Nokia G60 5G review: old is new again

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Nokia is back with another game for the budget 5G market, and the G60 5G is its best effort in the category yet.

It runs Android 12 out of the box and has an unusual back panel which makes it a good looking device as well as a huge screen on the front. Its only real limitations come in the form of performance that won’t blow your mind and a basic camera duo that flank its much more impressive 50Mp option.

Still, for $329.99 / £249.99, it’s hard to imagine anyone being particularly disappointed with it.

Design and construction

• Feels good in hand
• Unique back panel texture
• Big screen

The Nokia C21 Plus we reviewed last year, and the Nokia G21 before it, weren’t budget phones, but the Nokia G60 5G is just a cut above.

It’s also great to see that the back is constructed from 100% recycled plastic (60% for the frame) and comes with a three-year warranty.

It’s sturdy, with no noticeable creak you’ll find anywhere, and it’s just the right weight at 190g; not too light where it feels like it lacks a premium touch, but not too heavy where it feels like a brick.

The actual setup is pretty standard – there’s a huge 6.58-inch screen that takes up the front, with a camera tucked into the bezel for selfies and for facial recognition. At the bottom there’s a USB-C port and headphone jack (the latter seemingly the only realm of budget and mid-range devices these days), and on the side there’s a power button and a volume rocker.

The back has a trio of vertically stacked cameras in a fairly refined bump, but the big eye-catching feature is the rear panel itself. It’s hard to capture in photos (I did my best with the black colorway review unit), but it’s a lightly textured finish with what looks like reflective metal specs in the panel himself.

It certainly helps the Nokia G60 5G stand out among many identikit, cookie-cutter handsets – even if it’s not a traditional “feature”.

It’s also great to see that the back is constructed from 100% recycled plastic (60% for the frame) and comes with a three-year warranty. There’s also an IP52 rating, but that means it’s only splashproof.

Screen and speakers

• 6.58 inch IPS panel
• 120Hz is a mixed bag
• Mono speaker lacks nuance

We’re starting to see bigger and bigger screens on budget and mid-range 5G devices as the technology becomes more mainstream, but unfortunately there’s no OLED on the Nokia G60 5G.

The IPS display is harder to complain about than on the C21 Plus or G21 Avant thanks to a 2400×1080 resolution – just above what you’d define as Full HD. That makes it much more noticeable for YouTube or your latest Netflix binge on the train, but you’ll naturally find more attractive devices at higher prices – blacks never quite have the right depth (something OLED is ideal), but the colors are solid everywhere.

A big plus for the Nokia G60 5G is its 120Hz refresh rate, but the implementation could be better. At the time of writing, you can’t push that refresh rate to its upper limits, with the phone deciding when you need that smoothness.

That means scrolling sites and social media feeds are fine, but you’re relying on the phone to identify what you’re doing to really unlock that potential. I imagine this is largely to prevent battery life from falling off a cliff (more on that later).

Unfortunately, as we’ve seen on many Nokia phones (and other manufacturers’ mid-range options), you’re better off connecting your headphones for audio playback. The single bottom speaker is woefully underpowered to capture every nuance of sound.

It’s all bundled up with the mids, so the lows and highs can’t escape and it all sounds messy. However, it handles voice better, so podcasts are fine, as are speakerphone calls.

Specifications and performance

• Snapdragon 695
• 4 GB of RAM
• Up to 128 GB of storage

Mid-range phones, especially those with a 5G chip like the Motorola Moto G82 5G, tend to rely on their increased network speeds and capabilities to cover up a lack of power on the device.

While it’s true that the Nokia G60 5G won’t match the flagships and more premium options, I’m happy to say there’s enough under the hood where the device feels capable.

That’s thanks to Qualcomm’s mid-range Snapdragon 695 accompanied by 64 or 128 GB of storage. There’s a paltry 4GB of RAM, so don’t load too many apps at once.

Emailing, tweeting, and replying to messages was as smooth as you’ll find anywhere else, but I was very impressed with the gaming performance.

You won’t hit 120fps on that huge screen, but I was able to relax with Genshin Impact, Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, and Marvel Snap at the end of the day without the phone feeling terribly sluggish.

The toughest client was the open-world RPG Genshin Impact, and even that performed promisingly, which was a bit of a surprise after seeing the modest benchmarks.

Cameras

• 50Mp main camera
• 5Mp ultra wide
• 2Mp depth camera
• Solid nighttime performance
• The main camera is ideal for this price range

There may be a trio of cameras on that handsome rear panel, but sadly, there’s definitely a golden child among the trio.

The main 50Mp sensor holds its end of the bargain, then some

The 5Mp ultrawide is fine, doing a decent job of framing what you’re aiming for with enough detail of surrounding areas, but the depth camera doesn’t help much when it comes to taking portraits.

Luckily, the 50Mp main sensor holds its own and more. I tested it in the snow of Montreal and was impressed with the amount of detail it was able to capture day or night in winter. I will concede, however, that it takes a while to line up these dark mode shots properly.

On the front camera, it’s business as usual – the 8Mp sensor is neither better nor worse than photos taken on similar devices.

Battery life and charging

• 4500mAh battery
• 20W load
• No adapter included

I was impressed with Nokia’s PCMark 3.0 benchmark for battery life, which topped out at 14.5 hours of screen time, but in general use it feels like it continues. I was able to get nearly two days out of it, and that’s with a 4500mAh battery – which certainly got me wondering if there was the potential for a 5000mAh battery instead considering the size of the phone. It’s still a bit of a puzzle.

As you might expect, there’s no charger in the box in a bid to reduce e-waste, instead offering a USB-C to USB-C cable. If you take a charger, you can enjoy fast charging up to 20W. In my tests, plugging the phone into an adapter, I saw 14% after 15 minutes of charging and 26% after 30 minutes.

Software and Apps

• Stock Android 12
• Three years of updates ahead

One of the best parts of Nokia’s approach to more affordable hardware is that the company doesn’t load them with bloatware. From social apps you’ve never heard of to weird third-party partner apps, many manufacturers add a lot of things to uninstall.

Nokia promises three years of OS upgrades, which is more than many more expensive phones

The Nokia G60 5G remains very user-friendly, offering stock Android 12 (although 13 is the latest version). Even after the initial setup, the apps are nicely uncluttered and usable from the jump, which is really positive.

The downside is that it offers nothing really new top like the minimalist Moto overlay, but I’ll take the basic layout on potential gadgets any day.

On the plus side, Nokia promises three years of OS upgrades, which is more than many more expensive phones. Often cheap phones do not come with any guaranteed updates.

Price and availability

The Nokia G60 5G is priced very reasonably considering the features on offer at just £249.99 when purchased from Nokia.

You can also buy it from Amazon, Argos and John Lewis in the UK. It’s not officially available in the US, but you can buy an international version on Amazon starting at $329.

There are two configurations, with a 64GB and 128GB version available. You’ll pay a bit more for the extra storage, but even then it’s still good value and there are two color options available: black or ice. Whichever version you choose, you will get 4 GB of RAM.

This means that for the cheapest model, it fits right into our budget phone category. However, there are plenty of mid-range phones that don’t cost much more than you might consider.

Verdict

With so much competition in the affordable 5G handset space, the Nokia G60 5G stands out by nailing the basics – it’s a solid device with an HD display that’s big, if not too good.

There’s plenty of built-in storage and decent performance, an impressive camera, and it’s a good cheap way to get on board with Android and get 5G speeds.

If you can look past the lackluster speaker and very basic camera setup (aside from the main snapper), it’s well worth a look.

Specifications

• Android 12
• 6.58-inch 20:9 LCD display with 120Hz refresh rate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G
• 4 GB of RAM
• 64/128 GB internal storage
• 8MP front camera
• 50MP Main Camera, 5MP Ultrawide Camera, 2MP Depth Camera
• Fingerprint reader
• face recognition
• 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible (dual band 2.4/5G)
• Bluetooth 5.1
• GPS
• NFC
• 5G
• Headphone jack
• USB-C
• 4500mAh non-removable battery
• 20W fast charge
• IP52 dust and water protection rating
• 8.61mmx165.99mx75.93mm
• 190g
• Launch Colors: Black or Ice