Introduction
The Nokia G60 5G was introduced a few months later than the Nothing Phone 1 in September 2022. While the Nothing Phone 1 was initially priced much higher, you can buy a lower configuration variant at a price similar to the Nokia G60 5G. On paper, the Nothing Phone 1 seems to have a clear lead over the Nokia G60 5G, but specification is only half the story.
In my previous review of the Nokia G60 5G, my take is that, this is a reliable mid-ranger that actually punches above its weight. And it even edges on the more potent Nokia X30 5G in certain areas which may sway buyers.
But, with the launch of the more affordable variant on the Nothing Phone 1, HMD Global needs to reconsider their pricing strategy, the last piece of the puzzle that is left out.
Nothing Phone 1 vs Nokia G60 5G
You need to hold a device to know how it actually feels in hand. Though weighing quite the same, the Nokia G60 5G is just a tad taller, but feels more compact and the chamfered edges gives extra comfort. While the G60 5G is more eco oriented, it surprisingly feels much better than the previous midrange offerings by HMD Global.
The Nothing Phone 1 does have a good built but feels a little too hollow for my likings. Having said that, the aluminum frame and the Gorilla Glass 5 protection over the front and back is more than what the G60 5G has to offer with its plastic frame and Gorilla Glass 5 protection over the front. But, as I have said earlier, you really need to feel both these devices in hand, and I have to say, the G60 5G feels more reassuring in hand than the Nothing Phone 1 and probably would survive more drops than the other.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in the mobile world, the display often is the centre of attraction. The Nothing Phone 1 takes the clear lead here offering an OLED display with 1Billion colors with HDR10+, with an average brightness of 500nits with 120Hz refresh rate. This is certainly an icing on the cake as not many offers such package at this price point! The G60 5G settles for a more classical IPS LCD display, but also offering 120Hz refresh rate goodness.
With both display having a very similar pixel density, it will be interesting to see how they fare next to each other as in my display comparison of the Nokia G60 5G compared to Puredisplay tuned devices, the G60 5G performed surprisingly well in terms of having more vibrant output and a respectable dynamic range.
When it comes to computing power, both these devices are running in a 6nm chipset although the Nothing Phone 1 gets the more potent SD778 platform as opposed to SD695 on the G60 5G. Having near stock Android on both these devices, the general experience is the same , with fluid transitioning, quick app launching and better stability.
The highlight of my review is always on the imaging capability. Nothing offers a dual 50MP setup for its primary and ultrawide offerings with the primary sensor equipped with OIS. The G60 on the other hand has a 50MP primary sensor without OIS, a 5MP ultrawide and a 2MP depth camera to complete its camera setup. It does seem like this is again, another clear win for the Nothing but in my experience with the G60 5G previously, the daylight performance is really good with better color reproduction and good dynamic range. It does perform slightly below the X30 5G in low light condition and while the 5MP ultrawide might seem to be rudimentary against the 50MP sensor from Nothing, the Fusion algorithm might just surprise you. It is also going to be a real testament if OZO audio capture makes any differences anymore.
There are a few other parameters to be considered from these devices such as the stereo output from the Nothing, the expandable storage from the G60 5G and if you fancy a wireless charging device, then only the Nothing offers them here.
The above are a few samples of the primary camera in day time and how the nightmode fares on each. The daytime performance on both devices are good in terms of details and dynamic range but the Nokia G60 does better in color reproduction. Low light performance on the Nokia G60 is commendable, thanks to the NightMode 2.0 but the Nothing Phone 1 performs admirably well. Areas where the Nokia is lacking is the ultrawide fusion which tends to be much softer but it is expected from a 5MP sensor. Lowlight from the ultrawide sensor on the G60 suffers the same fate. More samples and pixel level comparison will be in my twitter feed soon in collaboration with Nokiapurist.
Having said that, while the Nothing Phone 1 has a lot to offer in paper, they do not really translate equally in real life scenario, at least for now. As shared in my previous review of the Nothing Phone 1, the 4K recording is choppy, the HDR recording at 1080p lacks stability and that seems to bring down its performance to what the G60 5G has to offer. But, there is nothing a good software patch can’t fix , for both these devices, and I do expect with Android 13, most of these issues will be ironed out.
Do catch my live comparison here :
Final thoughts
The Nothing Phone 1 is here to remind the manufacturers, that sky is the limit when it comes to hardware and pricing. Having a smaller setup than HMD Global, Nothing Phone 1 has generated more hype than any Nokia phones till date. Aggressive pricing with no compromise on the hardware and even the build quality makes the Nothing Phone 1 a rather sound choice .
HMD Global seems to be on the right track with the Nokia X30 5G and the Nokia G60 5G, and I do hope they continue the effort to make improvements with the Android 13 update coming soon. I do hope that the imaging capability of the G60 5G to be improved in certain areas such as reducing the noise and having a more vibrant output, a better Dark Vision mode that actually justifies its presence, stabilized 1080P 60FPS recording, less noise and more details from the ultrawide fusion capture and it wont kill to introduce SpeedWarp or UltraSteady video capture on the G60 5G as it shared identical processor to the X30 5G.
It will be interesting to see how the Nothing Phone 1 fares against the big brother, Nokia X30 5G, which will be up soon.
Follow me at Twitter at https://twitter.com/theoriginal086
Follow me at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theoriginal086
Follow me at Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drnokia_theoriginal/
