Nokia 3.4 Full Review, HMD Global recently launched two smartphones, The Nokia 3.4 and the Nokia 5.4. When I first got to the Nokia 3.4, I wondered if it would feel the same. It has a more modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 processor and a smaller 4000mAh battery, which may put it at a disadvantage compared to others at this price point, but what makes it so is the promise of guaranteed software updates. , which is rare. Should you consider the Nokia 3.4? Let’s find out.
Nokia 3.4 Full Review
Nokia 3.4 design
Did you check this Nokia 5.4 Specifications
The first thing I noticed about the Nokia 3.4 was the build quality. It is made of polycarbonate but sits firmly in the hand. The screen measures 6.39 inches and has an aspect ratio of 19.5: 9, which makes it tall and narrow. Holding the Nokia 3.4 isn’t much of a problem, but I couldn’t easily reach the top of the screen using the phone with my hand.
HMD Global offers a hole-punch design, while most of its competitors still have a notch for the front camera. There are striking edges all around, but the thick chin with the Nokia logo will grab your attention.
The power button is located slightly above the center of the frame and is easy to reach with the stationary device. The volume buttons are placed above the power button and can also be reached without shaking the phone. On the other side is the dedicated Google Assistant button with SIM card support above it. The Nokia 3.4 has two Nano-SIM slots and a special microSD slot for storage expansion.
A dedicated button on the left makes it easier to invoke the Google Assistant.
The back panel has a textured finish which makes it fingerprint-free. There is a well-positioned fingerprint scanner and of course, my finger rested on it while holding the phone. The round camera module on the back isn’t a very common design element, but it does stand out.
The Nokia 3.4 has a tri-camera setup and the bezel doesn’t protrude too much, which is a good thing. This phone is not too thick and weighs 180 grams which is lighter than some other smartphones in this price range.
The Nokia 3.4 has a USB Type-C port at the bottom, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack and speaker. HMD Global ships a 5W charger in the box with a clear housing. The Nokia 3.4 is available in three colors: Fjord, Dusk, and Charcoal. I had the Dusk color variant which has a purple finish. You can choose Fjord if you like a flashy color of Charcoal if you like to keep it simple.
Nokia 3.4 specifications and software
The Nokia 3.4 has an HD + resolution display, which is common for a smartphone at this price point, although there are a few exceptions such as the Redmi 9 Power (Review) and the Poco M3 (Review) which have both full-HD + is displayed. HMD Global chose the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 and paired it with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
There are no other variations. Fortunately, the storage is expandable using the dedicated microSD card slot. You get a 4000mAh battery, which is slightly smaller than what most competitors pack these days. HMD Global has priced the Nokia 3.4 at Rs. 11,999 which stands up to the stiff competition.
The Nokia 3.4 is currently running Android 10, but it is guaranteed to receive updates
The Nokia 3.4 supports Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi, four satellite navigation systems, and dual 4G VoLTE. In terms of software, it runs a clean version of Android and is part of the Android One program. It currently ships with Android 10 and my device had the February Android security patch which is pretty good.
HMD Global claims that the Nokia 3.4 is Android 11 ready and will eventually get an update to Android 12 based on the Android One program terms. This puts the Nokia 3.4 far ahead of the competition, as budget smartphones are rarely more than an Android version upgrade. There are no bloatware apps on the smartphone and the user interface is very easy to use. For someone who prefers stock Android, the Nokia 3.4 will appeal, but if you want more features and customizations, you’ll miss them on this phone.
Nokia 3.4 performance and battery life
The Nokia 3.4 has enough hardware to perform daily tasks. With 4GB of RAM, you actually don’t have any issues unless you’re multitasking between heavy apps. The Snapdragon 460 loads small apps quickly, but you’ll have to wait for it to load heavier apps. I found the fingerprint scanner to quickly unlock the smartphone and it never took more than one try. There’s also face detection, which worked quickly even in different lighting conditions.
I ran our standard set of benchmarks to see where the Nokia 3.4 sits against other phones in its price range. In AnTuTu, the Nokia 3.4 scored 1,49,404 points, while scoring 256 and 1289 points respectively in Geekbench 5 single-core and multi-core tests. These scores were lower than those of the Redmi 9 Power and the Poco M3. As far as graphics go, the Nokia 3.4 recorded 37 fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex scene and 9.6 fps in the Car Chase scene.
I was playing Call of Duty Mobile on the Nokia 3.4 and it was set to the high graphics preset and medium frame rate by default. The game was playable with these settings without any issues. After 15 minutes of playing the phone showed a 5% battery drain. I also noticed that it was warm to the touch around the camera module.
The Nokia 3.4 packs a relatively small 4,000mAh battery, but you can still get through at least a full day on a single charge. However, charging is very slow when using the supplied 5W charger. I was only able to get the phone 16 percent in 30 minutes and 33 percent after an hour. It took over three hours to fully charge the phone which is slow by today’s standards. You can use a charger with a higher rating for better results. Other affordable smartphones like the Realme Narzo 30A come with an 18W charger in the box.
Nokia 3.4 cameras
You get a tri-camera setup on the Nokia 3.4, which consists of a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, this phone has an 8-megapixel shooter. The camera app is very basic and you can drag the viewfinder to switch between different shooting modes. You get night mode, portrait mode, and beautification options in the default camera app, but that feels limited compared to the recording options you get on phones with custom apps like the Poco M3.
Photos taken with the Nokia 3.4 looked fine on the phone’s native display, but when zoomed in there was even grain visible on objects close to the camera. The background elements were lacking in sharpness and the text was not readable. Shooting with the ultra-wide-angle camera resulted in significant loss of detail and decreased contrast, as well as barrel distortion at the edges.
The close-ups went well with good detail and soft blurry background. In portraits, the Nokia 3.4 could handle good edge detection and separate the subject from the background quite well. The camera app also allows you to set the amount of blur before taking the photo.
Nokia 3.4 Camera preview Night mode
In low light, the AI configures the phone for a night scene. It quickly detects the scene, but the capture takes more than four seconds. The output was not great and a lot of detail was lost in the dark. Night mode produces brighter images with significantly better detail in the shadows, but it’s still not the best performance I’ve seen at this price point.
Selfies taken in daylight were good and you also have the option to take portraits with the selfie camera. The Nokia 3.4 managed to achieve good edge detection and produced crisp results outdoors during the day. Low-light selfies with no nearby light source lacked detail.
Video recording exceeds 1080p for the main and selfie cameras, but it lacked stabilization. I also found the smartphone to be a bit slow in measuring light when recording videos.
Verdict
The Nokia 3.4 is a well-built smartphone that promises guaranteed Android updates. This will appeal to an Android purist eager to use the latest software without spending a lot of money on a new smartphone. However, nothing about the Nokia 3.4 stands out apart from this promise. The competition offers bigger batteries, faster charging, better screens, and better camera quality.
If the appeal of clean software and updates far outweighs anything else for you, the Nokia 3.4 should have you satisfied.