Verdict
The Nokia C32 has almost everything you really need . As a spare work phone , cloud gaming twist , or the first smartphone for a kid or elderly family member , it ’s more than enough , and a real sign of how quickly yesterday ’s flagship features can trickle down in cost . It may be slow at times , but its only real point of contention is its choice of brittle material .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
At just £ 129 , there is n’t a whole lot the Nokia C32 require to do to stand out . It ’s more a query of whose tending it needs to catch in a store .
Out of the loge , it ’s everything you ’d anticipate from just about any smartphone . There are n’t quite as many lens as amid - rangeorflagship , but it ’s stick a mellow double - digit megapixel reckoning to confound , confuse , and finally entice .
Featuring a droplet - way selfie camera notch , a glass back , fingerprint proofreader , and even face unlock , Nokia ’s latestbudget effortincludes essential modern additions that have trickled down to the deal bin offerings at lightning hurrying . Or perhaps we really are just lose track of metre .
The market for these sort of devices was once very clear — big - clit bargain handsets designed to get the one-time coevals connected . today , however , stagnating innovation , fall return , and even characteristic enfeeblement could match well with modern technologies and the increased cost of living to give the Nokia C32 another understanding to exist .
It ’s a workable way to link up the whole family , or even simply a spare or work twist that does n’t feel too far off what you ’re used to .
Design
The Nokia C32 is quite the looker for the price . Its glass back is a pleasant surprise out of the box and can show Charcoal , Autumn Green , and Beach Pink colour selection through it . yield it ’s in general the first matter to break when a phone is drop , however , it seems to be a variant - over - procedure choice that might not befit the potential audience of this one . It ’s quite slippy .
Elsewhere , it ’s a very well-fixed phone to hold thanks to its generously rounded edges . The screen dips straight into its outer frame , which then rounds off again on a virtually identical slant to wind around the rearward glass .
With the glass technically then do into the remain space , it mean a corner prominence is less likely to lead in something more than a prick . That ’s assuming the frame is metal . It for sure looks , feels , and sounds like metal , but I doubt it has a genuine metal construction .
Making use of that figure is aUSB - hundred portwith a microphone on one side and a small , low - calibre speaker on the other . On the top side , you ’ll find a 3.5 mm phone jack . One side house the SIM tray , leaving the other to admit two volume push and a power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader for biometric unlocking and identification .
Screen
One of the first things to watch my optic when powering on the Nokia C32 for the first fourth dimension was the shimmery facial expression of its 6.5 - inch display . It ’s not needfully a reddish signal flag , but it is the first thing that leave its budget pricing away . Presumably triggered by the type of glass used on the front , it wo n’t cause major issues when viewed off - slant , but it will struggle to stave in off bright light .
Despite the downside , you ’re still look at an HD - like screen here . There was the business organisation that a resolution of 720×1600 would n’t quite bring down it for a projection screen of this sizing , but it ’s all right . textbook is easily legible and it ’ll handle TV well enough . But its larger Kuki-Chin will signify anything you debase out to fill the distance will reckon a niggling odd , with the droplet - style selfie camera meaning you ’ll make full one side of the seeable space while gaze at a dim screen with the rest .
Being a60Hzdisplay , do n’t expect the same sorting of silky smooth experience a pricy choice will get you these sidereal day . Though that should n’t really count at this price point . It ’s as basic as they hail these days , with acceptable quotidian employment and estimable enough performance under standard lighting .
A comparatively low peak brightness means it in all probability wo n’t be idealistic for extended use under direct sunlight , but taking the remaining photo , looking up nearby eating house , or reference a map wo n’t be out of the doubt . Using it as an ebook proofreader by the beach , however , might not be the best idea , and would certainly start to exhaust into its supposed three - day electric battery .
Cameras
Sporting a massive 50MP sensor on the back , the Nokia C32 will enchant the attention of anyone privy to the simplest aspect of camera specifications . That is n’t to say it ’s a red herring , but a high megapixel count never tells the whole story .
In the case of the Nokia C32 , the rear snapper performs well than you ’d expect for the steal price — if you’re able to relieve the long time between shots . Smartphone picture taking is largely down to software processing these Clarence Day . That means push this phone ’s sluggish mainframe to the edge .
simulacrum can add up out quite kinky and colourful , but you ’ll need to stay steady , shut up in the focus , and give it time to process all that data . The view finder will miss most of that , so you ’ll just have to trust that the post - processing will play its part . Direct sunlight will massively improve results , with average indoor lighting introducing notable interference to your figure of speech .
There ’s a lot to be desired with the whole experience , but it ’s not bad for the money . The front camera act in a similar style , and the rear macro genus Lens will take hold of the elaborate textures of tightlipped objects like flowers , hemipteran , and surfaces well enough . They ’ll just be a little soft . For the interest of comparison , you ’re getting a estimable overall experience than the 13MP cracker bonbon on the more or less less expensiveAlcatel 1S.
Video , on the other hand , is largely unserviceable . From the rear camera , I got shivering and crushed - closure resultant in motility while out of doors in good lighting conditions . On the upside , the single mike is comparatively clear . telecasting call from a stationary position should be just fine .
Performance
The 1.6Ghz Octa - kernel SoC sit down under the hood of the Nokia C32 is backed up by 4 GB of strong-arm memory . It ’s not a huge act , but it ’s not shockingly small , either , peculiarly given it ’s being used to head for the hills a more or less strip - down version of Android 13 with very few third - party apps pre - installed .
Even still , the Nokia C32 is a slow earpiece . A jittery phone , anyway . Once it get its digital gears turning , it ’s absolutely able to extend a self-coloured experience in light workloads ; you ’ll just notice it chug along when landing back on the house screen or opening an app that is n’t already running in the background .
Browsing the web is enjoyable , even with all of today ’s pesky ads bogging thing down . It ’s even astonishingly able when it comes to mid - range games , too . place it under just a piddling morsel too much focus can cause it to doss down and reboot , but you ’re unlikely to reach that stop in everyday enjoyment .
Pokemon Unite defaults to medium options and performs well . release the visuals down to low agency hedge that free-enterprise 60fps experience . If anything , it means the Nokia C32 is able to hold pre - teen users more reliably . They wo n’t be stuck with unproblematic games while their friend are undertake to go pro .
With cloud gaming services aplenty these day , you could also use a Bluetooth controller or something like theRazer Kishito flex this into an inexpensive manner to play heavy - budget game in layer . The lack of 5 thou support means you wo n’t be doing much of that on the go , however .
you could virtually increase this to 7 GB by siphon off off some of its 64 GB memory board you ’d otherwise utilise for photos , documents , and downloaded videos . Curiously , however , this feature is blocked permanently as presently as you fill 90 % of the phone ’s storage capacity . gratefully , MicroSD support should help you avoid that .
Nokia ’s paperwork suggests this typically read four years of use , but I ’m not win over . Unless it means once it has wheel the feature film through 90 % of the phone ’s usable memory to keep it from give way down through overexploitation . It ’s not absolved . Then again , it ’s not a feature I cogitate is worth using , either . Storage memory is typically much slower than consecrate RAM and wo n’t ever act quite the same way as 7 GB of dedicated memory unfeignedly would .
Software
Running Android 13 , the Nokia C32 prognosticate two years of quarterly security measure update , matching ( or even flap ) phones in might high monetary value categories . That ’s reassuring . There ’s even still the FM radio app : something I used religiously on my first self - fund Nokia phone 15 years back .
Other than Booking.com and GoPro Quik , the pre - installed social , medium , and music apps are mainstream enough to actually be appreciated inclusion . For some , there wo n’t be an immediate intellect to bulge out labour into the Google Play Store . This could be a great motivator for those not well - versed in smartphone technology .
Diving into the setting evince a plethora of possible accessibility tweaks as well . From enlarging text and colourblind financial backing , all the way to automatic audio description in brook scenario and the ability to rig up physical switches for those who might clamber to interact with the touch screen , there ’s lots to savvy into should the earpiece penury set up to accommodate a particular person ’s unique needs .
What is a blinding deletion , however , is the deficiency of NFC support , which twitch the idea of contactless payment in the bud . You ’re still capable to give for goods and services using a saved card on websites and in apps , but you ’ll still have to take your strong-arm card out with you to the memory board to snaffle groceries .
Battery
Packing an impressively large 5000mAh barrage fire into its shell , the Nokia C32 pushes the idea of not an all - day barrage fire life like flagship smartphones normally do , but a three - mean solar day barrage fire life instead .
It ’s worth noting , however , that this is always strung-out on a specific use case . Nokia states that it ’s achieved through various battery - saving drive on the computer software side of thing , which means your gas mileage will absolutely vary when you take up installing and using different apps .
In exam , I saw the battery perform about as well as any other smartphone , with the loosely lower spec of its hardware not necessarily contribute much to barrage fire spend or sustainability compared to the competition .
What that hint is that Nokia is relying on the phone ’s power to recognise patterns of usage behaviour to dynamically accommodate its charging f number and put any apps you ’re not actively using to sleep .
It ’s a vulgar tactic today and should n’t really be used to sweeten the king protea , but if you ’re a light user , you should start up to see the claim hold up middling well after a week or two of possession . Just do n’t be too surprised if your phone does n’t last a whole 72 hr . Always bring a backup power author if you ’re going to be away from domicile .
One downside to this phone ’s large electric battery is that its charge tech is from another geological era . feature only 10W wired charge capableness , it ’ll take a good few hr to juice a depleted stamp battery back up to full . At least everything you ask is in the box .
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Should you buy it?
Featuring a methamphetamine back , the Nokia C32 looks and feels more expensive than it is . It wo n’t match the speed of a mid - range selection , but it ’ll look safe doing simple project .
The glass front and rear of this twist likely wo n’t hold up against drops , cam stroke , or worksite pressure without protection .
Final Thoughts
The Nokia C32 is price like a speech sound design for the accident - prone elderly , absent - minded young minor , or a construction worker on the job , but it is n’t build to befit . An included case would have seal the deal .
Without it , this is a great first or spare phone that , thanks to cloud - based solutions and emulation , could feel popularity within the gaming community as well . However , spending a fiddling more on abudget phonecould get you a whole lot more .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try out every mobile earphone we survey thoroughly . We use industry - stock tests to equate feature properly and we apply the speech sound as our main twist over the review period . We ’ll always evidence you what we find and we never , ever , go for money to review a product .
line up out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
Yes , you ’ll get a 10W excite brick in the box .
Test Data
Full Specs
