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The Nokia of today is not the same company that dominated the mobile industry in the 1990s. Slowing sales saw Microsoft buy the business back in 2014, only to sell it in 2016 to the current Nokia brand holder HMD Global.
In its current iteration, Nokia manufactures and sells a wide range of smartphones at both the high and low ends of the market and has even begun rebooting classic Nokia handsets like the 3310.
Well done, Nokia
A solid effort from Nokia, placing as a finalist in the Best Tech Innovation category. Nokia’s pursuit of excellence and creativity has garnered the attention of the tech industry.
Nokia's modern smartphones span the entire breadth of the mobile market, from $1,000+ feature phones down to $100 budget handsets. This provides plenty of choice no matter what budget you're working with, but it can also present a challenge in determining which handset is right for you.
To help you wade through the sea of slick marketing and complex specifications, we've highlighted the main factors to focus on below. Keep these in mind as you compare Nokia smartphones, and you'll be better equipped to find a handset suited to your specific needs.
The built-in storage included with Nokia's smartphones varies as wildly as the handsets themselves. At the budget end of the spectrum, models like the Nokia 1 come with just 8GB of onboard storage, while the top-of-the-line Nokia 8 Sirocco is equipped with a hefty 128GB. Internal storage needn't be a make-or-break deal, though, since all Nokia handsets apart from the Nokia 8 Sirocco support external storage via a microSD card slot. This makes adding extra storage relatively cheap and easy. Just bear in mind that the only way to go beyond 128GB with the Nokia 8 Sirocco is to use online storage services like Google Drive.
Screen size can have significant impact on how you use your phone. A large display makes playing games or watching Netflix on the go a more compelling experience, but it also makes a phone less mobile and often awkward for single-hand use. In turn, smaller displays allow for compact phones that don't require two hands to operate, but limited screen real estate can lead to cramped user interfaces and poor visual experiences.
Wherever your preferences fall on the screen size debate, odds are there's a Nokia handset for you. Displays range all the way from a tiny 2.4-inch screen on the rebooted Nokia 3310 up to an expansive 6-inch screen on the Nokia 7 Plus.
More than any other factor, the price of a smartphone is what dictates whether it's a suitable choice for your situation. Forking out $1,000 for a top-of-the-line handset simply isn't an option for a lot of people. Fortunately, Nokia seems to understand this. It has a smartphone for Aussies of all budgets, from premium handsets to mid-range, budget and even sub-$100 handsets like the classic 3310.
If you prefer staggering out the cost of a smartphone rather than paying it all upfront, you can also find a number of Nokia handsets available on contract through Australian mobile providers.
Stalwart supporters of the 3.5mm headphone jack will be pleased to know that most Nokia handsets still feature the familiar port. The one current exception is the Nokia 8 Sirocco, which requires you to carry around either a USB-C to 3.5mm adaptor or a pair of Bluetooth headphones if you want to get your groove on in peace.
Protecting your smartphone is about more than just buying a heavy-duty case. Phones store a wealth of personal information that ne'er-do-wells could use against you, making data security every bit as important as the physical kind.
Most modern smartphones incorporate robust security features in their operating systems, and Nokia's handsets are no different. Along with the protection afforded by Android OS, most Nokia phones include a fingerprint sensor for keeping unwanted individuals from brute-forcing their way past your lock screen.
You don't have to look far to find a high-quality camera in a smartphone these days. Many flagship handsets can easily take the place of a dedicated digital camera, and even budget phones are often capable of taking some impressive photography.
Sadly, Nokia stands as one of the few exceptions to this rule. Camera quality is decent at best and woeful at worst, with sluggish camera app performance and poor picture quality in low-light and active environments. Be mindful of this if you love taking smartphone snaps, and be sure to check out the sample photos from our Nokia smartphone reviews.
Unsurprisingly, the front-facing selfie camera on Nokia's smartphones is no better than its rear-facing counterpart. The only consolation is the inclusion of a "bothies" feature in the Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Sirocco that allows for simultaneous capture from both the front- and rear-facing cameras. Unless you're particularly keen on documenting your every reaction to the world around you, this feature is unlikely to make up for the decidedly humdrum quality of the cameras themselves.
Fast mobile Internet requires two key components: a high-speed mobile network and a sufficiently powerful modem. The first is likely no surprise, since it's what networks like Telstra and Optus sell themselves on. The latter, meanwhile, is less obvious, as modem speeds rarely make it onto the bullet-point list of a phone's standout features. Nevertheless, the speed of a smartphone's modem dictates just how fast it can send and receive data, potentially bottlenecking even the fastest of mobile networks.
For this reason, it's worth digging into the specs of any Nokia handset you might be considering and checking the supported network category speed. Depending on the handset, this can range from the relatively slow Category 4 up to the much faster Category 12. If you want to learn more about how different categories impact mobile Internet speeds, read our guide on Network Category speeds.
Nokia has been slow to adopt advanced charging technologies, only supporting wireless charging and fast charging with the recent Nokia 8 Sirocco. Other Nokia handsets charge via traditional methods, meaning they can potentially take multiple hours to go from dead to fully charged.
It's reasonable to expect a modern smartphone battery to make it through a full day of moderate use, but Nokia's handsets often struggle to deliver in this regard. The cheaper models are especially prone to running dry part-way through the day, and because they don't support quick charging, this means leaving your phone tethered to a power point for an extended chunk of time. Only the Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Sirocco deliver truly solid battery life, so be sure to factor this in when considering a Nokia smartphone.
IP ratings are an increasingly common selling point for modern smartphones. These ratings indicate how shielded a particular handset is against solid and liquid hazards like dust and water. A high IP rating is handy not just for those who work outdoors or in messier environments, but for all phone users – you never know when some ignorant motorist is going to drive straight through a puddle and drown you in dirty water, after all.
It's unfortunate, then, that most Nokia handsets do not feature any official water or dust resistance. Only a few handsets carry an IP rating, and even then the rating typically only guarantees protection against dripping or splashing water. In short, if you're looking for a rugged smartphone, Nokia is probably not the brand for you.
Despite ongoing advances in mobile technology, sluggish performance is still a real concern in the modern smartphone market. Complex apps and flashy websites can pose a challenge to even the most powerful handsets, so it's vital to do your research before throwing down your hard-earned cash on a phone that can't keep up with your digital life.
The easiest way to assess a smartphone's performance is to read through reviews that include benchmark testing since benchmarks provide a simple yet valuable snapshot of how a specific handset stacks up against the competition. In our reviews here at finder, for instance, it is clear that Nokia's handsets tend to underperform compared to rival handsets in a similar price range. You'll need to be willing to accept this compromise in power if you're keen on joining the Nokia family.
Matt Sayer is a technology writer and editorial engineer for Finder, combining industry expertise with data-driven solutions to help people make better decisions. His extensive portfolio spans investigative reporting on the roll-out of 5G, statistical analysis on the legacy of E3 and guides for popular products like mobile phones and smart speakers. Matt has a Bachelor of Computer Science from RMIT University and is passionate about finding ways that technology can better our lives.
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