HMD Global launched the Nokia X30 in the Kenyan market in May, the phone is the latest in the X series of phones with the XR20 being launched in 2021.
We are living at a time when climate change is real and when we are all called upon to reduce our carbon footprint in whichever way. In the Nokia X30, HMD Global has gone all out to make their most eco-friendly smartphone. The phone comes with a 100% recycled aluminum frame and a 65% recycled plastic back. Not only that, it has a reduced packaging size due to the fact that the phone comes without a charging brick which you have to buy separately. The box which comes with the phone is also made from 70% recycled paper.
We managed to get our hands on the Nokia X30 which we took out for a spin, and these are our thoughts.
Build and Design
The Nokia X30 measures 6.26 x 2.91 x 0.31 inches and weighs about 185 grams, which I found it to be comfortable in the hand. It comes with an aluminum frame and a plastic back that has a matte finish giving the phone a premium look.
The Nokia X30 comes with a 6.43-inch AMOLED PureDisplay screen with some not so slim bezels giving the phone a screen-to-body ratio of approximately 85 per cent. It has a high definition 1080 X 2400 resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio which translates to 409 pixels per inch density.
It has a 90 Hertz variable refresh rate which drops to 60 Hertz when the phone is idling, however when playing games that have a high frame rate. The phone will maintain the 90 Hertz refresh rate.
The phone comes with 400 nits of brightness which can be boosted to about 700 nits should the need arise. We found this to be adequate in situations when one has to use the phone under bright sunlight. It has a minimum brightness of 2.1 nits which is perfect for nighttime viewing.
The screen has Gorilla Glass Victus display cover for protection, and it is also has a IP67 rating which means that it is dust and sand resistant but can also be submerged in about 1 meter of water for about 30 minutes. However, it is not advisable to take it for a swim. It has an under-display fingerprint sensor which worked just fine.
The selfie camera is located in the middle of the screen near the top edge and just above it we have the earpiece hidden behind a mesh. The top edge features a microphone and a second pinhole which we couldn’t figure its use since HMD Global has indicated that the Nokia X30 only has 2 microphones. The right edge features the volume up and down rocker and a power button. The bottom of the phone holds a sim tray that can house two nano-SIM cards, a microSD card expansion slot, a stereo speaker, Type C charging port and a microphone.
Performance
The phone is powered by a Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G, the chipset is built on a 6 nm process node technology and has a maximum CPU frequency of 2.2 GHz. For gaming, it uses the Adreno 619 GPU which is adequate for games which are not very graphic intensive. It comes with 256GB of internal storage and 8 GB of RAM.
In as much as the chipset might not be the most powerful out there, I have to say that I did not experience any lag while using the phone be it while streaming, switching between apps or even playing games like PUGB and Asphalt 9.
The device runs on the Android 12 operating system straight out of the box but mine already got an upgrade to Android 13. HMG Global promises three years of OS and security updates which in a way gives one peace of mind. The phone runs on stock Android which means that it does not have any bloatware which is a plus.
Camera
The phone comes with a combination of two cameras at the back, 50MP wide with 13MP ultrawide, and the 16MP selfie camera with HDR to create some visually appealing photographs.
The phone comes with shooting modes such as Night, Portrait, Tripod and Dark Mode with both sets of cameras shooting videos in 1080 pixels up to 60 frames per second.
Check out the photos.
Battery
The Nokia X30 features a 4200 mAh non-removable battery supported by a 33-Watt charging capability. A user gets a full day’s heavy use from a fully charged battery, so everything from listening to music, to reading and browsing as well as gaming is possible.
Conclusion
HMD Global have done a good job in coming up with an eco-friendly device without compromising on quality. It is a good buy if you are looking for a durable phone which gets the job done without any frills.