India and Nokia had such a strong relationship through the entire early years of the mobile phone that it hasn’t been forgotten even now. In fact, the company, now in a totally different and Chinese avatar, is riding on the nostalgia and love people feel for the brand and making quite a bit of headway, not only with its feature phones but with Android smartphones. It has fierce competition however and can’t afford to rest on the laurels of the past.

Hoping to consolidate their renewed footprint in India, Nokia has just brought in the Nokia 4.2, a smartphone first shown at the Mobile World Congress in February this year along with four other devices, and now already launched in some markets.

This is a ‘small’ phone by today’s standards since it’s just 5.71 inches instead of the now 6’-something all other phones are. Many people really miss the option of a small phone, so the size is really a minus, that’s a plus.

Though it’s slippery and doesn’t come with a case, it’s easy to grip because it’s narrow and small enough. It’s polycarbonate body feels nice in the hand and specially comfortable when on calls. Curved glass and rounded edges soften the feel to add to the comfort.

Breathing light

On the back, you notice two camera lenses down the middle of the phone. Under that, there’s a fingerprint sensor and the Nokia logo placed vertically. The back has a nice neat look. We got the black variant to look at but there’s a pretty creamy pink one as well which looks nicer and more contemporary.

The other starkly noticeable thing about this phone is when it’s switched on and working. Then, the power button lights up piercingly bright with its built-in light. Some may like this feature but it constantly glows fading in and out and is too bright and it was bothering me a great deal, catching my eye wherever it was placed. You can turn it off, but I didn’t find anywhere to control the brightness and it’s just too prominent.

On the other side, under the volume button, is a rapid response button to call up the Google Assistant. Nokia touts this as a highlight of the device because the 4.2 is an Android One phone, sticking to the stock version given by Google with no resource wasting customisations and interfaces.

The button is actually a triple-action one and gives you access to different parts of your Google information depending on single, double or long press. The version of Android on this device is 9 Pie, of course, and it will get all the security updates that Google puts out right on cue.

These features will not however really be unique to the Nokia phone and that includes the Google Assistant button. All the same, it does react rather quickly — faster than you can even say OK Google — and is useful.

Some disappointments

Whether one loves the Nokia brand or not, there are still some disappointments on the 4.2. The first of these is its screen. It’s quite short of brightness, but that’s not the main issue. It’s a 720x1520 LCD HD+ display and has rather bad viewing angles and looks dull. That means, if you just tilt it around, it no longer looks bright enough to see.

We’re no longer used to seeing displays that remind us of phones about seven years ago, even at really affordable price points now. There’s a pea-sized notch on this display allowing the top bezel to be quite thin, but there’s also a fairly thick bezel on the bottom, giving the front an overall asymmetrical and not-very-neat look.

For all that, the display is super responsive and snappy, so on that front there are no doubts. It may be working on a mid-range processor, but it’s still smooth and fast for basic tasks. We don’t expect heavy gamers to opt for this particular device in any case. Here, the software and its optimisation ensures the phone functions smoothly.

The fingerprint sensor on the back works fast enough, though it can’t be compared with those on expensive phones. There’s even a face unlock that is quite convenient. The 4.2 works with a 3000mAh battery which gives good battery life. The phone is a dual-SIM and can take a Micro-SD card. There are two storage variants: 16GB with 2GB RAM and 32GB with 3GB RAM. These are rather low specs when the competition far exceeds them. The processor is a Snapdragon 439 octa-core with Adreno 505.

There may be two cameras on the rear — 13-megapixel (f/2.2, 1.12-micron) + 2-megapixel (f/2.2, 1.75-micron), but performance is average at best. The camera app is or simplistic with minimal features. There is a bit of a depth of field possible, but overall photos are very dull and lifeless.

Price: Rs 10,990

Pros: Nice to hold, smooth functioning, clean Android One software, three-action Google Assistant button

Cons: Annoying notification light, disturbing lack of symmetry on the front, uninspiring camera, bad screen

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