Nokia 5.4 First Impressions: A decent start

The phone looks drop-dead gorgeous and it is extremely comfortable to use.

Nokia 5.4 (HT Tech)

HMD Global launched the Nokia 5.4 along with the Nokia 3.4 and the Nokia Power Earbuds Lite in India today. The phone was first unveiled by the company in December last year and it succeeds the Nokia 5.3 that was launched in India back in August 2020. The phone starts at ₹13,999 for the base variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space. The other variant comes with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space and it costs 15,499 in the country. It targets the budget buyers who want a stylish smartphone along with a fuss-free authentic Android experience (don't we all just love that!).

Now, the question is does it live to the hype of brand name Nokia?

The answer is - mostly yes.

Looks gorgeous!

The Nokia 5.4 looks quite similar to the Nokia 5.3 from a distance, but you move a little closer and you'd realise that it features a smaller 5.39-inch full-screen display with a punch-hole display that is stacked towards the left. The overall display is bright and vibrant.

Turn it around and you see a gorgeous back, which is an absolute pleasure to look at. The Nokia 5.4 comes in Polar Night and Dusk colour variants with glossy gradient finish. Nokia says the phone's design is inspired by Nordic nature. On the top, you see a circular camera module with two Polar Night-coloured concentric circles (since I am using that colour variant). This camera module sits right on top of the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Overall, the phone looks drop-dead gorgeous and it is extremely comfortable to use.

Nokia 5.4 (HT Tech)

Nokia 5.4 (HT Tech)

Good cameras

The Nokia 5.4 comes with a quad-rear camera setup consisting of a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. This rear camera setup is one of the good things about this phone. It captures sharp images when there is ample light. It does the same with Night Mode on. On the front, the phone has a 16-megapixel selfie camera, which captures Insta-ready images in well-lit conditions. There is a beauty mode that lets you play around your selfie. While the images clear in ample light conditions, the phone fails to impress when it comes to low-light conditions. More on that in the coming days in our in-depth review of the device.

Clean Android experience

One of many things that I love about this phone besides the design is its clean Android experience. The Nokia 5.4 runs on Android 10 and it is Android 11 ready. It is a part of Google's Android One program, which means that you get a squeaky clean Android experience, which I found a delight to use. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 SoC, which coupled with up to 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage space makes for a comfortable experience. The phone has a 4,000mAh battery that lasts for a little over a day during my limited time with the phone.

My biggest issue with the phone, so far, is its biometric authentication system. The face recognition system is mostly a no-show and the fingerprint sensor is a bit spotty. I'll give it a couple of more days before arriving at a final conclusion.