Nokia 7.2 Review: Marvellously Mid-Range

by Alex Dickie
October 31, 2019
4 min read

Under the reboot of HMD Global, Nokia has produced a host of mid-range devices that have provided truly excellent value. The Nokia 7.1 was one of these and was massively popular last year, however the mid-range market is becoming increasingly crowded, with Samsung and Google taking a slice of the action with the Pixel 3a and S10e.

So, how does Nokia’s latest recruit stack up against the increasing competition?

Nokia 7.2 (2019) | £249.99 inc-VAT

Design & Display

The Nokia brand is renowned for providing fantastic build quality and the Nokia 7.2 certainly follows suit. Its body is constructed from a polymer composite which HMD Global claims is half the weight of aluminium yet twice as strong as polycarbonate. At 180g it is pretty light but still feels sturdy in grip and the smooth matte glass on the rear is strangely soft. This is coated in 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass front and back for added protection.

We really like both the overall look and feel of the Nokia 7.2, as overall dimensions of 159.9 x 75.2 x 8.3mm allow for one-handed use. The tear drop notch may not be to everyone’s liking, but this gives a great screen to body ratio for an immersive experience.

Indeed, the display of the Nokia 7.2 is exceptional value and is a 6.3-inch Full HD PureDisplay, with a 1080 x 2280-pixel resolution at 401ppi. This so-called ‘PureDisplay’ tech, Nokia claims, is designed to ‘outperform OLED in many areas’, offering a 96% colour gamut, 1:4500 contrast ratio and great colour accuracy.

The Nokia 7.2 also supports HDR content and natively converts SDR into HDR videos, giving incredible visuals.

6.3-inch Full HD PureDisplay
1080 x 2280
401ppi
96% colour gamut
1:4500 contrast ratio
159.9 x 75.2 x 8.3mm
180g
2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass

Nokia 7.2

Camera

Photography is also where the Nokia 7.2 excels, coming with a triple rear camera setup with ZEISS optics.

This consists of a 48MP main Samsung S5KGM1 sensor with an f/1.79 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a 118-degree field of view, and a 5MP depth sensor for improved accuracy in portrait photography.

General shots are very impressive, images are sharp and colour reproduction on the whole, is very good.

Having a depth sensor and an ultra-wide-angle lens opens up a heap of new possibilities, but ultra-wide-mode in particular does have a slight drop in quality, losing some image sharpness.

Portrait mode benefits greatly from a dedicated depth sensor, allowing you to make the subject the focus of an image with bokeh. A number of different blur modes are available, including Zeiss Swirl, Zeiss Smooth and Zeiss Modern.

Alongside this, the Nokia 7.2 comes with a dedicated Night Mode, enhanced by onboard AI. This works by taking a number of exposures and weaving them all together for an improved final result. Indeed, the device can detect whether it’s being held or secured on a tripod and adjusts the number of exposures accordingly, from around 20 on a tripod to 8 if handheld.

If selfies are more your thing, then the Nokia 7.2 comes with a 20MP front shooter with Beauty Mode which allows you to reduce pores and other unwanted imperfections. Images on the whole aren’t bad, but as expected are not comparable to the triple rear setup. This front camera also works for AI face unlock.

Rounding things up, the Nokia 7.2 is capable of recording video in 4K @ 30fps, however this does not come with stabilisation. If you’re looking for the smoothness of EIS, then you will need to drop down to 1080p @ 30fps.

Triple-lens rear setup
48MP S5KGM1 sensor, f/1.79 aperture
8MP ultra-wide, f/2.2 aperture, 118-degree field of view
5MP depth sensor
20MP front shooter with Beauty Mode
4K video recording @ 30fps
1080p @ 30fps with EIS

Nokia 7.2

Performance

Despite being a mid-range device, the performance of the Nokia 7.2 is similarly impressive, coming with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor coupled with 4GB RAM. If you’re more of a mid-weight user, then you shouldn’t experience too many lag issues when flicking through apps.

This is helped by the near-stock version of Android 9 Pie. The Nokia 7.2 is enrolled in the Android One programme, so as well as having an easy interface, it promises regular updates and enhanced security. This should hopefully mean that the update to Android 10 is imminent since HMD Global have a proven track record of providing these upgrades ahead of other manufacturers. HMD has also committed to two years of system updates and three years of security updates for all their devices.

The 3,500mAh battery is also impressive for a device of this standing, giving around 2 days use. This is enhanced by AI-assisted Adaptive Battery that prioritises battery life to the apps to use. When it is time to recharge, the Nokia 7.2 supports Quick Charge 3.0 through a USB-C port.

Rounding things off, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack as well as support for a microSD card. Despite being splash-proof, there is no IP-rating for water-resistance.