Nokia 2.3 review

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HMD Global's general market position for its Nokia handsets has, with only a few exceptions, focused squarely on the budget market. The Nokia 2.3 couldn't be much more budget-centric, and it shows off everything the Finnish company does so well in this space. There's not much in the way of a "standout" feature on the Nokia 2.3, but there is a focus on getting the basics right.

Design

Design

• 6.2-inch HD+ display
• Teardrop-style notch
• No fingerprint sensor
• Range of three colour choices

• Read our full review of the Nokia 2.3's design

  The design language of the Nokia 2.3 closely follows just about every other HMD Global-produced Nokia phone. It's essentially unfussy, and in the "charcoal" colour as tested, it's also rather businesslike, although you could alternatively opt for the slightly more showy Sand or Cyan Green colours if that better suits your taste.

  At the front, you'll be facing down a 6.2-inch HD+ (720x1520) LCD display, which isn't much of a surprise on a low-cost smartphone. The Nokia branding sits on a rather prominent lower chin bezel, while the top features a small teardrop style notch for the front-facing camera.

  

  At 157.69 x 75.41 x 8.68mm, it's moderate in size in the hand and just a little bit slippery too. You can't miss that this is a plastic body phone.

  What you might miss is the presence of a fingerprint sensor. It's not on the back. It's not on the side. It's not one of those fancy in-display readers either.

  

  It's simply absent, and while the Nokia 2.3 does offer face unlock, this is a less-than-secure simple camera-identification method rather than a more complex 3D face-mapping technology. If you want secure, choose a complex passcode or at least a PIN instead.

Camera

Camera

• Simple 13MP camera with depth sensor
• Portrait mode is rather slow

• See sample photos and read our full review of the Nokia 2.3's camera

  The price range of the Nokia 2.3 doesn't give HMD Global a lot of space to throw exciting camera features into play, but using it, gave me a reminder of just how good cheap camera optics have become over the years.

  The primary lens on the back of the Nokia 2.3 is a 13MP f/2.2 sensor, assisted with a 2MP depth-sensing lens. Like so many of its counterparts, you never use that 2MP lens directly; it's just there to give focus effects while shooting, most notably for portrait shots.

  Now, if you do push the Nokia 2.3 hard in any real way – shooting fast action or in low light – its limitations very quickly become apparent. HMD Global talks up its onboard AI-assisted camera imaging, but based on my own tests, it's not doing all that much to push the Nokia 2.3 above and beyond what I'd expect at this price point.

  Throw the Nokia 2.3 into selfie portrait mode, and you'll definitely see the AI working because it takes considerable post-processing time between shots. Still, even with that in play, it produces AI-based bokeh effects that do feel rather artificial and forced.

  All of this points to a phone that's perfectly fine for photos within its price bracket. Anyone expecting photographic brilliance at under $200 is living in a dream world anyway.

  Nokia 2.3 sample photos

  

Performance

Performance

• MediaTek Helio A22 is rather sluggish
• Slow 4G LTE potential
• Android One keeps it updated

• View test results and read our full review of the Nokia 2.3's performance

  The Nokia 2.3 runs on a MediaTek Helio A22 processor with just 2GB of RAM, which means that it's actually running the exact same set-up that its predecessor, the Nokia 2.2 did. MediaTek's processors are widely used in the budget sector because they're very affordable. What they're not, typically speaking, is fast.

  Our regular benchmark for this purpose, Geekbench 5 wouldn't even install on the Nokia 2.3. Is that a step up from the Nokia 2.2, which would install but not run that benchmark? I'm not entirely sure.

  3D performance benchmark 3DMark would install, and not surprisingly, the Nokia 2.3 tracks identically in this test to its slightly smaller predecessor:

  The Nokia 2.3 in everyday use is a slow and often sluggish phone, even given that it's running on the Android One platform with an absolute minimum of bloatware on board.

  The big advantage of Android One is that it's guaranteed at least two years' worth of updates, including full OS updates down the track. That's essentially unheard of in the budget sector, and while the review model supplied was running Android 9, it should see both Android 10 and Android 11 down the track.
  

  That slow performance even extends to its 4G LTE compatibility. It's a CAT4 LTE device, which means that it can't push beyond a 150MBps downstream speed, and that's in ideal conditions. While mobile networks can vary a lot by location, time and network pressures, the Nokia 2.3 is never going to be a quick phone in any circumstance.

Battery life

Battery life

• 4000mAh battery is a good inclusion at this price
• MicroUSB charging is showing its age

• View test results and read our full review of the Nokia 2.3's battery life

  The larger frame of the Nokia 2.3 relative to the Nokia 2.2 has allowed HMD Global to significantly upscale its battery capacity relative to its predecessor. At this price point, you don't see too many phones with 4,000mAh batteries, which is what the Nokia 2.3 is packing.

  HMD Global's claim is that it gives the Nokia 2.3 "up to" two days of battery life. That's obviously going to be relative to your usage of it.

  Running our standard battery test with a full-screen YouTube video at full brightness and moderate volume saw the battery drop from 100% down to 91%. That's moderate within the limited range of budget phones we've run through that particular test:

  In more anecdotal testing, that "up to two days" claim mostly stands up as long as you take it to mean you'll need to charge at some point during the second day. Charging is annoyingly via microUSB rather than the newer USB-C standard. Again that's no doubt a pricing play, but other budget makers have started to make the shift to USB-C, and it'd be nice to see Nokia/HMD Global do likewise.

Verdict

Verdict

• A bigger, slightly better phone than the Nokia 2.2

Should you buy it?

When you're buying a budget phone, compromise is the name of the game. The Nokia 2.3 doesn't do much to stand out from the pack with mediocre processor performance and slow charging, but it balances that against the presence of a larger battery than many phones in this price space and the promise of Android updates in a field where you're often lucky to see just one security update.

Essentially, it does little exciting, but also little that's markedly wrong for the asking price. It's always worth shopping around, but the Nokia 2.3 should certainly be in your comparison list when doing so.

Pricing and availability

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Specifications