Design
Nokia XL retains features traditional design, at first glance will see similar models running Windows Phone Lumia, which is also consistent design style of Nokia in recent years.
Note more details, Nokia XL has a phone case made of plastic, carbon, rigid and more angles than Lumia. However, the four corners of the Nokia XL still has a smooth curvature is boron, users will feel very clear when holding. The difference compared to the Nokia Lumia 1020 and Nokia Lumia 1520 is carbon resin of XL processed fainter, rougher.
Like other smartphones, all physical buttons of the Nokia XL are designed on the edge of the phone, including the power button and volume up. On the surface the phone only a touch button is the Back button. 3.5mm headphone jack on the top edge is set, micro-USB port is located at the bottom edge phone.
MicroSD memory card slot and 2 SIM slot same direction inward, shielded by a removable battery. Ie whether users want to remove the sim and memory card from the machine must remove the battery first.
Screen
Nokia XL is equipped with a 5-inch WVGA screen with IPS panel with resolution of 800×480, 187ppi pixel density is. Standard screens are quite low compared with the machine running the Android operating system is popular in the market, but if you look at the selling price of Nokia XL, you will accept because Android models of Nokia is in the lower segment of the smartphone market today.
Low resolution on a large screen size, the Nokia XL difficult to avoid display problems that seem crude. However, the screen has a wide viewing angle and color display neutral.
Display
Screen size and resolution:
The Nokia XL comes with a 5-inch IPS LCD display, 480 x 800 pixels is what you get, so the pixel density is roughly 187 PPI. That resolution feels kinda low, especially now, but back in 2014 it was still “normal enough” for a budget phone. Still, the low detail kinda shows…like you can spot individual pixels if you stare at it up close, on this size it’s hard to not notice.
Color reproduction and viewing angles:
Because it uses IPS LCD, the screen has decent color reproduction and fairly wide viewing angles. In day to day use colors look lively, especially on photos and video clips, but they don’t have that extra richness, the kind you see on sharper displays. Brightness is fine for indoors, though outdoors in direct sunlight it becomes a problem, the screen is difficult to read even if the panel usually handles other lighting conditions well.
As for viewing angles, they’re pretty good overall. When you tilt it to the side, you get minimal color distortion, so it’s pretty easy to share content with someone next to you. The display stays usable from different angles, without a big drop in perceived quality.
Touch Responsiveness:
The touch sensitivity of the Nokia XL’s display is decent, but not really exceptional. It does react nicely to taps and swipes, yet there’s a bit of delay in some situations, especially when you are moving through the phone’s menus, or when you’re running resource hungry apps. This lag seems tied more to the phone’s processor and the software side of things, rather than the touch screen itself, still it’s worth keeping in mind if you want a truly snappy feel.
Multimedia Experience:
Because the screen size and resolution are what they are, the multimedia experience on the Nokia XL feels okay, though it isn’t exactly amazing. For videos or casual gaming it can be enjoyable enough, but the low resolution causes details to look kind of fuzzy, and text may look pixelated. Streaming from services like YouTube, or Netflix, is usable, but don’t get your hopes up for the crispness and clarity you’d notice on higher end models.
As for reading text, like ebooks or web articles, the display works, however long sessions might lead to some eye strain thanks to the lower pixel density. The softness of the text is most obvious when you’re looking at smaller fonts, they can end up appearing slightly blurry.
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Hardware
Nokia XL uses Qualcomm MSM8225 processor Snapdragon S4 Play dual-core 1 Ghz Cortex-A5, 768 MB RAM, 4 GB of internal memory. Compared to other models running Android, Nokia XL are classified in the primary series.
Nokia which is well-known for cameras of Nokia Lumia 1020, but Nokia XL only 5 megapixel camera equipped with autofocus sensor 1/4 inch lens aperture of f / 2.8 with LED support. Add secondary camera 2 megapixel located above the screen and turn slightly to the right, Nokia XL while ensuring adequate basic features to satisfy the needs of smartphone users as the other primary.
System software
Surely the majority of users are aware of these smartphones run on Nokia’s X series platform Android, Nokia XL should not run with Windows Phone operating system, nor the bold style pure Android as other Android smartphones.
Nokia XL operates on Android 4.1.2 but still carries the style of Windows Phone. Management system is similar to the Android notification, global search feature to reference from iOS, Nokia changed almost radically Android operating system on smartphones they produce with the trend in the use simplified.
The main interface of the Nokia XL is similar to Nokia smartphones running on Windows Phone, each square icon can change the size and location. When finger drag down from the top of the screen, notification management interface familiar Android appears. When pulled through the left and right, a unique feature of the Nokia Fastlane will be activated, can show the features and applications you use on the current screen.
Although using the Android platform, but Nokia has replaced all the Google applications like Google Maps, Gmail and replaced by Here, Hotmail, Skype, … Of course, Nokia also replace Google Play by Nokia Store, there a convenience here is Nokia always the repository put third party applications into a private area in their store.
Performance
Processor and RAM:
The Nokia XL runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Play (MSM8225) chipset, with a dual core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A5 CPU and an Adreno 203 GPU. In practice this hardware setup is pretty modest, even for the era, so it basically lands it in the budget tier. You know, not really meant for heavy stuff, more like everyday baseline usage.
RAM wise, it comes with 768 MB, and that’s on the low end too. That small pool of memory impacts multitasking , when you bounce between apps, you might notice the system hesitating, or it may redraw screens slower than expected. In some cases an app may end up reloading, especially if it has been sitting in the background for a bit.
Day-to-Day Usage:
Day to day, the Nokia XL can feel fine for simple actions like placing calls, sending messages, browsing , and using the common social network apps. But once you ask it to do more than those basics, that’s when it starts to lag. If you open several apps at the same time, try games, or stream higher quality video , the phone can get sluggish, stutter, and occasionally just crash.
Also, the user interface itself (we’ll get into it later in the software section) isn’t exactly light on resources. Because of that, moving through menus and settings can feel a bit drawn out, particularly if you compare it to other Android phones that have stronger chips under the hood.
Gaming performance on the Nokia XL is kinda, a mixed bag, honestly. If you stick to simpler titles, less graphically-intensive stuff like Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds it can feel fine, at least mostly . But once you try something heavier, the hardware starts to show its limits. The Adreno 203 GPU is pretty old and really not built for modern demands, so even casual play can come with frame drops, or longer loading times than you’d like.
So if you’re the type who actually enjoys gaming on your phone a lot, the Nokia XL might not be the smartest pick . Between limited processing power and a low-resolution screen, most newer games either won’t run smoothly or they just won’t look that great on it, period.
Benchmarks are similar story. In synthetic tests, the Nokia XL lines up with what you’d expect from a budget device. It scores below most mid-range and high-end phones from that same era, especially in multi-core runs, because it has a dual-core processor. Sure, these numbers help when you compare devices on paper, but in practice that gap shows up too, and the Nokia XL will struggle more often with demanding tasks than you’d want.
Conclude
Nokia XL gives users a new feel for the Android operating system combined with the style of Windows Phone.
Overall, through smartphones Nokia X, Nokia X + and Nokia XL, Nokia shows users that the seriousness of her in bringing the product to join the Android market from building the Android app store separately, to strategies that encourage users download the application from the app stores of third parties.
Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.