We have used Nokia 5.4 4GB RAM Indian variant as our daily driver for over 40 days and this is our detailed review of the smartphone. It may help you in deciding whether you should really go for Nokia 5.4 as your next if you really wanted to own one and are still undecided.
Nokia 5.4 is the spiritual successor to Nokia 5.3 in Nokia smartphones lineup. But takes the game a few notches higher with a punch-hole display, better design and a much improved Quad-camera module on the back. Read all about Nokia 5.4 at our dedicated page.
Nokia 5.4 Design:
Nokia 5.4 feels quite well-built in your hand. The back has a curved shape. It has Nano-textured back design that gives it a more robust feel in hand. Due to the back design and Nano-textured finish, the Nokia 5.4 feels steady in your hand.
Nokia 5.4 looks more premium than Nokia 5.3 in your hand. It is slightly smaller than Nokia 5.3 and with its punch-hole display and design of front/back looks really attractive.
Though it is a big smartphone with 6.4-inch display, because of its 20:9 display ratio, it still fits just fine in your hand. Display looks good with deep black color levels and good contrast.
Nokia 5.4 Display & Audio output Quality review:
Nokia 5.4 comes with a 6.4-inch HD+ display. Here are our observations after playing with Nokia 5.4 as a daily driver.
- The display is bright and ideal brightness level is around 40-45% in most of the cases.
- Adaptive brightness learns your choices quickly.
- Outdoor readability is also quite good on Nokia 5.4. You can check the image below to see how it performs under direct sunlight.
- Viewing angles are excellent.
- Blacks are deep and color reproduction good
You can control white Balance on Nokia 5.4 to add saturation to Nokia 5.4 display. Fingerprint resistance is a very nice feature of Nokia 5.4 display and you don’t need to wipe it time and again. The display is good for media consumption and gaming with the real-estate it offers.
The Nokia 5.4 audio output quality is good. It is louder than Nokia 5.3 and doesn’t break even at the loudest the speaker has to offer. It offers a good video watching and gaming experience.
You can watch the video below to see the display and audio quality review in action.
Nokia 5.4 detailed camera review:
Nokia 5.4 rear camera performance is the next big jump for mid-range Nokia smartphones. Nokia 5.3 camera performance was a pleasant surprise for us but Nokia 5.4 camera packs much more punch in stills imaging. The 48MP sensor provides ample amount of resolved details with accurate colors in most of the cases.
We must mention that the camera is really good at capturing Bokeh, Portrait and closeup macro images that will make you happy. The ultra-wide camera is also a great addition for capturing landscapes and provides really good results.
Nokia 5.4 front camera is also a solid performer. If you compare with Nokia 5.3 front camera results you will be able to notice the difference in imaging quality easily.
In low-light too, Nokia 5.4 rear camera is just superior to the Nokia 5.3 camera. It captures more illuminated images in both normal and night modes. Night mode is much faster and is a improved version of the Night mode available on older Nokia smartphones.
Default 1080p-30fps video capture while good can still be adjusted for better exposure. The imaging stabilization works well and takes care of movements while capturing videos. The 1080p-60fps recording provides better results in terms of details and exposure. The low-light videos also come more illuminated and stable if compared to Nokia 5.3 sample.
Nokia 5.4 camera takes the Nokia mid-range smartphone camera game several notches above. Both rear and front cameras provide stellar results. We recommend it as a generally capable smartphone camera and as a solid upgrade over Nokia 5.3 camera with clearly visible results.
Read Nokia 5.4 detailed camera review and camera comparison against Nokia 5.3 by clicking here.
Nokia 5.4 Performance review :
Nokia 5.4 is powered by the Snapdragon 662 processor while Nokia 5.3 packed Snapdragon 665 processor. Many wanted to know how well Nokia 5.4 performs in comparison to Nokia 5.3. We have compared both smartphones and have also tested Nokia 5.4 with many games including heavy games open in background.
Nokia 5.4 is good at handling basic and advanced smartphones tasks. Be it browsing, gaming or multitasking with many apps and games open in the background, it remains at ease. Even with GTA SA, Sniper 3D and two more games open in the background everything remains fluid. Games also resume well from background.
In the speed-test with Nokia 5.3, Nokia 5.4 performs similarly in most of the cases. It is difficult to pronounce a winner here. You can watch the video below to see the review and comparison in action.
Nokia 5.4 Battery Life, Fast charging & Call quality:
Nokia 5.4 has again shown good to excellent battery life during our review. In real-life conditions, I have been getting around 32-36 hrs of battery life with heavy “blogger” usage of the device. This involves lots of browsing, streaming, gaming, apps testing, attending calls and daily chores.
Check the screenshots below that show the battery statistics after typical usage.
It may be around 36-40 hrs for a moderately heavy usage scenario and that is really very impressive. Screen-on time typically varies between 6.5 hrs – 7 hrs for heavy usage scenario.
Nokia 5.4 offers stellar call quality because of its innovative Antenna design. Call reception is usually very good. I didn’t face any issue like call drops etc and it holds well even during long conversations.
Nokia 5.4 Gestures, Face Unlock, Display settings:
Nokia 5.4 comes with Face unlock, some cool gestures and also ability to alter display color saturation.
Face unlock works fine out of the box and unlock is really quick. It has three settings to control when to use Face unlock.
Nokia 5.4 comes with many gestures including turn over to reject call, mute on pick-up, double-tap to wake up phone. Swipe fingerprint for notifications and jump to camera also are very useful gestures too.
Nokia 5.4 Positives & Negatives:
Negatives
- Big display size is the only negative we can think of. To compete in price and specs-sensitive markets like India, display resolution must have been kept higher.
Positives
- Imaging quality wise Nokia 5.4 cameras really impress. Rear Camera exceeds expectations and offers good performance in all lighting conditions. Nokia 5.4 front camera is also a solid performer.
- Premium looking unibody design with new nano-textured back
- OZO Audio and Cinema mode are new premium features brought to this price range
Nokia 5.4 Conclusion:
We subjected Nokia 5.4 to our trademark rigorous and detailed evaluation. After using it as our daily driver for over 40 days, we recommend it as a Rockstar mid-range smartphone that delivers in all departments and excels in imaging.
Nokia 5.4 comes with an attractive and robust design, excellent cameras and good performance. Even the display that has been panned for not being Full HD especially in India is good and offers good sunlight readability, good viewing angles and media consuming experience.
Again, the only thing that we would like HMD to do is to stop making smartphones bigger and bigger. Perhaps a 6-6.2-inch display could have been better.
Being an Android One smartphone, Nokia 5.4 has guaranteed two years of Android OS update and 3 years of monthly security updates. Nokia 5.4 officially starts at Rs 13,999 for the 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant in India. It is priced at USD 249 in the US for the 4GB RAM/128GB storage variant, at £159.99 in the UK for the 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant.
