Nokia 1.3 tested: This is how good a very affordable smartphone is
21.4.2020
Translation: machine translated
For the Nokia 1.3 you pay very little for a smartphone, but in the end the price is still high.
Touch screen, camera, Android and LTE: the Nokia 1.3 has everything a smartphone needs. However, the question remains as to which components are satisfactory and which are disappointing at this low device price.
Bright sunlight is no problem for the display
The casing of the Nokia 1.3 is made of plastic and has an inconspicuous design. The smartphone is not intended to score points with a special design, but to be functional. However, it is not waterproof. To insert the SIM card, you have to remove the back. This is awkward, but you don't usually have to keep replacing your SIM card. Side effect: You can remove the battery. This has become a rarity with smartphones.
The 5.7-inch display of the Nokia 1.3 only has an HD+ resolution of 1520×720 pixels, but it looks good. Yes, the frame is wide and the notch for the front camera is not attractive, but the pixel density of 295 PPI ensures a sharp image. The 16.7 million colours may not be as vibrant and the blacks not as dark as on an OLED display, but they still look natural. However, this cannot be seen in the photos in this article. It looks better in real life. Plus point: the touchscreen is bright enough to recognise its content even in sunshine.
Hardware requires a lot of patience and economy
As the manufacturer of Nokia smartphones, HMD Global has cut corners when it comes to hardware. You can expand the internal memory with a microSD card. That sounds good at first. The joke is that you will hardly be able to do without it, as the memory is only 16 gigabytes. The RAM is also small at one gigabyte and the chipset is the Qualcomm 215 mobile platform.
This is enough to claim that the Nokia 1.3 is a smartphone that runs apps. However, the loading and response times are noticeably slow. And not just if you're already used to very fast smartphones. The loading times slow me down when I'm using it. I don't want to wait what feels like an eternity to be able to take a photo - neither when I click on the camera app nor when I have pressed the shutter button and want to take a second picture.
You may be able to come to terms with slow loading times. But there are apps for which the performance of the Nokia 1.3 is simply not enough. Graphically demanding games, for example, or anything that involves virtual reality and augmented reality, won't run on the smartphone or can't be used properly. If you want to do something in this area, the Nokia 1.3 is the wrong smartphone for you.
The Nokia 1.3's removable battery only has a capacity of 3000 mAh, but the hardware consumes little energy. In other words: I got through a typical day with one battery charge, but had to be patient when charging via the micro USB port. It wasn't as quick as with the fast-charging technologies of other smartphones. At least I was able to connect my headphones via cable using the 3.5 mm port and listen to music while charging. Pure retro feeling!
You don't want to take photos with this camera
Believe me: the Nokia 1.3 is not a smartphone you want to take photos with. And that's not because of the slow camera app with few functions, but because of the image quality of the 8-megapixel camera. It is clearly below average. The colours are dull, there are no details on closer inspection and you can't hope for a good handling of light-dark differences, even with HDR mode active.
For portrait shots, the software applies a blur filter around the face, which is very coarse and does not even attempt to cut out the person from the background. At night, the shots show darkness and where some light falls, hardly anything is recognisable due to a lack of detail and sharpness.
The front camera delivers selfies with a resolution of five megapixels and is just as poor in quality as the main camera. Faded colours, little detail and an HDR mode that makes everything even worse.
Android on a diet
The conventional installation of Android 10 would not fit on the internal memory of the Nokia 1.3. That's why HMD Global uses Android Go. This variant of the operating system and its apps take up very little storage space. The test device has 4.6 gigabytes. For comparison: the Pixel 4 has 19 gigabytes.
The Go versions of the pre-installed Google apps do not always have the same range of functions as their conventional versions. Google Maps Go, for example, is not a real app, but calls up the map service in the browser. However, you will find all the important basic functions in the applications. If you want to install additional apps, the slow hardware can also be a problem in addition to the limited storage space. Some developers set minimum requirements for their programmes, which usually make sense, but mean that you cannot install the corresponding applications on the Nokia 1.3.
As a small compensation, Android Go comes with the promise of two years of upgrades for the operating system. In this case, that would be Android Go 11 and 12.
Prefer to spend a little more
The Nokia 1.3 has a good display, a 3.5 mm audio connection, receives software updates for two years and you can replace the battery. However, these positive lightweights are offset by negative heavyweights. The hardware is slow, the storage space is small and the cameras are poor.
I can only recommend spending a little more money. Even if you stay under 200 euros/francs, there are quite a few smartphones that are better equipped and that you will have more fun with than the Nokia 1.3.
I can only recommend spending a little more money.
When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.