Nokia 5.4 Review Philippines: Saved By Updates?

Review verdict: The Nokia 5.4 guarantees you’ll be able to enjoy the very best of Android 12 when it eventually rolls out in the Philippines. That can’t make up for the fact that the smartphone’s processor doesn’t fair as well as other devices in this price segment. One bright spot is that you get a number of camera features that not typically seen on most budget phones.

Pros

Clean UI with no bloatware
Receptive to future software updates

Cons

Dark display
Front camera video capture quality is limited
No fast charging

Nokia 5.4 Review Specs:

- Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
- 4GB RAM
- 128GB internal storage
- 6.39-inch IPS LCD HD+, 720×1560
- 48-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with PDAF, 5-megapixel ultrawide-angle camera, 2-megapixel macro camera, 2-megapixel depth camera
- 16-megapixel f/2.0 selfie camera
- 4G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, rear fingerprint scanner
- 4000mAh battery
- Android 10

Nokia’s been dangling the promise of prompt Android updates as well as 3 years of security support as a carrot for would-be customers ever since the brand’s resurrection by HMD Global a few years ago. It’s a strategy that has worked in the past, but customers are starting to demand more now than just swift access to the latest Android version. Is the Nokia 5.4 worth the software updates?

Design

Nokia’s design language for its devices isn’t what you’d call cutting edge. Looking at the Nokia 5.4, it’s clear that the brand is more conservative when it comes to embracing new design trends than its contemporaries, which may or may not be to your liking depending on your preference.

Our review unit comes in Polar Night and has textured dark blue wavy lines found beneath its smooth plastic finish. The other color option is Dusk which looks similar but comes in a deep purple shade. The unit itself feels pretty light compared to other smartphones of its size thanks to its mainly plastic construction.

Because of the plastic back and frame, the phone flexes a little bit when twisted. The overall finish makes it a little smudge prone, thankfully it comes with a protective case and a screen protector when you buy it.

The left side of the phone has a dedicated Google Assistant button which oddly, can’t be reconfigured to do anything else. You can turn it off though if you find that you keed hitting it by mistake all the time.

Its SIM tray can accommodate a MicroSD card and two nano SIMs. The right side holds the power and volume buttons.

A 3.5mm earphone jack is located on the top of the phone, next to a microphone pinhole. The Nokia 5.4 gets a USB Type-C port that’s flanked by another microphone pinhole and the speaker grille. On the back is its rear fingerprint sensor, a round camera module, LED flash, and the Nokia logo.

Display

You get a 6.39-inch HD+ punch-hole IPS LCD screen with 720×1560 resolution on this smartphone. Its display is dark and difficult to see under direct sunlight even at its highest brightness setting. Watching videos may appear grainy, too dark, or patchy.

Its mono speaker on the bottom is alright for a budget smartphone, though you’d be better served using earphones or a Bluetooth headset. Just know that the device runs on a dated Bluetooth 4.2 which might be an issue with some devices.

Cameras

The Nokia 5.4 comes with a 48-megapixel main camera that has a “cinema shooting mode”, which essentially allows you to shoot wide-angled videos that are stabilized compared to its default video shooting mode. Its zoom adjusts smoothly instead of blowing up the video frame-by-frame. Unfortunately, zoom isn’t available on its cinema or wide-angle shooting modes.

Shooting video on the front camera comes perpetually stuck in a cropped zoom frame. It is a significantly smaller frame than what the selfie cam photos take. Thankfully there’s a workaround for this. You can shoot videos with the 16-megapixel selfie camera in photo mode by holding down the shutter button to record. There’s an option to lock it by long-pressing and swiping up to record hands-free. It’s an unusual way to take front-facing videos but it gets the job done.

For photos, the phone does alright in properly lit environments. It also comes with a Night scene mode that’s limited to the rear camera of the device. This is a plus since dedicated night scenes are usually absent on budget phones.

Performance and battery life

The phone runs on Android 10, but like most Nokia Android phones, you’re guaranteed to get at least Android OS updates with it. And while our review unit comes with Android 10 out of the box, Nokia has started to sell devices that already has Android 11 baked in.

That means you’re guaranteed to get Android 12 in it once it arrives, and like all Nokia phones sold today, it’ll also enjoy 3 years of security updates.

The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor with 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage. As mentioned earlier, the SIM tray has a dedicated MicroSD slot that can accommodate a memory card with up to 128GB of storage.

Compared to other similarly priced phones, the Nokia 5.4 falls short in terms of performance based on our benchmarking tests. The phone’s main saving grace, software updates, may not be enough to convince many buyers since most other brands are able to deliver timely Android updates to their phones as well as bringing more powerful hardware to the table at roughly the same price point.

Our battery log test shows that the device can last up to 13 hours, 54 minutes, and 34 seconds on one charge with its Adaptive Battery technology off. According to Nokia, the 5.4 can last 2-days with the help of its Adaptive Battery technology feature turned on.

Wrap up and Conclusions

Our Nokia 5.4 Review shows that the brand’s old Android software guarantee doesn’t have the same effect that it used to, considering other companies are now stepping up their game when it comes to offering timely Android updates to their devices the Philippines.

Still, that 2-year OS update and 3-year Security Update guarantee is a great value add for people particular about the software their phone is running, though more spec-hungry users may opt to get a phone with better specs at the same price with slightly worse software support.