for the price, which has been provided by some of its competitors in Nepalese market. On top of that, there is Adreno 610 GPU to handle graphics intensive tasks as well. So, we can be sure, the phone would do pretty good in terms of performance, if not the best.
Camera
The phone looks unique with circular camera bump on the back. The camera module holds quad-cameras with 13MP, f/1.8 primary lens, 5MP ultra wide camera, 2MP macro lens and 2MP depth sensor. The rear camera can even record 4k videos at 30FPS. The company has provided an 8MP front facing camera for selfies. The camera hardware doesn’t seem too promising but with Nokia’s image processing, we can expect good pictures from cameras, at least on day-light.
Battery & Charging
The phone offers a 4000mAh battery which is quite small with today’s standards. But, with an efficient chipset and lower-resolution display, it should last a day with low to moderate usage. The company has claimed that it can last two days with an AI-assisted adaptive battery. We will have to wait and see if the claim is just a gimmick or not. You can charge the phone with a 10W USB 2.0 Type-C charger. We have seen the phones with the same chip-set, like Redmi Note 8, capable of 18W charging but Nokia 5.3 isn’t. So, charging the device can take a while.
Other Features
The device is one of the few phones that comes with the Android One program from Google. The company has promised two years of software upgrade and three years of security updates (upto Android 12). So, we should see fewer bugs and glitches on the phone for at least two years. The phone has a physical fingerprint scanner at the back for security. The phone comes with 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM configurations and with 64GB ROM options. But, the variant available in Nepal is only with 4GB/64GB configuration. We can expand storage with a micro-SD card as well.
Nokia 5.3: Specifications
| Display | 6.55-inch IPS LCD display 1600 x 720 resolution 450 ppi 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 Mobile Platform |
| GPU | Adreno 610 |
| RAM | 4GB/6GB |
| Storage | 32GB/64GB, MicroSD Support |
| Rear Camera | Rear: 13 MP, f/1.8, PDAF 5MP ultra wide 2MP macro 2MP depth |
| Front Camera | Front: 8 MP, f/2.0 |
| Battery | 4,000 mAh Non-removable 10W charging |
| Networks | GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA: Band 1, 2, 5, 8 LTE: Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40 |
| Connectivity | USB-C Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.2 |
| Software | Android 10 Part of Android One |
| Dimensions and weight | 164.3 x 76.6 x 8.5 mm 180 g |
| Colors | Cyan, Sand, Charcoal |
Nokia 5.3 Price in Nepal:
The Nokia 5.3 is now available in the Nepal market with a price tag of NPR. 23,499 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant. The phone comes in Cyan, Sand, and Charcoal colors.
| Model | Variant | Price in Nepal | Colors |
| Nokia 5.3 | 4GB + 64 GB | NPR. 23,499 | Cyan, Sand, and Charcoal |
