Nokia T20 Review: Outstanding Design & Battery Life

The presence of Nokia as Android smartphones brands in Indonesia is quite a lot. Even so, the specifications are considered less nifty – because they haven’t played in the flagship segment, at least since the last few years. Then came the Nokia T20, HMD’s attempt to enter the tablet segment.

It’s only natural that HMD finally releases a Nokia tablet, considering that this type of device is increasingly popular as a choice for both entertainment consumption and work tools. Is this the first? Maybe yes, maybe not. Yes, because the first is from HMD. No, because the Nokia T20 is not the first tablet to use the Nokia brand.

Back to the end of 2014, Nokia had collaborated with Foxconn and released the first Android tablet, the Nokia N1. The tablet feels very “vanilla” aka plain and was never released globally. And before that, Nokia also had time to release a tablet with the Windows operating system, through the Nokia 2520 which was never officially present in the country.

So it’s okay if the Nokia T20 is considered the first Android tablet, because it is present globally, and may be designed by a different team than before. Overall, I can say that this tablet is okay, it has several advantages over competitors in its class. Is it the best option? Not necessarily. Here’s the full review.

Design

Not many Android tablets have a stylish appearance, and the Nokia T20 is one of the many options available. The design is quite thin with a thickness of 7.8mm, has a frame that is made flat, and weighs around 465 grams. Only available in one color, namely Deep Ocean aka dark blue.

Materially, the Nokia T20 is arguably superior, using aluminum on the back body. The material feels solid when held, although a little slippery and quite easy to leave fingerprints. Luckily, the rear camera bump isn’t too big. And even though it’s Wi-Fi only, it still has an antenna line accent at the top when it’s in landscape position.

Can it be used with one hand? It could be because it is light, although it feels a little less fitting. For other protection, the windshield has also been strengthened (although the vendor is not mentioned) and has an IP rating certification that makes it resistant to splashes of water.

In terms of material and design, it is quite superior compared to competitors in its class. A little note, HMD Indonesia has not sold official accessories such as flip covers or keyboard covers. There are several alternatives in e-commerce, although the options are not as many as Samsung or Huawei, which are already more mainstream.

Screen

In terms of specifications on paper, the Nokia T20 carries a pretty premium screen. Using an IPS panel, the resolution reaches 2K with a pixel density of 224 ppi. The four bezels around it are quite thin, and can also be lit quite brightly—up to 400 nits.

The Nokia T20 display also supports the low blue light emission certification from SGS. The resulting colors are quite vibrant with good contrast. Unfortunately, by default, the white balance is classified as very blue or less neutral. There’s an option to shift the white balance to a warmer one which can help a bit, although it’s still not neutral in the end.

The 5:3 ratio already feels right to run two applications at once in landscape mode. The placement of the front camera is also right, it is on the top bezel when it is tilted. Unfortunately, the high screen resolution is not matched by the Widevine L1. So watching movies from platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime cannot reach HD resolution.

Camera

HMD embeds one camera each on the front and back of the Nokia T20. The sensor on the front has a 5MP resolution, with a quality that is quite okay for video calling purposes. Not too wide, but sharp enough.

While on the back, there is an 8MP resolution sensor accompanied by a flash – not all tablets have this additional feature. Supports autofocus, this rear camera can capture objects well, as long as you don’t confuse it with a smartphone of the same price class. At least, it’s okay for photos or document scanning purposes.

The camera application is standard. Without night mode, HMD actually provides a software-based portrait mode. Maximum video recording up to full HD resolution, and still not equipped with EIS.

Feature

Nokia T20 runs the Android 11 operating system with a pure Android interface. Well, haven’t gotten Android 12 yet, and it’s not full of additional apps or features. In my opinion, this also brings drawbacks, especially for a tablet.

When compared to One UI and MIUI for Pad, Nokia T20 users only get the option to run two applications side by side, aka no option to run applications in a small window or pop-up window. When you open the Settings menu, it looks exactly like a smartphone, instead of two other UIs that take advantage of screen space to load more information—no need to scroll too much.

HMD itself promised two years of OS updates and three years of security updates, so it should be able to update Android 12L which can better take advantage of the large screen space on the tablet. Then are there any additional features? Still, really. Call it Entertainment Space, a menu aggregator directly from Google.

Users can access music and movies in a compact view, taken from various sources such as YouTube, Amazon, Disney+, and others. Kids Space is also present for parents who give tablets to their children, can monitor the use of tablets fully and safely, also remotely.

The security options on the Nokia T20 are only available in the form of a PIN and face unlock, aka there is no fingerprint sensor yet. As for the quality of the stereo speakers, it’s pretty average—loud but not the clearest. At least, the microphone on this device works well for voice recording as well as virtual calls through a variety of selected platforms.

Performance

With a relatively high screen resolution, the Nokia T20 is balanced with a chipset that is quite fast in its class. The Unisoc Tiger T610 series chipset is starting to be relatively common on middle-class smartphones and tablets, using 12nm fabrication with GPU capabilities that are quite okay.

Paired with 4GB RAM plus a plain Android version with minimal bloatware, the performance is quite satisfactory. What I noticed, the transition effect is shorter than the standard. After being investigated, it turns out that HMD uses a speed of 0.5x, instead of 1x. Make the speed of opening and closing applications feel shorter, thus saving time for multitaskers.

When used to play Pokemon UNITE with the graphics display settings stuck on the right, it’s also still relatively smooth and smooth. Body temperature is maintained both when playing games and Zoom calls—perhaps because it only relies on the Wi-Fi network. Overall, this section can be considered competitive.

Battery

In general, tablet devices do have more durable durability than smartphones, considering the intensity of their use is different. But if Gizmo friends are looking for the most durable, the Nokia T20 can be the best alternative. The reason is, the battery capacity of the Nokia T20 is quite large, reaching 8,200 mAh.

In my opinion, HMD is great enough to be able to embed a larger capacity in packaging that is still thin and relatively light. The “bad” impact, charging takes a while. Using the built-in 10W charger takes about 4 hours. Meanwhile, if you use a fast-charging adapter, it will be shorter or less than 3 hours.

On the plus side, this tablet lasts at least 1.5 – 2 days for casual use. As an illustration, when using the Zoom application, it consumes less than 10% of power for a duration of about 60 minutes. Standby time is not as good as the iPad, but thanks to the large battery capacity, you don’t have to worry about having to charge it often even if you don’t turn it off.

Conclusion

Priced at a fairly affordable price, the Nokia T20 comes with complete and competitive features. 2K screen resolution, premium body materials, to a large battery capacity. Suitable for supporting productivity or just being used as an entertainment device.

What about its competitors? With a more affordable price, the recently released Galaxy Tab A8 has a slightly higher speed chipset, a more optimized One UI interface on a large screen, and four stereo speakers. If these points are deemed unnecessary, there’s nothing wrong with asking for the Nokia T20.

Nokia T20 Tech Specifications

The Indonesian version of this article can be read in Gizmologi.ID