Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsDon't buy this phone!
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2019
Update Nov 2020 - I had to get a new phone back in March because this one was so unusable. I sent this one to the Nokia repair center and they sent me a new replacement. This helped with the charging port and the buttons, at least for the few days I used it. Literally within the first week, it shut down while charging. The chances of having two glitchy phones in a row is unlikely. Avoid Nokia (or actually, avoid HMD Global - this is NOT Nokia).
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Update 02/25/2020 - So now the power button has quit working properly. It can't be used for anything but to lock the screen, and takes several tries at that. Using it for screenshots or shortcuts as designed is not possible,as it locks the screen almost every time. Nokia's response is to send my phone to their service center. This is my only phone. I can't just send it away for weeks in hopes it might work again. This is definitely NOT the Nokia of the past. While many people have been okay with their phone, it's not worth the risk of paying nearly $400 for a phone that can't last 4 months. It truly doesn't matter that it supposedly gets updates for 3 years (it still hasn't received Android 10) because the phone can't even last 6 months. Honestly, at this point I would call the phone and HMD Global a scam.
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Update 02/03/2020 - I really hate to say it, but I very much regret purchasing this phone. After 4 months of use I find it to be quite laggy now, with issues connecting to Bluetooth and NFC, but the biggest issue is that it shuts off when charging at night. I talked to Nokia support, who sent me to a battery setting that doesn't exist. When I finally sent them a screenshot proving it's not in the settings (they kept giving me the same direction), they said they guessed I could hard reset, and that was the end of the conversation. I did a hard reset, and the shut offs have now gone from approx once a month to every 2 weeks. I'm very frustrated, as I spent much more on this phone than others in order to keep it for a long time with the updates. I miss my cheap LG. It may not have updates, but it was reliable. This phone is not.
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October 2019
Short version: The Nokia 7.2 is a beautiful device that is fast and consistent. If you're comparing it to a phone 3 times the cost (which is the perspective of most of the published website reviews), obviously you're going to see differences. But if you're looking for a great device that doesn't lag and will last you some time, at a reasonable cost, this is absolutely a great investment.
The good stuff: I waited for the green and it was well worth it. It came in stock sooner than expected and is a beautiful bright forest green that almost glows when the light hits it. Even in the clear case, it's still just as stunning (that's the word people use for this color and it's accurate).
I thought the notches were dumb when they started, but I have to say, the shape of the teardrop notch adds to the visual pros of this phone. I think it's much nicer than the squared notches or the very wide ones. It's a bit weird on the notifications since the time is on the left, so there is some wasted space on the right side of the notch, but it's not an issue.
The speaker sometimes gets covered up by your hand but a very slight adjustment is easy to make and you're fine. The sound is very good. The phone also comes with a decent set of wired earbuds, which was very nice to see.
The buttons have a nice click, and while I didn't think I'd want the Google assistant button, it's surprisingly handy, especially since assistant runs smoothly on this phone compared to my previous one. I know the Pixel 3a is considered this phone's main competitor, but I really dislike the Pixel's squeeze option for the Assistant. To me that extra give in the frame seems like a bad idea, so I really like that this one is solid with normal buttons.
It starts up quickly and has pure Android, which is a major plus. This means it doesn't have a ton of extra junk to make it look a particular way (like Samsungs do), which would just slow it down. It runs what you want it to run, and it just looks nicer I think.
I can confirm this phone has 4 GB RAM and 128 GB of storage space, which is not what most of the website reviews specify, so the extra 64 GB was a nice surprise! Not sure where the incorrect specs are coming from, but I verified in Settings and Developer Options that it does match the description here.
I haven't had it long enough to comment on battery life but when I started setting it up it was at about 53% and I spent 6 hours installing a ton of apps, syncing, downloading, and watching videos, with the screen on bright and it was at 8% when I stopped, so with normal use I think it will be great. The adaptive battery in Pie should also help.
It was plenty fast and I didn't notice any lag other than when I rotated the screen in YouTube; however I was downloading and syncing while doing that. Even so, it wasn't enough to be a problem and I'm not concerned. Some Google apps like Maps, which were basically unusable on my current phone after a particular update a few months ago, open incredibly fast and have zero issues.
I am very pleased with this phone and feel like it was worth the difference in price compared to cheaper devices. Some of the Chinese brands of phones may be less expensive for higher specs but regardless of opinions on if they can be trusted, there are a lot of reports online of spyware, spam apps, and the like, and I don't want to deal with that. I like that this is from Nokia because they are reliable and have always made a good phone. I have no regrets about purchasing the phone.
UPDATE: I've had the phone about a week, with about 4 days being normal use (not setting up). There was one day I did notice a bit of lag and was concerned, but it's not been an issue since, so maybe related to an app? It's been quick without issues since. As I said above, sometimes you notice it may take a moment for the transition to landscape, but overall there are no significant issues with lag.
The battery life has been great. I don't know how long adaptive battery takes to work, but I use my phone quite a bit throughout the day, and I've used less than 50% when I leave work, including an hour of battery sucker Waze. The "slow" charging works plenty fast. The adaptive brightness AI seems to be doing a nice job as well.
The camera! I've had a chance to really use the camera and I have to say, wow! I realized I never mentioned it in the original review, but having the opportunity to use it in various settings (cloudy, sunny, infoor, selfie, food pics) it is awesome. Pictures are very clear and vivid. It is true that the wide angle changes the color a bit, but it doesn't appear bad at all. I do miss the voice command on my LG Stylo 3, but the other features are miles ahead. I can actually take a picture and have it come out clear the first time. Even pictures while I'm moving come out pretty decent. Video is super clear as well. The special settings are really nice. Selfies come out maybe a bit too detailed (yay for beautification filters). I don't even see my face that well in the mirror. But the bokeh effects make really lovely portraits without any effort. I'm really pleased with the camera.
Also, even after a week, that green has not gotten old. It's lovely. :-)
