- [Michael] Here's the thing
with affordable smartphones in the U.S.,
they're not always great lookin'.
Last summer HMD Global started doing something about that,
with the Nokia 7.1 and the grass is only getting greener.
I got some time with the new Nokia 7.2,
ahead of its announcement at Berlin's IFA 2019 trade show
and at the same time I got to go hands-on
with this blast from the past,
a feature phone with a stormtrooper paint job
and a hinge that I'm already hooked on.
(upbeat music)
Smartphone first.
Nokia says the 7.2 elevates the game in all dimensions
and while the most obvious evidence of this
is in that Lumia like camera crater around the pack,
first I wanna talk about the face.
See, last summer's Nokia 7.1
was beautiful from the backside,
but boy oh boy that chin and notch combo on the front
was a face only a mother could love.
Well on 7.2 that chin is still hanging around,
but that big honkin' bucket up top
has given way to a much nicer teardrop.
Baby steps.
More important is what's running on that screen.
Android Pi, with the Android One guarantee
of no bloatware or pre-loads or crappy custom keyboards,
it's great.
Now I bring this up because Nokia actually doesn't
have a flawless record when it comes to software.
HMD Global, the Finnish company that makes Nokia phones,
works with subcontractors to provide the software.
So over the past year some Nokia devices
have shipped with an optimization suite,
it was called Evenwell.
It was meant to keep the phone from wasting memory
and battery on run away background apps,
but what it's actually done is caused a lot of consternation
for being too aggressive and intrusive.
And you know, a lot of folks made the argument
that it was just Android One,
there shouldn't be anything extra on there at all.
Anyway, devices like the 7.2,
which run Android Pi or later, will not ship with Evenwell.
So this should actually be
what it was meant to be from the start,
a very pure form of Android.
That software runs on a by-the-numbers,
but by and large positive combination
of mid-range silicon, adequate memory, large screen
and a battery that Nokia says
should give you two days of use.
We'll see.
There's also a dedicated
Google Assistant button on the side,
which I always like to see.
And I bet you're tired
of me dancing around that disk on the back, yeah?
Boom!
A 48 megapixel sensor behind the primary lens,
supplemented by a depth sensor for portraits
and, my favorite, an ultra wide 118 degree camera
for when you need to cram a lot of bloggers
into one photo.
It's just eight megapixels though,
so don't expect it to be too sharp.
The Zeiss branding on the back has software to back it up
with special portrait modes
that aim to emulate Zeiss glass.
And improved noise reduction and low-light performance,
plus a boosted beauty mode
for that 20 megapixel selfie shooter up front.
Now unlike with the 7.1 hands-on,
I didn't get time to put any of these claims to the test
out in the real world, which is a shame.
But it seems clear Nokia is serious
about resurrecting its reputation
for photographic excellence.
The Nokia 7.2 will be available at the end of September
for a buck shy of 350.
That again, puts it quite close to the excellent Pixel 3a
and, look, given Google's excellence in photography
and consistency in updates,
you'll probably still wanna buy the pixel
if those are things you value.
But the versatility of the added wide-angle lens here
and the siren song of this emerald green glass,
well it ain't nothing.
If it lives up to its promises
it just might be enough to flip yeah.
Speaking of flips,
don't act like you didn't see that one coming.
For the third year in a row we're getting a throwback,
this time to a decade ago.
The Nokia 2724G might not be as iconic
as the last to tribute models,
but it's a clamshell phone
and as a Star Trek fan I'm contractually obligated
to like anything that resembles a flip-top communicator.
Ah, there's more to it than that.
See this isn't just another budget phone,
it runs something called KaiOS,
which is this kind of middle ground between a smartphone
and dumb phone operating system.
You can install third-party apps on it,
including popular ones like YouTube.
And while watching videos on a 2.8 inch display
is about as fun as it was in 2009,
there are more useful apps like Google Assistant,
WhatsApp, Google Maps and, of course, Snake.
Close the phone and that 1.3 inch display on the cover
is there to tell you who's calling.
And you don't need to open it to take a call,
which reminds me of my old Nextel days.
Speaking of, there's a side key here too,
but it's not for push-to-talk,
in fact you can make it do whatever you want.
HMD promises 27 days of standby battery life on this one
and an expected global launch price just shy of 90 euro.
Now on the downside getting the cost that low meant
HMD had to give it a microUSB port for charging. (scoffs)
Also this cheap plastic is gonna pick up oils and scratches
faster than sunglasses in a beach bag
and, as of press time, it's not coming to the U.S.,
sad.
While HMD didn't have any flagships
to announce at the briefing that's not a surprise,
we usually expect to see those around
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
For details on the other Nokia phones
announced alongside these,
get up the Android Central rundown.
A link in the description.
And folks, if you want me to take a longer look
at the Nokia 7.2, please let me know in the comments
and subscribe to the channel on YouTube so you don't miss it
if I do find the time.
Finally be sure to follow me on Instagram, @themrmobile,
for up-to-the-minute mobile updates from IFA 2019.
Until next time, thanks for watching!
And stay mobile my friends.