HMD Global has been vying to capture a share of the budget smartphone segment in India ever since it revived the Nokia brand, but the relatively high prices of its phones and the presence of competitors that offer more bang for the buck have kept Nokia from recapturing its former glory. The Nokia 3.2 is the company's latest attempt at offering an affordable phone that looks to strike the right balance between features, experience, and price. The phone packs a large display with a modern waterdrop notch design and a large 4000mAh battery. On top of that, the Nokia 3.2 offers a stock Android experience with the promise of timely updates.
However, HMD has also made some serious compromises to keep the price in check. The quad-core SoC at the heart of Nokia 3.2[1] looks underpowered on paper, and the imaging hardware too seems less impressive than what we're now used to seeing at this price level. Has the company cut costs in the right places, or is the Nokia 3.2 just another budget phone that is destined to lay down arms in the face of intense competition? Let's dive right into our review and find out.
Nokia 3.2 design
The design of the Nokia 3.2 can be described as utilitarian at best, but some will find the understated look appealing. The phone has a polycarbonate unibody with curved sides that extend all the way to the 2.5D curved glass on the front. The rear panel looks like glass and has a reflective finish.
However, it attracts dust particles and smudges rather quickly, and we found this to be more easily visible on the Nokia 3.2's black variant, which we have for review. The Nokia 3.2 comes in a steel grey...