Nokia has finally – and officially – announced the Nokia XR21, which follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Nokia XR20.
Not long ago, several leaked image renders showing Nokia’s new Android phone were spotted online, giving Nokia fans a taste of the company’s upcoming rugged handset. With that said, Nokia has finally – and officially – announced the Nokia XR21, which follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Nokia XR20. The phone is now available for interested buyers, and we thought we’d give you a quick run-down of the specs sheet – let’s check it out.
External Design and Display
What sets the XR21 apart form a ton of other Android phones is its external design, which is designed more for function over form. Taking several visual cues from the XR20, the XR21 features a lot of the same chunky and grippy sides, which are engineered from polycarbonate. Nokia says that the phone has been tested for MIL-STD-810H level durability, and features added protection from accidental splashes and submersion, in addition to unwanted knocks and bumps. This protective design extends to the phone’s screen, which is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus.
Speaking of the display, the XR21 comes with a 6.49-inch IPS LCD, which does feature a much-welcome 120Hz refresh rate which should make for a generally-smooth UI experience. This does mean that there’s no OLED or AMOLED technology on the phone however, but Nokia did have to cut some corners with some aspects of the hardware.
Internal Hardware, Cameras
Inside the Nokia XR21 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695G chipset, which comes with 6GB of RAM. If this sounds familiar, this is because it’s the same configuration seen on the Nokia X30, which was launched last year. The phone will also come with 128GB of internal storage, although users might be pleased to know that this will come with support for external storage, meaning that you can slap on a microSD card inside the phone to add a bit of storage space. The XR21 ships out with Android 12, which is pretty old at this point. However, Nokia says that it will support up to four years of OS upgrades.
Powering the device is a pretty large 4800 mAh battery, which supports 33W fast-charging speeds. For biometrics, the phone features a side-mounted fingerprint reader, which ties in well to the phone’s rugged design. For audio, there’s a stereo-speaker setup, and even a 3.5mm port for wired headphones and earphones.
The Nokia XR21 will be able to take photos and videos with a dual-camera array that includes a 64-megapixel main shooter, supported by an ultra-wide lens with an 8-megapixel resolution. Video recording maxes out at 4K resolution at 30fps. Meanwhile, the display houses a hole punch camera with a 16-megapixel resolution.
Pricing and Availability
As for availability, the Nokia XR21 is now available for order on Nokia’s website, and customers can outright buy the phone or use Nokia’s Circular subscription to pay for the device in monthly installments. The phone is priced at £499, and users have the option of getting it in either Green or Grey, depending on what region they’re purchasing it from.
