In the Geekbench 5 single- and multicore tests, the Nokia G21 scored 311 and 1,190, which is about on a par with the Moto G31, but trails slightly behind the Nokia 5.4. Predictably, not a single one of these phones is a match for the pricier Xiaomi Redmi Note 11. This doesn’t ruin the overall experience of using a Nokia G21, but phones costing not much more have managed to make the real-world performance differences between cheap Android devices and more expensive models start to disappear.

Nokia G21 review: A low-cost letdown | Expert Reviews Nokia G21 review: A low-cost letdown | Expert Reviews

However, what you shouldn’t expect is what the high-res sensor appears to promise: detail. The Nokia G21’s images don’t hold up as expected when zoomed-in. They’re a tad soft down at pixel level, and dense textures such as the leaves of distant trees just don’t look all that realistic up-close. Ark: Survival Evolved had a slideshow-like quality with the graphics maxed-out. To get it to a nicely smooth playable speed we had to set the graphics to “low” and bring down the resolution, making it look more like a PS2 game.

With just a few positives and more than a few negatives, the Nokia G21 is a bit of a disappointment

Gameloft’s Asphalt 9 ran much better. The frame rate wasn’t perfect, but it was completely playable at “high” graphics settings. We’ve seen theoretically more powerful phones run the game far worse, suggesting that either Gameloft has made some optimizations, or that the version of the game 720p phones run is less taxing than the one 1080p Androids get. Cameras The Nokia G21’s primary camera is a 50MP (f/1.8) affair, and this is aided by a pair of 2MP depth and macro sensors, which are mostly redundant. You might not get much use out of these secondary lenses, but the good news is that the main camera is surprisingly competent for a phone as cheap as this. On the flip side, consumer-friendly additions include a 3.5mm headphone port on the top edge, with space for two nano-SIMs as well as a microSD card. The Nokia G21 charges via USB-C at the bottom, delivering a maximum 18W of power to the phone’s large 5,050mAh battery. Gaming is a slightly better story, with the G21 achieving an average onscreen frame rate of 25fps in the GFXBench Manhattan 3 onscreen test. Both the Moto G31 and Redmi Note 11 scored lower in the same benchmark, although it’s worth noting that the latter is rendered at a higher 1080p resolution. Sadly, battery life is another weak point. The Nokia G21 isn’t anything special, with a score of just 17hrs 33mins in our standardised battery test. That might be a three-hour improvement on last year’s Nokia 5.4, but it’s nowhere close to the Moto G31’s result of almost 24 hours.

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The Nokia G21 has a high-capacity 5,050mAh battery that Nokia claims can last up to three days between charges. Given two-day use is the typical optimistic claim we hear, this is a big one.You should consider its real-world impact on gaming, though. Fortnite wouldn’t install at all, listing the phone as unsupported, even though the 4GB of RAM should have meant the Nokia G21 met the minimum requirements. The Nokia G21 has a slightly unusual Unisoc processor, the T606. This entry-level SoC is only used in cheap phones such as the Samsung Galaxy A03 and the step-down Nokia G11. Third on the list is the BoerHang Armor Case for Nokia G21. The inner surface of this case adopts a soft TPU design, thin and durable. The outer surface of the protective shell adopts a textured design and a non-slip and scratch-resistant material design which does not fade. The four corners strengthen the protection design. The protective shell is higher than the screen and camera, which can protect the phone more effectively. Note, too, that the panel’s native color temperature is cool, leaning towards blueish whites. However, you can tweak this in the Settings menu. We think it looks better with the slider nudged over to “warm”. Images aren’t mind-blowing, but for the price, you’re getting pictures that have a good amount of detail, well-judged auto exposure and accurate colour representation. Some of the low-light shots are a bit on the grainy side, but there’s still a lot to like here.