Nokia T20

amazon Nokia T20 reviews

Although the screen is the main highlight of the Nokia T20, the performance of the strange chip Unisoc Tiger T610 and the abundant life of the large 8200mAh battery are what convince and retain users.

In the field of phones, it can be said that Nokia is a “big name” but with the tablet segment, it is a completely different story. The last tablet model that Nokia launched is the Nokia N1 which has been around for up to 7 years. Therefore, Nokia T20 is considered “brand new”, especially when this is also Nokia’s first tablet model under HMD Global.

Slim design, solid finish, with IP52 water resistance

Nokia phones have always been renowned for their rugged, rugged finish, and the Nokia T20 inherits that tradition as well. The device is slim, lightweight, only 7.8mm thick, and 470g in weight, almost on par with the iPad Gen 9 10.2″ 2021 model (7.5mm, 498g).

Like some competitors in the price range, Nokia also uses monolithic metal materials, specifically sanded aluminum for almost the entire back and frame of the T20. The machine feels solid and sturdy but easy to stick to fingerprints and sweat stains. Similar to previous metal-backed phones, a plastic strip is clad along the top edge of the Nokia T20 to increase reception.

Thanks to its lightweight, it is still perfectly fine to hold and use the Nokia T20 with one hand in some situations. Of course, most of the time you still need two hands to navigate comfortably. But sometimes, one of your hands is in the middle of work, the other hand can still take care of holding the T20 without too much difficulty.

Quite surprising that the device supports both IP52 water and dust resistance standards. This is also a very light level of water resistance, but it also gives some peace of mind if you accidentally pour water into the device or get caught in the rain.

It seems that HMD wants to encourage users to use the Nokia T20 horizontally, so the volume up and down buttons are placed very high on the right side, and the power button is also brought to the top edge, close to the rear camera area.

This is the same layout as Apple’s iPad. It is true that when holding the device horizontally, the left hand can easily access both these buttons quickly, but when held vertically, it will be quite difficult to manipulate, especially with the power button. You will need to use the power button quite often because the T20 does not allow double-clicking to turn the screen on and off, nor does it have a fingerprint sensor. Compensating somewhat, the machine supports automatically brightening the screen when lifted, and unlocking the face with the front camera is also quite convenient.

A strange point of the Nokia T20 is that the 3.5mm headphone jack is located in the corner of the device. At first, I thought this type of cross-type 3.5 jack would be easy to get in trouble, especially when the device is horizontal and then plugged in a headset to study online or meet remotely.

But when I tried plugging in the headset, it turned out that there was no problem at all, because the core inside the jack is still placed along the body, not diagonally, so it still helps the headset to fit on the table. HMD did indeed have a light “troll” of users.

Full support from 4G LTE, WiFi 5GHz to Bluetooth 5.0

The ability to support all kinds of waves of the Nokia T20 is quite impressive when fully equipped with both 4G LTE network, 5GHz + 2.4GHz dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0. The device has a 4G SIM slot next to a microSD card slot. The availability of 4G is more convenient than some competitors in this price range that only have WiFi, making it possible for the device to surf the network independently, anytime, anywhere, not having to depend on the surrounding WiFi network, or broadcast WiFi from electricity phone consumes battery.

Nokia T20’s 4G reception is on par with the high-end Oppo Find X2 that I’m using. One note is that the T20 only supports 4G SIM to access the network, use the Internet, and cannot make calls or text messages. After all, with a 10-inch tablet, few people cover their faces to make calls.

Support for 5GHz WiFi networks is a big surprise when most tablets or even many phones in the price range of $220 and under today are also cut. Thanks to the ability to catch WiFi 5GHz, Nokia T20 can make good use of high-speed networks. Like my home network, the maximum speed is about 165Mbps, if only using 2.4GHz WiFi, it can only reach a maximum of 45Mbps, even when sitting close to the modem, while using a 5GHz WiFi network, sitting 4-5 meters away is still full speed.

The screen is sharp, the colors are not good, the brightness is not good, and the sound of the dual speakers is stable

The screen is the highlight of the Nokia T20. The device owns a 10.4-inch IPS LCD screen with a high resolution of 2K 2000 x 1200 pixels, a pixel density of 224ppi, a rather strange ratio of 5:3 and 400 nit brightness, 60Hz refresh rate, protected by tempered glass but Nokia does not specify which type. The screen border is moderately thick and evenly curved to the 4 corners. The screen is certified with low blue light, limiting visual impact.

Thanks to the high resolution, the screen of the Nokia T20 gives good definition and details. However, the color and contrast are not very good even though the viewing angle is good. The 10.4-inch size combined with the “light” 5:3 square ratio helps to bring a spacious and airy display area. Browsing the web, checking mail, reading documents or watching videos, and playing games are all quite comfortable.

One note is that the default screen turns blue, and the maximum brightness of 400 nits is not high enough for indoor viewing, but when used outdoors or under a strong light source, it is a bit dark and difficult to see. You can partially overcome the blue tint by adjusting the screen color temperature in the settings.

The device also has a dual speaker system, evenly distributed on the top and bottom edges (will become left and right when held horizontally) equipped with OZO 360 sound technology with quite good quality. High volume, clear multi-channel stereo effect, clear sound, no distortion or distortion when turned up to the maximum, even a little bass.

Camera suitable for video calls, and selfies, including font removal, OZO dual mics for clear recording

Most people use the camera on a tablet to make video calls, in this section, the Nokia T20 provides us with a 5MP camera on the front, placed in the center of the right edge (will become the center of the top edge when holding the device horizontally). This camera can record Full HD 1080p video, the quality is much better than the 1MP camera of most laptops today.

Even, Nokia is fully equipped with “playing” features on smartphones such as taking selfie portraits, removing fonts, beautifying skin, color filters, taking animated photos, and using the screen as an auxiliary flash. Selfies are quite stable, detailed sharpness is good when bright enough, and removing fonts is also quite natural, without much smearing in the hair.

The device is also equipped with a dual-mic system (Duo Micro) right above the front camera with AI noise filtering technology to reduce noise. I tried recording a video and found that the sound was quite clear, clear, and warm, with little background noise. When recording video you can turn on OZO technology for better sound.

The camera interface is also made modern and intuitive. The effects when zooming in and out, choosing a beauty level or a color filter when clicked will pop out in the form of a wheel, very eye-catching and smooth. I appreciate HMD’s care for this software for a mid-range tablet.

At the back, the device has a single 8MP camera with an LED flash. Flash is often a cut-off feature on tablets, even in high-end models like the iPad. In general, the actual flash doesn’t help much when taking photos on tablets and phones, but it’s better than nothing.

The main use of the flash is now probably as a flashlight or a flashlight when recording video, rather than supporting photography. And both of these features, the flash of the Nokia T20 is good, there is a quick flashlight button on the notification bar.

As for the quality of the 8MP rear camera, I did not expect much. Not many people use tablets to take photos because it is very cumbersome and difficult to manipulate. In full and favorable lighting conditions, this camera can still produce decent photos. If it’s a bit inverted or underexposed, the image is just average.

where can you get a Nokia T20 online

Nokia T20 | Android 11 | 10.36-Inch Screen | Tablet | US Version | 4/64GB | 8MP Camera | Ocean Blue: Buy it now

Nokia T20 | Android 11 | 10.36-Inch Screen | Tablet | US Version | 4/64GB | 8MP Camera | Ocean Blue: Buy it now

Nokia T20 (Wi-Fi) Tablet with 10.36″ Screen, 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM, Android 11 (Ocean Blue) – International Version: Buy it now

Nokia T20 TA-1392 64GB Wi-Fi Android Tablet – Ocean Blue: Buy it now

Unexpected performance from Unisoc Tiger T610 chip

Configuration is perhaps the most curious point of the Nokia T20. The machine uses a rather strange processor Unisoc Tiger T610. I found out that this is an 8-core chip manufactured on a 12nm process, with 2 Cortex A75 1.8GHz cores and 6 Cortex A55 1.8GHz cores, dual-core Mali-G52 MP2 GPU. Other specifications of the Nokia T20 include 4 GB RAM, and 64 GB internal memory, with support for micro SD memory cards up to 512 GB.

The first manipulations on the Nokia T20 made me quite surprised. The device gives a fairly smooth experience and fast application opening speed. Gestures of swiping the edge to back or swiping the bottom edge to home or switching between applications, and turning on multitasking all respond with low latency.

Even when I open multiple apps at the same time, switch back and forth, or split the screen in half, running YouTube on one side, and chatting on Messenger on the other, the device still runs smoothly. Only sometimes when I open a lot of heavy games running in the background, it lags a bit. I did not expect that a genuine tablet $220 with such a strange chip could give such good performance. If only the Nokia T20 had a 120Hz or 90Hz screen, it would be much smoother.

I have tested with familiar benchmark applications such as AnTuTu, GeekBench, and GFX Bench, and found that Nokia T20’s Unisoc Tiger T610 chip gives a score equal to Snapdragon 670 or MediaTek Helio P70, which is quite impressive.

When playing some games like Arena of valor Mobile, PUBG, Asphalt 9, and Nokia T20 also gave a good experience at medium graphics settings, the frame was about 30-40 fps. I played continuously for about 1 hour, then the device was only slightly warm, not uncomfortable.

The battery is enough to use comfortably for 2 days, with slow charging

Nokia T20 has a fairly large battery of 8200mAh, close to the iPad Gen 9 10.2 ” 2021 (8557 mAh), and supports 15W fast charging via the built-in USB-C port, but unfortunately, the box only comes with a 10W charger. Nokia claims that users can experience 15 hours of continuous web surfing, 7 hours of conference calls, or 10 hours of movie watching with the T20.

When I tested the battery with the familiar tests of BiaReview, the Nokia T20 could surf the web continuously for about 13 hours, watch movies continuously for about 16 hours and play games continuously for 8 hours. These are all pretty impressive numbers. Note that these activities, BiaReview are counted from the time the battery is full to 10%, then stop. With daily use, I can completely use the Nokia T20 comfortably for about 2 days before needing to charge the battery. On-screen time – the average screen brightness I achieve is always from 9 to 10 hours with a screen brightness of about 70%.

However, it takes a long time to charge the battery. Even though I have used the 18W fast charger, it still takes about 5 hours to fully charge from 0% to 100%, even when I turn off the device to charge, not using anything.

Pure Google software, 2 years update commitment

Nokia T20 runs on the Android 11 platform with an almost pure Google interface, without too much customization. The machine is also very clean, only pre-installed some applications such as Spotify, and ExpressVPN. Nokia is committed to 2 years of operating system updates and 3 years of security updates, with an option of 4 years of security updates specifically for business users.

An interesting feature is that when you go to the home screen and swipe in from the left edge, there will be a store of movies, games, and books with an interface like a magazine, compiled from sources like Google TV, YouTube, Twitch, etc. You can also customize the content feeds according to your preferences.

Targeted at children, the Nokia T20 features the Google Kids Space toolkit that provides children with age-appropriate apps, books, and videos. Google Kids Space works side-by-side with kids’ Google accounts, and parents can manage it remotely with parental controls in the Google Family Link app.

HMD claims that to enhance security, it is committed to having its data center located in Finland, ensuring that all user information is always protected by European regulations (GDPR). The Nokia T20 comes pre-loaded with the ExpressVPN app with a free 30-day trial, providing users with additional control over their personal information online. The Nokia T20 also joins the Android Recommended devices (AER) group for business use, which meets Google’s security requirements.

Summary

In the first step into the tablet market, HMD Global has shown that they are not “novel”. Nokia T20 converges almost all the necessary elements to create an attractive tablet at the price range of $220. The product has a large, sharp screen with neat edges. Slim, rugged design, even with IP52 light water resistance. Convenient 4G connection, 5GHz WiFi, selfie camera, voltage stabilized video call. Agile performance, comfortable 2-day battery, lean Google software. The points that you will need to consider in this device are the color, contrast, screen brightness is not good, and the battery is slow to charge.

Advantages

+ Large screen, sharp, neat border

+ Compact, rugged design, with IP52 water resistance

+ Have 4G connection, catch 5GHz WiFi

+ Fast performance, selfie camera, stable video call

+ Comfortable 2 days battery, pure Google software

Limit

– Color, contrast, and screen brightness is not good

– Slow charging battery