Nokia 3.4

No matter your budget, you can find a smartphone that will suit your needs. However, few brands have the kind of trust Nokia has. The smartphone manufacturer continues its return to the consumer electronics stage with a series of releases that bank on the solid reputation they have built over decades. In the lab today is the Nokia 3.4, one of Nokia’s more affordable options for those who want quality without breaking the bank.

- Ren Alcantara

DESIGN

The Nokia 3.4 is standard fare for a phone made in 2020. It’s got a large, non-curved screen up front, a punch-hole selfie camera, a textured back case with a circular camera module placed above a fingerprint scanner, and a USB-C port at the bottom edge. Buttons are on the sides, and there’s a headphone jack at the top. Our review unit came in a shimmery, iridescent blue-purple when it gets hit by the light in just a certain way.

Some people might not like the plain design, but the simplicity of it appeals to me, and the textured back case gives it enough grip to keep from slipping out of your hands.

HARDWARE

The Nokia 3.4 is a modestly specced phone that was designed to handle daily tasks well. The heart of this phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 chipset that runs an octacore processor and a capable Adreno 610 GPU. It comes with up to 4 GB of RAM, and a comfortably large 6.39-inch, 720x1560 resolution screen. The main camera snaps 13 MP photos and can shoot 1080p video. Keeping the device running is a large 4000 mAh battery with 10W charging.

The 3.4 is a 4G phone with Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity and has a dedicated microSD slot, along with dual-SIM capability.