Nokia C20 Plus review: A sturdy built but that’s it

The Nokia C20 Plus is a decent phone if not a great one and it leaves you with a mixed bag of emotions.

By: SHWETA GANJOO
| Updated on: Nov 28 2021, 19:50 IST
Nokia C20 Plus
Nokia C20 Plus (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)

HMD Global-owned Nokia has been slowly trying to woo customers back by launching an array of budget and mid-budget phones. Earlier this year, the company introduced new C-series, G-series and X-series smartphones at a global launch event. Then later, it added new smartphones to its budget C-series. One of the smartphones that it added to the list is the Nokia C20 Plus. It is the successor to the company's C20 smartphone that was launched in the beginning of this year and it competes with the likes of the Realme C21Y and Redmi 9i in India.

The Nokia C20 Plus is available in two variants in India. The 2GB+32GB variant costs INR 8,999, while the 3GB+32GB variant, which we are using for this review, costs INR 9,999. It packs a 6.5-inch display with a Unisoc processor, an 8MP primary camera, and 4,950mAh battery and it runs on Android Go, which is Google's mobile OS for low-budget smartphones.

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These specs don't necessarily help the Nokia C20 Plus stand out amid the low-budget smartphones in India, especially since the competition is stiff and rivals are offering a slightly more competitive feature range at this point. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the Nokia C20 Plus isn't worth your attention.

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We will take you through the workings of the Nokia C20 Plus in the review below. So keep reading...

Nokia C20 Plus: Design

The Nokia C20 Plus measures 165.4x75.85x9.35mm and weighs 205g. It comes with a plastic body with a fingerprint design at the back. This design makes up for a tight grip in hands and it ensures that the phone doesn't slip or slide at all. It also makes the phone smudge-proof.

Moving further, the Nokia C20 Plus has volume rockers and a power button on the right side with volume keys being placed above the power button. This makes up for an uncomfortable experience, especially while using the phone single-handedly. On the top, it has a 3.5mm jack and at the bottom, there is a charging port. At the back, there is a circular camera module that is placed in the middle on the top. Diagonally right at the bottom is the speaker. The phone lacks a fingerprint sensor and the Google Assistant button that has been a standard feature in the new Nokia phones.

Design aside, the Nokia C20 Plus is a bulky phone. While it sits comfortably in the palm of your hand and is easy to use single-handedly, it looks clunky and is heavy to hold. Overall, the Nokia C20 Plus fails to impress in the design department.

Nokia C20 Plus
Nokia C20 Plus (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)
image caption
Nokia C20 Plus (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)

Nokia C20 Plus: Display

The display is definitely one of the better features of the Nokia C20 Plus smartphone. It features a 6.5-inch HD+ display with a V-shaped notch on the top. This notch houses the phone's selfie camera. Aside from this, the Nokia C20 Plus has thin bezels on the sides and on the top and a thick chin with the Nokia logo.

In practice, the Nokia C20 Plus features a decent display that is comfortable and bright enough to be used under most circumstances barring the time when it is used directly under the sun. Also, the display lacks clarity and sharpness, which is visible even as you watch videos on it.

Nokia C20 Plus: Camera

Coming to the camera, the Nokia C20 Plus features a dual rear camera setup consisting of an 8MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 5MP selfie shooter, all of which is a step down from what the competitors are offering at a similar price point.

In terms of performance, the Nokia C20 Plus is a mixed bag. The images clicked from the rear camera setup lack depth and are sometimes underexposed. On the other hand, the images clicked in low-light conditions -- sans the flash on -- are practically unusable and full of noise. Things improve slightly in terms of clarity when the flash is on, but images seem a bit overexposed.

Coming to the front camera, the Nokia C20 Plus manages to capture decent images using the selfie shooter preserving ample details. This is true for the images captured in low-light situations as well. But in this case, clarity takes a hit. All in all, the Nokia C20 Plus leaves you with a mixed bag of emotions.

Nokia C20 Plus
Nokia C20 Plus (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)
image caption
Nokia C20 Plus (Shweta Ganjoo/HT Tech)

Nokia C20 Plus: Performance

Coming to performance, the Nokia C20 Plus is powered by a 1.6GHz Unisoc processor that is coupled with up to 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space. In practice, the phone offers a lacklustre performance. The phone is visibly slow and laggy. You can feel it struggle even with tasks as mundane as scrolling through the social media feed. It lacks a fingerprint sensor, which means that facial recognition and PIN are the only two ways you can unlock it. The former isn't adept at doing its job and tends to miss more than it hits.

On the software front, the Nokia C20 Plus has Android 11 Go Edition, which is a watered down version of Google's mobile OS. The phone also comes pre-installed with tons of Go Edition apps and bloatware, which includes apps such as MX Taka Tak, Moj, Josh and Loco to name a few. All of these apps tend to slow down the phone that already has limited space. Thankfully, you can remove a lot of these apps, which tends to make the phone speed up a little.

Coming to the audio, the Nokia C20 Plus has a single speaker that is placed at the back of the phone. While the phone is moderately loud, the sound at higher volume levels is unbearably noisy, which makes you want to take it several notches down. However, at lower volume levels, the audio isn't clear leaving the headphone jack the only way to go.

Lastly, the battery. The Nokia C20 Plus comes with a 4,950mAh battery, which the company claims will last for around two days. With moderate usage, which for me involves answering emails, surfing through social media and watching a video here and there, the battery lasted for around a day and a half.

Nokia C20 Plus: Conclusion

Now to answer your question: the Nokia C20 Plus is a decent phone if not a great one and it leaves you with a mixed bag of emotions. It offers a sturdy design with a decent display and battery life. However, it fails to make a mark on the camera front and in terms of performance.

With its C20 Plus smartphone, HMD Global wants to repackage the old-world Nokia in a phone that is relevant in the present time. However, with the stiffening competition and lacklustre performance, the Nokia C20 Plus doesn't seem to be acing the task at hand.

Rating
3 out of 5
Price
INR 8,999/-
Product Name
C20 Plus
Brand Name
Nokia
Pros
  • Sturdy design
  • Decent battery life
Cons
  • Camera
  • Bloatware
  • Poor performance
Specifications
  • 6.5-inch HD+ display
  • 1.6GHz octa-core Unisoc processor
  • 4,950mAh
  • 5MP
  • 8MP+2MP
  • 2/3GB
  • 32GB
  • Android Go

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First Published Date: 28 Nov, 19:37 IST
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