Nokia XR20 5G a rugged smartphone that's not built like a tank
Nokia XR20 5G.
Nokia is synonymous with unbreakable phones or at least they used to be. One of my favourite phones back in the day was the Nokia 6310 (released in 2001) for its all-week battery and near indestructible form factor. Of course, Nokia released a modern version of the 6310 this year but the Finnish firm also released the XR20, a 5G smartphone with all the right smarts on the inside while being tough on the outside.
A lot of rugged phones tend to be built like tanks and come with the looks to match. The XR20 looks far more like a trendy smartphone albeit as large as an iPhone Max. In fact, it’s actually taller than an iPhone 12 Pro Max while sporting a textured exterior that looks like a hardshell case was glued to it. This isn’t a bad thing since it isn’t necessary to buy a case for it.
The front glass is made from Gorilla Glass Vitus which Nokia says is the toughest of touch screens. However, with how thin the body is at 10.6mm and a massive screen size of 6.67-inch, I wouldn’t be confident it would survive a tank driving over it.Â
That being said, it does come with IPX68 dust and waterproof ratings so it should survive more knocks and drops than your average smartphone.
On the left side is a dedicated Google Assistant button while on the top is a red button that can be set up to call emergency contacts. You can create emergency contacts along with any pertinent medical information, so that first responder can read this information from your lock screen and dial your contacts by tapping their names, without unlocking your phone.
On the right side is the power button that also doubles as a fast and reliable fingerprint sensor as well as the volume up and down buttons.
On the bottom, you’ll find a USB-C port, bottom-firing mono speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The XR20 doesn’t come with headphones but just like the iconic 6310, it does come with an FM Radio built-in but of course, you’ll need to plug in wired headphones for it to work. And, there’s also a hoop for a lanyard on the bottom left corner, although none is supplied.
The 6.67-inch LCD display is FHD+ (1080x2400) with a peak brightness of 550 nits and follows the large round corners of the body. The bezels are fairly thick and the bottom is a little thinker than the sides but nothing off-putting. The screen isn’t anything special and doesn’t get super bright either making it less than ideal for those bright sunny days.
The front 8MP (f/2.0) selfie camera is located at the top and centre of the screen in the form of a punch-hole cutout. It’s not too distracting but you can see a shadow all around it which is especially noticeable when the screen is white — it’s less obvious if you set the display to dark mode.
Around the back is a stylish square camera module that features two cameras on top (48MP (f/1.79) main and 13MP (f/2.4) ultra-wide) and dual-tone LED plus a single LED flash just below them. This is slightly raised but I love the look and in particular the X design that links the four elements together. Right in the middle of the camera module in vertical writing is the Zeiss logo which matches the Nokia logo located right in the middle of the rear.
Although I can’t say the cameras are class-leading, I was really impressed by their performance and overall quality. The main camera is capable of capturing sharp images with lots of detail. The ultra-wide is also good and in general, is able to maintain colour consistency with the main camera. There’s no optical zoom but the 2X hybrid zoom is very usable and there’s a digital zoom up to 8x.
I was able to achieve good results from Night mode but it only works with the main lens. Portrait mode is excellent and so too is the auto HDR feature. Other modes include Cinematic Effects, SpeedWarp mode, Action Cam mode, Cinema mode, Beautification and Panorama.
Video is capped at 1080p up 60FPS on the rear cameras, so no 4K. The front is only capable of 1080p at 30fps but the image stabilisation does a good job of eliminating shakes for smooth looking video.
The Nokia XR20 comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G processor and Adreno 619 for graphics. My review unit came with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. This is sufficient for most users although you can upgrade this via a microSD up to 512GB. In terms of raw power for everyday use, I had no issues and although this is not flagship level speed, I think most users will find it more than good enough.
The battery is 4,630mAh which is good enough to see you through up to two days on a single charge with light use. There’s also support for up 15w wireless charging and up to 18w fast wired charging and while you don’t get a charger in the box it does come with a USB-C cable. You can find more information on why here https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_ie/promise
One of the things I love about Nokia phones is their near-stock Android experience. The XR20 comes with Android 11 and the promise that you’ll get three years of Android upgrades and four years of security patches.
The Nokia XR20 is a stylish rugged phone with a level of features and performance that will last for years. It isn’t class-leading in any area but is a good all-rounder with long-lasting hardware and software to match.
Available now Nokia XR20 4GB/64GB €449.99 or 6GB/128GB €499.99 Nokia
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