The Nokia 7 was a China-exclusive from two years ago, while the 7 plus went global and was a bit of an unsung hero back in early 2018, offering a lot of phone at a very reasonable price. The 7.1 wasn’t quite its spiritual successor, slipping instead into a slightly lower tier in the midrange. We now have the Nokia 7.2 with us and we’ll attempt to answer the question whether the 7-series is happy where the 7.1 took it, or it wants back to the plus’ level.

 

 

 

 

 

One thing straight off the 7 plus is the chipset and we’re not entirely certain that’s a good thing. The Snapdragon 660 is plenty powerful, sure, but is now more than two years old and more efficient options are available. At least you can spec the 7.2 with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with the base model not coming with the .1’s measly 3/32GB but the plus’ 4/64GB.

Shared with that model are the overall dimensions too – while the 7.1 was a smaller phone, the 7.2 is back to plus size. But the build quality differs and the new phone has a composite frame that may be as tough as and lighter than aluminum, but it’s not strictly premium to the touch, which the 7 plus did manage.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, the Nokia 7.2 comes with a 6.3-inch IPS display bringing a significant increase in area over the 7.1. Helping with that is also the notch – Nokia‘s shifted some components around and now it it only holds the selfie camera, making for a smaller cutout.

What’s not small is the camera bump on the back, but it’s got a bunch of cameras to show for it – a 48MP Quad Bayer primary unit is joined by an ultra wide angle 8MP module and a 5MP depth sensor. So it does have one more meaningful camera than the 7.1, but still omits a telephoto, which the 7 plus did have.

Nokia 7.2 specs :

Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

The specsheet is nothing out of the ordinary, but we do mention the notification LED as it’s inside the power button, which we hadn’t seen before. We hadn’t seen a 10W charger in a while either, and that’s less exciting. What else is in the package, you ask?

Nokia 7.2 unboxing

The Nokia 7.2 comes in a compact flat box with a photo of two people shaking hands and the outline of the phone printed on it. Get it? Nokia – connecting people. Inside it, the phone sits to the right, its plastic sleeve pointing at the Google Assistant dedicated button.

 

 

 

 

To the left of the phone is a box that holds the accessories. You get a basic 5V/2A adapter, a USB-A-to-C cable, and an inexpensive-looking set of earbuds. Essentially, you have the basics covered to get started, perhaps a freebie case was too much to ask for.

Competition

The Nokia faces some stiff competition and it’s not only the Xiaomis and Realmes it needs to deal with (which it very much does), but there are also Galaxies and Motos if you’re outside of Asia and are somehow skeptical about the less prominent brands (which you shouldn’t be).

 

 

 

 

Let’s start with the Galaxy A50 – as most Samsungs today, it comes with a Super AMOLED display and it’s superior to the Nokia‘s. It’ll also comfortably outlast the 7.2 in an endurance race, while the Nokia possibly inches ahead if you have to choose between these two uninspiring camera setups.

 

 

Samsung Galaxy A50 • Motorola One Vision • Huawei P30 lite • Realme 5 Pro • Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro

 

 

The Moto One Vision would take better pictures with its primary cam than the Nokia, but it’s missing an ultra wide-angle unit, which the 7.2 does have – you need to pick between the two. Battery life is similarly bad between the two, as are their somewhat flawed displays, but the Moto comes with a punch-hole selfie cam, which sometimes gets in the way. The One Vision is a bit cheaper too, which can’t be a bad thing, can it?

Another of the more global players and one that pre-dates the whole US-China thing, the Huawei P30 lite is a viable alternative to the Nokia 7.2. The P30 lite has the vastly longer battery endurance and a more color-accurate display, plus an overall superior camera experience, save for the lack of 4K video recording. The Google support future of the Huaweis is shaky though, so it’s worth keeping in mind.

On to the 5 Pro, one of the latest Realmes to offer fantastic value for money. Once more, the Nokia 7.2 loses badly in battery life, while also trailing significantly in performance, only to be narrowly beaten in display quality. The Realme takes nicer pictures and superior videos, too (gorgeous 1080p/60fps if that’s your thing). The only minor hiccup here is that the Realme 5 Pro may not be an option to everyone looking at the Nokia 7.2, simply due to its limited regional availability.

Xiaomis have made their way to more continents through official channels, and we’re looking at the Redmi Note 8 Pro as a more capable alternative to the Nokia 7.2 for the same or even less money. The Redmi has much better battery life, offers a leap in performance over the Nokia and delivers an overall superior camera experience, save for the dismal 1080p video.

 

 

 

 

Verdict

The Nokia 7.2 looked like a promising phone on paper, and we hoped it would offer the same understated goodness that we remember the 7 plus for. That ended up not being the case though.

For the price Nokia is asking for the 7.2 you can have better camera quality, superior display, longer battery life, beefier chipset – often more than one of these on the same phone. As such, the 7.2 is hard to recommend to anyone but the die-hard brand loyalist on a budget.

Pros

• Frosted glass back feels nice, is hard to find in the midrange.
• Android One delivers the Pixel experience at a fraction of the price, timely updates are nice to have too.
• Good video stabilization in 1080p/30fps.
• Has a Nokia badge?

Cons

• While decently bright, the display’s prevalent blueness is nigh impossible to get rid of, black illumination is noticeable too.
• Battery life isn’t competitive, neither is charging speed.
• The chipset is showing signs of age, more powerful and power-efficient options are available.
• Unimpressive camera output despite promising hardware.
• No 1080p/60fps video, meh 1080p/30fps footage.