HMD Global has found a niche in the budget segment and it keeps cementing that position further with every release under the ever-reliable Nokia brand. The manufacturer introduced two entry-level smartphones, the Nokia C3 and Nokia 5.3 in China and India, respectively — suggesting they should be headed to Pakistan next.
Nokia 5.3
The latest arrival in Nokia’s 5 series, the Nokia 5.3 features the company’s tried-and-tested design language. It’s a mid-ranger with a quad-camera setup, encased in a gorgeous round housing. The four lenses in the orbit of a pill-style LED flash, use a 13MP main camera, a 5MP ultra-wide-angle sensor that stretches your FoV by 118°, and two macro and depth units.
The back is beveled around the edges, polished, and comes in three editions: Cyan, Sand, and Charcoal. In addition to the quad-camera, a fingerprint scanner in the shape of a coin impression rests on the rear-shell. The aesthetic is reflected around the front panel, which is bound inside a notch and medium-weight bezels. It’s a basic IPS LCD display, protected with Gorilla Glass 3. It measures 6.55” and delivers an HD+ resolution at a 20:9 aspect ratio.
Available in 4GB + 64GB and 6GB + 64GB variants, the Nokia 5.3 runs stock Android 10 with two year’s worth of OS updates. WhatMobile expects the phone to start from RS. 36,999.
Nokia C3
The Nokia C3 is more affordable still, with its previous-gen internals and design. Instead of a modern, bezel-free profile, the Nokia C3 has a 5.99” HD+ screen sandwiched between two heavy top and bottom bezels.
The front camera of C3 by Nokia resides in the former and there’s a compact, centered housing for the single 8MP rear-facing unit. The Google Assistant can be summoned with a dedicated button and the phone is secured with a standard back-mounted fingerprint reader.
Powered by a 3,040 mAh battery and Android 10, the Nokia C3 comes in 2GB + 16GB and 3GB + 32GB flavors that start from $100 (~17,000 PKR).
