Nokia 5 review

Buy now from Nokia

For a budget-friendly phone, the Nokia 5 looks and feels rather premium. But for many, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and that’s where the phone’s lower price starts to become evident. The question with any budget phone is what compromises had to be made in order to achieve the price – and whether those compromises are ones you can live with.

Find out if this budget-friendly device is right for you in our full Nokia 5 review!

Design

The Nokia 5 is sleek and doesn’t feel ‘cheap’ at all in the hand.

The Nokia 5 is sleek and doesn’t feel “cheap” at all in the hand. Like many more premium models, it’s made entirely from metal (precision-milled aluminum) and has rounded corners for a very ergonomic feel. It’s just the right amount of weighty too, giving the impression of quality as a result.

The look is also distinct, with nods to the design language of old Lumia devices. The metal chassis gives it a two-toned finish and a kind of ‘jacket’ that surrounds the front panel. My test unit has a matte chrome finish that looks very nice across the back. The device is also available in black, dark blue, and the in-vogue rose gold.

All in all, the Nokia 5’s aesthetics are not going to win any pageants against the likes of the Galaxy S8, but it’s definitely a looker.

Speakers are located on the bottom of the device and are pretty loud, though not without occasional distortion when cranked up. They’re also located just where you don’t want them for gaming. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the home button (which is an indent rather than a button) and it’s quite fast. Additionally, the phone is ‘drip’ resistant with IP52 certification, which means you won’t be able to take it swimming.

Display

The Nokia 5 sports a pretty basic 720p IPS display. If you love crisp white web pages and photos that pop on the screen before you upload them to the PC, you might be disappointed here. Watching media is acceptable but not the best experience for gaming or watching YouTube. If you use your smartphone as a primary media consumption device, then it might be worth looking for something with at least a small bump up in resolution.

This probably isn’t the best phone for people that watch a ton of YouTube videos

At 5.2 inches, you theoretically get a lot of screen real estate but this is somewhat neutered by the lower resolution. For instance, when you use Android’s multitasking feature (which does work fine in terms of performance), you won’t be able to resize apps and will be forced to stick at a 50/50 screen share. Likewise, apps feel a little squashed and claustrophobic at anything less than 100%.

Performance and hardware

The Nokia 5’s performance depends heavily on which task you’re trying to accomplish

Powering the Nokia 5 is an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor clocked at 1.4 GHz with an Adreno 505 GPU. We’ve seen the Snapdragon 430 perform well in other low-cost handsets, though the Nokia 5’s performance depends heavily on which task you’re trying to accomplish.

For instance, we rarely ran into any issues when multitasking, despite the device’s low 2 GB of RAM. However, we did notice a ton of lag when browsing web pages and gaming, and dropped frames became somewhat normal.

It’s all perfectly serviceable, it’s just not the most pleasant experience. Whether this is acceptable to you will likely depend on whether browsing and consuming media on your phone is something you do often or particularly enjoy. If not, you may not need this to be the most polished experience.

Call quality, signal strength, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi all work just fine and I experienced no dropped calls or other worrying issues. I will say that YouTube seemed to occasionally downgrade my resolution even on home Wi-Fi, though I’m not sure if this was just a glitch for me or not.

You’ll probably want to invest in a microSD card

What’s more likely to be a problem for the average user is the tiny amount of internal storage. You get just 16 GB, which will fill up fast if you take a few photos and install a few apps; especially as only half of that will be available when you first boot up the device. Fortunately, there is expandable storage (microSD up to 128 GB) but personally I find that to be a poor substitute and would much rather have both. I’m sure other users would feel similarly.

Battery

Battery life here is just fine. The device tends to last me all day, and I even consider myself to be a power user. In one day, I used Google Maps to navigate with the screen on during an hour-long journey, watched several YouTube programs, played Transformers: Forged to Fight, and had two long calls and it still made it well into the evening.

The device tends to last me all day, and I even consider myself to be a power user

It’s no workhorse though, and when you consider the 720p display, one might expect better battery performance. It only has a 3,000 mAh battery, so any longevity here is likely coming from the innate software optimization found in Android. Quick Charge 3.0 is a nice addition for a budget phone, which will be able to get you around a 50% charge in an hour.

Additionally, the decision to go with a MicroUSB port over USB Type-C does feel pretty backwards, and means you can expect slower transfer speeds than other Android devices out there.

Camera

Another area where corners seem to have been cut is the camera.

There was a time when cameras were Nokia’s ‘thing’, but you’ll be disappointed if you were expecting anything exciting here

There was a time when cameras were Nokia’s ‘thing’ (Lumia 1020 anyone?), but you’ll be disappointed if you were expecting anything exciting here. The megapixel count is respectable at 13 MP, but the main problem here is lighting. Most photos come out too dark, even in good lighting conditions. There is a hefty flash on the back, though it mostly leaves things with brilliant white spots and long shadows.

Daylight shots look fairly washed out most of the time, and other times they’ll appear overexposed or blurred – especially when shooting moving subjects. HDR is present and the autofocus works well enough, so you can get some nice shots with a little work and patience. Just know that you’ll want to take another camera with you on holiday and that your Facebook albums aren’t going to be the most dynamic among your friends.

Camera software is disappointingly basic too, with no fun or unique features to explore. For example, you won’t find any fun filters to play with, nor will you have the option to change settings manually. It really does feel rather stripped back.

Nokia 5 camera samples

The 8 MP front-facing camera is capable of recording video in 1080p. This ironically means you can’t play them back at full resolution until you get them home and onto the computer!

Software

The Nokia 5’s software experience is something that will make many of our readers happy though, and that’s because it’s basically running stock Android. With no bloatware or crazy customizations, things run as quickly as possible.

See also:Android Nougat review: what’s new in Android 7.1.2?

Android Nougat review: what’s new in Android 7.1.2?

April 14, 2017

It’s also running one of the latest versions of Android, 7.1.1 Nougat, which means you’ll get access to the latest features from Google, such as Google Assistant. As long as the device is on or plugged in, you can summon Google at any time to offer you conversions in the kitchen, or to start navigation while driving. That’s a pretty great feature in such an affordable device.

With no bloatware or crazy customizations, things run as quickly as possible.

While a lot of people love the bare-bones Android experience, it’s not going to be perfect for every user. For instance, to do something simple like displaying the battery percentage in your status bar, you need to navigate to the well-hidden System UI Tuner to do so. It’d also be nice to have a tethering shortcut in the quick settings panel. Things like this demonstrate that customizations aren’t always a bad thing – and you may actually miss some of them when they’re gone. Many people won’t notice these things are missing though, and there are apps to handle most of it. As it is, stock Android can sometimes feel a little empty.

Specifications

Display	5.2-inch IPS LCD display 1280 x 720 resolution 282 ppi 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass
Processor	Octa-core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 Mobile Platform
GPU	Adreno 505
RAM	2 GB
Storage	16 GB
MicroSD	Yes, up to 128 GB
Cameras	Rear: 13 MP sensor with PDAF, 1.12 μm pixels, f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone flash Front: 8 MP sensor with AF, 1.12 μm pixels, f/2.0 aperture, 84-degree field-of-view
Battery	3,000 mAh Non-removable
Networks	GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA: Band 1, 2, 5, 8 LTE: Band 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40
Connectivity	Micro USB (USB 2.0) USB OTG Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.1
Software	Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Dimensions and weight	149.7 x 72.5 x 8.05 mm 160 g
Colors	Tempered Blue, Silver, Matte Black, Copper

Gallery

Pricing and final thoughts

I always find it tricky to review budget devices like this. When you spend this little – €189 to be exact – you know that you’re not likely to get the very best design, specs, and camera. Instead you need to choose which of these things matters most to you and where you want the limited budget to go. The Nokia 5 is for those people to whom looks matter more than specs and performance. If you want a phone that will serve as a bit more of a fashion statement and look good when you use it, then this might be a solid choice.

Buy now from Nokia

If you want a phone that will serve as a bit more of a fashion statement and look good good when you use it, then this might be a solid choice.

But if you’re someone who loves mobile gaming and consuming media, then something with a better screen and a little more oomph may be your preference. Either way, you’ll want to invest in a microSD card and you’ll probably still need to bring a camera with you when you travel.

Like the Nokia 5’s look but want a little more screen resolution and maybe some stereo speakers? Then check out the Nokia 6. Because it’s, well, that.

This Boston Dynamics’ robot is way smarter than its shelf-stacking fail suggests

Why it matters to you

Robot technology is advancing rapidly, but it’s still fun to see when things go wrong.

No one can doubt the extraordinary achievements of robotics specialist Boston Dynamics, its range of highly sophisticated machines wowing many of those who’ve seen them in action. But as Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said in a recent TED Talk, “Everything doesn’t go exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

Raibert was referring a video clip showing the company’s semi-autonomous Atlas robot taking a tumble after trying to shift some boxes around. It’s a comical sight, and the audience breaks into hearty laughter as Atlas drops the box, stumbles backwards, pulls over a trolley, and crumbles into a heap on the floor. Buster Keaton, eat your heart out.

We know Atlas can do better than that because the clips preceding the fall show it operating extremely efficiently, if a little over enthusiastically, as it picks up several boxes and deposits them onto a conveyor.

Of course, every tumble that a Boston Dynamics’ robot endures gives the company more data to work with to improve its technology, and it’s nice that Raibert and his team are happy to share some of those humorous moments where things don’t quite work out, often with amusing results.

Indeed, Atlas was the star of another recent video that showed it tripping over on stage during an appearance at a conference. The audience loved that, too.

But it’s worth taking a moment to highlight just how impressive Atlas really is (when it stays on its feet). The latest version of the 5-foot 9-inch machine is now skilled enough to function at up to two-thirds the speed of a human during specific tasks — such as moving boxes around inside a warehouse — using both hands, taking steps, and moving its entire body in the process. Just as a human does.

It can walk up stairs, steady itself if pushed, carry stuff, and handle challenging terrain. And if it does fall over, it can get back on its feet in just a few seconds.

Raibert describes Atlas’s remarkable performance as an example of “dynamic stability, mobile manipulation, and mobile perception.”

The Massachusetts-based company is working to enhance the autonomy of its robots so they can deal with a range of situations as they occur. “One of the important things about making autonomous robots is to make them not do just exactly what you say, but make them deal with the uncertainty of what happens in the real world,” Raibert said during his TED Talk.

In another video clip shown by the CEO, we can see a Boston Dynamics engineer tugging on another of its robots — a dog-like machine called Spot — as the contraption attempts to climb a flight of stairs. Despite the engineer’s efforts to disrupt its progress, the robot manages to deal with the situation comfortably, righting itself and continuing its ascent without too much trouble.

“Believe me, getting it to do what it’s supposed to do in those circumstances is a real challenge,” Raibert commented, “But the result is something that’s going to generalize and make robots much more autonomous than they would be otherwise.”

To learn more about Boston Dynamics’ work, hop over to YouTube where you can watch the whole of Raibert’s fascinating TED Talk.

Siemens’ eHighway for trucks expands to German autobahn

Why it matters to you

Siemens says its eHighway is

Trains and trams have been powered by electricity for more than a hundred years, but only recently have serious moves been made to use the same technology for trucks on regular roads.

German engineering giant Siemens unveiled its eHighway concept for greener transportation back in 2012. The system comprises a hybrid truck that draws power from overhead electric cables for the bulk of its journey, switching to diesel power at the very start and end of a journey on smaller roads that don’t have the power lines.

Following a successful trial in Sweden, the system is now up and running on a 1.2-mile (2 km) stretch of road near Stockholm, while there are also plans to try it on several roads around Los Angeles.

Now Germany is getting interested, with Siemens announcing a plan to install the system on a 6-mile (10 km) stretch of the nation’s autobahn near Frankfurt.

Although electric cars are starting to gain traction, the much heavier weight carried by trucks means they require more energy to operate, and battery technology isn’t up to the job yet. Siemens has overcome this with an external system that provides the truck with power as it drives along.

The key part of Siemen’s eHighway system is the extendable power coupler on the top of the trucks that connects to a power line running above one lane of the highway. “Trucks equipped with the system operate locally emission-free with electricity from the overhead line, and automatically switch to a hybrid engine on roads without overhead lines,” the company explains. The coupler can also disconnect on the highway and temporarily switch to diesel power if it needs to overtake a slower vehicle. Once it returns to the lane with the power line overhead, the coupler automatically reconnects and the truck reverts to electric power.

Gerd Riegelhuth, head of transport at Hessen Mobil, responsible for road management in and around Frankfurt, said that construction of the system will “demonstrate the feasibility of integrating overhead contact systems with a public highway,” adding, “The system will be used for real transport networks, and prove the practicality of climate-neutral freight transport in the urban region of Frankfurt.”

Siemens says its eHighway is “twice as efficient compared to internal combustion engines” and therefore helps to significantly reduce energy consumption and cut local air pollution.

Germany has pledged to slash carbon dioxide emissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050, and is targeting 2030 as the final date for new sales of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles. Expanding the use of Siemens’ eHighway could also go some way to helping the country achieve its green ambitions.

Amazon Echo could go on sale in India in October for ₹12,000

Amazon is set to launch its Alexa-connected speaker in India during the festival season.

We’ve heard numerous reports about the Amazon Echo debuting in India later this year, and it looks like the retailer has settled on a launch window. Citing a source, FactorDaily states that the Echo and Echo Dot will be launching in India during Diwali season, which falls on October 18 this year.

The Amazon Echo is likely to be priced at ₹11,000 to ₹12,000 ($170 – $185), which is in line with its $179 retail price in the U.S. The smaller Echo Dot is set to retail for ₹5,000 – ₹6,000 ($77 – $93), which is a noticeable markup from its $50 retail price.

Amazon is also said to be working on adding local language support for Alexa, with the voice-based assistant able to understand Hindi and Tamil. Support for more local languages will be added at a later date, and Alexa will also offer skills localized to the Indian market.

Diwali kicks off the festival shopping season in the subcontinent, and it’s likely Amazon will offer another instalment of its Great Indian Sale around that time, making it the ideal platform to launch Alexa in the country.

Amazon Echo

• Amazon Echo review
• Echo Dot review
• Top Echo Tips & Tricks
• Tap, Echo or Dot: The ultimate Alexa question
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home
• Get the latest Alexa news

See at Amazon

Google Home Preview Program is now available to everyone

If you like being on the bleeding edge and aren’t afraid of a few bugs, the Google Home Preview Program is now available to anyone who wants to sign up, as 9 to 5 Google noticed recently. If you’d rather not be an AI assistant guinea pig, fear not. When Google first announced the program, it assured users that “this is not beta software.” Rather, it is production quality, and users are “simply getting earlier access to new features before they’re released broadly.”

If that’s so, it seems like every Home owner would sign up, so what’s the catch? For one, Google is using the preview as a way to spot minor bugs. “If you have a great idea or see a bug while you’re using the Preview firmware, send it our way. Your suggestions could help make the product even better,” it says.

In other words, having braver users working with early production software will make for less problems when it’s released widely, and thus fewer headaches for Google’s support team. The company ran essentially the same Preview Program with Chromecast to spot bugs.

It’s also likely that Google wants to spot serious issues that don’t necessarily qualify as bugs. For instance, earlier in 2017 Google Home was giving racist and anti-Semetic replies from the Nazi website Stormfront in response to user questions. That would make Google Home guilty of hate speech crimes in countries like Germany where it’s expected to arrive soon. While the search giant has since implemented new guidelines to eliminate such issues, a large base of Preview Program users could help spot new problems early.

The program should be available in your area, but you may not see it until you reboot your Google Home device. After that, you won’t necessarily get an update immediately, but will be the first get new features when they arrive.

Via: 9 to 5 Google

Google’s Pixel 2 may also borrow HTC’s squeeze controls

It’s been widely rumoured that HTC and LG will be handling manufacturing duties for Google’s Pixel 2 and the next Pixel XL respectively. And, it seems both brands are keen to put their stamps on the handsets. Previous leaks showed that LG is adding more display on the Pixel XL (like it did with its own flagship, the G6). Now, courtesy of a FCC filing made by HTC, we know that the smaller Pixel 2 will sport the same squeezable frame as its larger sibling (borrowed from the HTC U11).

Yes, that feature came off as little more than a gimmick on HTC’s handset, but we’ll stop short of passing judgement before reviewing Google’s phone. Labelled “Active Edge” in the document, it seems a squeeze of the phone will prompt it to open Google Assistant. Add to that its rumored BoomSound-style stereo speakers, and HTC’s creeping influence becomes even more apparent. We’ve also heard that Google is following in the footsteps of Apple and Lenovo, by ditching the Pixel line’s headphone jack.

Although HTC’s documentation offers no new pics of the device, it does drop some additional tidbits of info. Storage on the Pixel 2 is listed at 50.66GB free when 21% is used, revealing a likely 64GB capacity, as spotted by 9to5Google. The “8998” codename featured in the baseband version also suggests it will house either the Snapdragon 835 or 836 chipset.

With Android O predicted to drop next week, it was a given it would feature on the next Pixel models. Interestingly, the test device detailed in the FCC filing is running Android 8.0.1 with an August security patch. Fans can expect Google’s new flagships to land in October.

Source: FCC

BT to remove half of the UK’s remaining telephone boxes

With the majority of Britons now carrying a smartphone in their pocket, demand for static, boring telephone boxes has dwindled. A small number of them have been repurposed, turned into tiny offices, WiFi hotspots and charging kiosks, but many of them remain derelict. This week, BT announced that it will do something about that, confirming that it will remove half of the UK’s remaining telephone boxes in order to focus on the units that people actually use.

According to BBC News, there are still 40,000 telephones boxes dotted across the UK, 7,000 of which are feature the iconic red design. At their peak, back in 1992, there were 92,000. BT says that its kiosks still handle 33,000 calls a day, but over a third of them are never used to make calls. “BT is committed to providing a public payphone service, but with usage declining by over 90% in the last decade, we continue to review and remove payphones which are no longer used,” a BT spokesperson told BBC News.

The removal won’t be swift, however. BT intends to phase the remaining 20,000 boxes out over the next five years. Over half of them lose money and the number of calls continues to drop by more than 20 percent each year, but the company must also repair damage, which includes the replacement of glass panes and broken receivers. Oh, and the removal of human waste. All told, those costs amount to £6 million each year and BT understandably wants to trim those losses.

Source: BBC News

‘Micromotors’ alter your gut’s chemistry to safely deliver medicine

There’s a reason diabetics can’t take their insulin orally (for the time being): stomach acid is super effective at dissolving it and similar large proteins, like antibiotics. But rather than force patients to pound pints of Maalox or chew a tub of Tums before taking their medicine, a team of researchers at UC San Diego have developed a novel method of getting your medication past the acid by using nearly microscopic drug delivery vehicles which increase the pH as they swim through your stomach.

Conventionally, the medication used to treat maladies like ulcers or bacterial infections, have to be administered alongside a secondary compound known as proton pump inhibitors. These chemicals temporarily halt the production of stomach acid, allowing the medicine to do its work without being destroyed. However, long term use of PPIs can make matters much worse, from headaches and fatigue to anxiety and depression.

UCSD’s “micromotors” are made up of a titanium dioxide protective shell surrounding a spherical magnesium core. Above the TiO2 layer is a layer of antibiotic medication and above that,is another layer made up of a positively-charged polymer that helps the motor stick to the gut wall.

Now here’s the really cool part. These motors use the stomach’s own acid as a fuel source. The magnesium layer reacts to the gastric acid to generate a stream of hydrogen bubbles to produce thrust, while also reducing the amount of acid present. Once the stomach’s pH hits the correct level, the motors release their medication and finish dissolving.

These devices are still in the early days of their development so don’t expect to have your antibiotics squirming through your belly for a few years yet at least.

Sling TV Debuts Desktop In-Browser Player for Google Chrome

Sling TV announced its first in-browser desktop content player on Tuesday. Using the latest version of Google Chrome, subscribers to the streaming television platform can log in at sling.com to access their favorite content and start playback right from within the browser.

It’s not yet clear at what quality the content is played within the browser, but Sling TV customers watching on Google Chrome do get access to popular features like “My TV”, the “Continue Watching” ribbon, account settings, parental controls, and more.

Sling TV cautions that the Chrome in-browser player is still a beta version, but no app, plug-in or flash player download is necessary.

The service says it will continue to roll out additional features as the browser player matures, including access to cloud DVR and a grid guide. For more information on Sling TV-supported devices, visit sling.com/devices.

Tags: Chrome, Sling TV
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Google Pixel 2 Smartphone Will Feature Squeezable Sides and No Headphone Jack

Google’s second-generation Pixel smartphone will be made by HTC and feature “squeezable” sides to perform different functions, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

The filing essentially confirms that the Google Pixel 2 will borrow the squeezable frame from the HTC U11. Screenshots included in the document show the feature is to be called “Active Edge” and will launch Google Assistant by default. Other possible functions include turning on the flashlight, launching the camera, and taking a photo.

Leaked image of Pixel 2 from Evan Blass
The 4.97-inch device is expected to feature a 1080p display and stereo speakers, and will have an overall design similar to the original Pixel. The filing also suggests that the Pixel 2 will have a Snapdragon 835 or 836 chipset and 64GB storage capacity – although additional capacities are likely.

LG is said to be manufacturing the Google Pixel XL 2 and will put its own stamp on the larger handset by including a 6-inch AMOLED display with a 2:1 aspect ratio, but it’s also likely that the XL 2 will share the same squeezable frame of the smaller device. Based on leaked images, both handsets are rumored to do away with the headphone jack, although this was not confirmed in the filing.

It’s still not clear when Google’s second-generation Pixel smartphones will be released, but the original version was unveiled in October of last year, so a fall release is likely. (The original Google Pixel FCC filing appeared exactly a year ago on Tuesday.) That would put Google’s new phones in direct competition with the iPhone 8, which is expected to launch in September alongside iterative “S” cycle updates to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

Tag: Google Pixel
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