Verdict: Despite being more of an incremental upgrade to last year’s Nokia 2.3, the Nokia 2.4 gets a few essential new features in an attempt to keep it competitive at the under Php 7k segment. Unfortunately, the phone is facing an uphill battle against plenty of other offerings in the same price point that offer newer hardware, and the phone’s pure Android experience may not be enough to warrant its purchase.

The Nokia 2.4 is priced at Php 6,990. 

Pros 

• Night Mode works as advertised
• Fingerprint scanner at last for the Nokia 2-series
• Android 11 ready 

 

Cons 

• Old processor 
• Battery life lower than its predecessor 
• Slow charging speeds 

HMD Global tries to stay competitive in the budget segment by offering compelling Android One phones, and the Nokia 2.4 is its latest attempt. While it looks nearly identical to the Nokia 2.3, HMD Global hopes upgrades like an octa-core processor, better RAM/storage configuration, fingerprint scanner, and bigger display and battery might make the Nokia 2.4 stand out from the pack. 

 

Unboxing and packaging contents 

The Nokia 2.4 has the same packaging as the Nokia C2, along with the contents. Inside the white box with a photo of the Nokia 2.4, you get a MicroUSB cable, 5w charger, headset, documentation, jelly case, and the phone itself. We appreciate that HMD Global is updating its phone packages to include a jelly case despite being a budget phone. 

Design  

Compare the Nokia 2.4 with the Nokia 2.3, and you can barely tell the difference design-wise. The only key differentiators are the bigger 6.5-inch display on the Nokia 2.4 and the inclusion of a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner—a first for any Nokia 2-series model. 

Like its predecessor, you get a textured polycarbonate back panel on the Nokia 2.4, which does an excellent job of resisting smudges. In addition, its finish makes the material more durable against normal wear and tear—though we still appreciate that HMD Global still included a TPU case out of the box.

Since the Nokia 2.4 is very similar to its predecessor, you are getting the same rear camera layout, the same dewdrop notch, and the same Nokia branding at the bottom bezel. Port layout is also the same: Google Assistant button and SIM tray on the left, power and volume controls on the right, headphone jack on top, and MicroUSB and loudspeaker at the bottom. 

Display and speaker

Like what we mentioned earlier, the only difference with the Nokia 2.4’s display is that is bigger at 6.5-inches, which is on par with the competition. In terms of display quality, the Nokia 2.4 is generally the same as with its predecessor since you are getting the same HD+ resolution, though people will appreciate the added screen estate for watching videos on YouTube and Netflix.  

As for its lone speaker, the Nokia 2.4’s audio quality is typical of what you expect on budget phones: mids are clear, lows are barely there, and highs are hard to distinguish on some music genres.

 

Cameras 

You still get the same set of cameras on the Nokia 2.4: 13-megapixel f/2.2 main camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor for the rear cameras, and 5-megapixel f/2.4 snapper.

While we are generally impressed at what those cameras can do—colors are just right, and photos show a good amount of detail in most lighting conditions—the Nokia 2.4’s use of an octa-core processor prompted HMD Global to add a dedicated Night mode. 

Using Night mode, we got better details with photos shot in low light, provided that you don’t mind keeping your hands still for a few seconds. For video recording, the Nokia 2.4 can shoot Full HD video for both front and rear cameras.

As for the front camera, the Nokia 2.4’s selfie snapper has roughly the same performance as its predecessor, though the added muscle from the Helio P22 helped in better post-processing.

 

Performance and Battery 

A big bulk of the Nokia 2.4’s upgrades over its predecessor is with its internals, where you get an Helio P22 octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a bigger 4500mAh battery. 

The Helio P22 offers a notable performance boost over the Nokia 2.3’s Helio A22, though one should remember that the Helio P22 is already 2 years old and still uses an aging 12nm process. Despite being relatively old, the Helio P22 works fine for day-to-day tasks. You might want to forget about playing games with the Nokia 2.4, as its internals will have difficulties in handling graphics-intensive games. 

On the software side, HMD Global still keeps its Android One commitment on the Nokia 2.4 with a clean version of Android that is devoid of any bloatware. HMD Global’s continued decision to use stock Android pays off, as the Nokia 2.4 feels smooth despite using a rather old processor. On the upside, HMD Global commits to at least two major Android updates on the Nokia 2.4, so expect Android 11 to be available very soon.  

While you get a bigger 4500mAh battery with the Nokia 2.4, battery life is around an hour shorter than the Nokia 2.3—but that’s because the Nokia 2.4 has a bigger display to deal with. Even at a little under 15 hours, it is still fairly good for a budget smartphone. Charging speeds remain unchanged at 5w, so topping up the Nokia 2.4 is rather slow—it took us a little over 3 hours to top it up to 100%. 

 

Wrap up and Conclusions 

The budget segment is getting more competitive than ever, and HMD Global is catching up with the Nokia 2.4. With upgrades like an octa-core processor, bigger display, fingerprint scanner, and better RAM/storage combo, the Nokia 2.4 can remain competitive in the sub-Php 7k segment.  

The processor of choice may be a rather old one, but HMD Global makes up for it through its stellar record on software updates. In fact, the brand confidently states on the packaging that the Nokia 2.4 is Android 11 ready, and we will not be surprised if it will be one of the first budget phones to actually have Android 11.