Looking for a pocket friendly 4G smartphone with great features? You could consider the Nokia C20 which was launched in the country earlier this year. Despite being pocket friendly at Ksh11,490/-, HMD has not come short on good features. This is in line with their recent promise to make phones that will meet the customer’s needs on three fronts. Handset durability, long battery life, and security of data. The Nokia C20 was launched alongside others like the Nokia C10, the G Series and X Series.
I have the C20 and C10 with me and have been using the C20 for a bit now and in this article, I will document my thoughts and user experience. First off, what’s in the box? The phone, a removable battery, earplugs, a free silicone back cover, a charger, and phone literature.
Design
This phone has a minimalistic design which I find good for people who like simplicity. My review piece is in a dark grey with just the Nokia branding and camera casing at the back. On the left side are the power button and volume rockers, with volume up and down being combined in one button. The left side is completely bare. Since the phone has a removable battery, the SIM gets inserted behind the battery, as opposed to the phone having a removable SIM tray. It has a double SIM slot and a MicroSD slot. At the bottom you find the charging port and microphone. At the very top is an almost unnoticeable headphone inlet.
Sound
I’m pleased to see that Nokia has dropped the rather big and unfriendly earplugs they used in the past for entry level phones and are now packing earplugs that are snug and ergonomic in the ear. Not just comfortable to wear but have some really superior sound. Kudos on this.
Cameras
The Nokia C20 has a 5mp camera front and back, with LED flash. Though I do not find the camera that sharp and clear, it would be unfair to expect much more, given the friendly cost of the phone. The camera also has additional features namely panorama, video, and time lapse, with a 1x zoom.
Security
Along with the Nokia promise to always keep their phones safe through periodic security updates, the phone itself also has end user features. Customers have a choice between face unlock and PIN. It does not have a fingerprint scanner, but I find the two available methods quite adequate. For physical safety of the phone, it has a custom made and pre-fixed screen protector, as well as a free silicon back cover in the box.
Storage
We have 32GB ROM and 2GB RAM. This is adequate for the user who does not feel the need to have a whole lot of data in memory. Plus we know that a lot of photos and videos we refuse to let go of are just memory hoggers that we will never use. In these days when whipping out a phone and snapping away endlessly is so easy, I would advise users with this phone to only keep photos and videos that are important. I would have to start with myself since I have a habit of having the same photo taken so many times. What I do is go through them and leave only the best in my phone memory.
Battery
Battery life is one of Nokia’s pillars in making their customers love their phones. After all, what’s the point of all these other features if the phone can’t stay on? The Nokia C20 has a 3000mAh charger with a 5W charger. It is however built with features to further optimize the battery, so that a full charge can go for upto 3 days.
Conclusion
This is an entry level phone that comes at a really great price for its features. With additional advantages like Android Go and Nokia security updates, this is a worthy gadget to purchase at that price.
