Nokia C32 Review: An almost perfect budget device ruined by glitches
The Nokia C32 is a budget phone for developing and emerging countries making the switch from feature phones to smartphones for the first time, or people with basic needs with low budgets, or a smartphone for your child. and for this type of audience, the phone is amazing! they would be very pleased with this device overall it is safe to say! The Nokia C32 Faces stiff competition from alternatives in the same price range.
We checked the C32 on MWC2023 where the device was announced and the first impressions were OK. Well, OK for the build quality at least. Check out the score it got on our first Aussie review done by Jett.
This is an honest Aussie review and the overall score for Nokia C32 is 7/10.
- build quality 10/10
- performance 8/10
- camera 7.5/10
- software 4/10
- value 6/10
Introduction
The Nokia C32 is a budget phone for developing and emerging markets who are switching from mobile phones to smartphones for the first time, or for people with basic needs and a low budget, or a smartphone for your child. And for this kind of audience, the phone is amazing! However, the Nokia C32 faces stiff competition from other devices in the same price range. So should you spend your hard-earned money on Nokia or are there better alternatives from Samsung or Xiaomi… Or should you buy a used iPhone or Samsung? Let us find out!
Build quality
Overall, I can say that the build quality is much better than other players at the same price. I am currently driving an Oppo Find x5 Lite on a daily basis and I have to admit that it feels much higher quality than this device, which by the way can be found for $500 AUD now that I am writing this article, and this device has dropped in price! However, the device also felt much more slippery and I MEAN VERY SLIPPERY! This did indeed lead to a few accidents *wink wink* Overall, in terms of build quality, the device was on par with a lower-end flagship like the Samsung S23. However, this decision is subjective as some people like the feel of the Samsung S23 more while others prefer this device. it really is flagship level. I have used phones that were much more expensive than this one and the build quality felt like crap compared to this device. It just goes to show that it does not cost much for an OEM to add this feature to their device, and it makes you think that this might be a ploy to get you to buy a more expensive device. You never know, I might just have my tinfoil hat on.
Performance
The Nokia C32 currently uses the Unisoc SC9863A1. This is a 22nm chip. This SoC is by no means fast and frankly, I would have expected a bit more for the price. The performance is honestly okay for simple applications. More than that, however, is very difficult. You certainly will not be gaming with it, and sometimes when you have too many things open, the device gets really slow. So you have to keep an eye on how many apps you have open at the same time. The battery will go for a whole day if you are not a heavy user. Well, this hardware will make you not use the device so much.
Camera
Overall, the camera is very decent for this kind of device. I was quite amazed. The photos look very natural with good and vibrant colours. Overall, a very impressive camera for this price. Of course, it’s not flagship level, but it’s very impressive for this price. However, it falls apart when it comes to video quality. You can find the video test of the rear camera here and that of the front camera here.
Overall, the video test of the rest of the camera is shaky, choppy and just not clear. It’s probably fine for occasional video recording, but to be honest, even for social media you should find something better.
The front-camera videos, on the other hand, are acceptable, but definitely not great.
Software
Yikes, where do I start? Let’s start with an overview of the technical specifications. It runs on Android 13 and you only get monthly security updates. No software upgrades, as this is a C-series device. It’s a standard Android experience. However, I did notice some changes, such as the removal of the screen recorder or the pre-installed bloatware. You can remove them, which is good news. However, the software experience isn’t entirely flawless. For example, when I turned on Bluetooth once, Quickstep, the launcher, crashed. And after rebooting, it kept crashing, forcing me to reset the device. If Bluetooth didn’t completely ruin the software, it also makes the phone slower when enabled. This seems to be a problem with Nokia phones’ Bluetooth, which has been making the phones slower since 2021.
Value!
Overall, this phone is not the best value for money. In Australia, you can get the Motorola E13 for 99 AUD from Optus, which is the same kind of phone. Or the Motorola E22i for 149 AUD, which I think is a bit better. On the other hand, if you build quality and durability and feel the Nokia signature then this device is definitely perfect for you.
You can buy this device for $249 AUD in Australia right now from Nokia’s official store or from retailers in the country.
