Nokia XR21 review: a solid smartphone with increased durability

HMD doesn’t make premium phones. Not anymore, anyway.

In the first years after the acquisition of the mobile phone brand from Nokia, the young Finn made a few attempts, but nothing really worked. They have now decided to produce budget and mid-range mobiles, and are also betting big on so-called semi-smart feature phones.

The Nokia XR21, launched in June 2023, is currently its most expensive smartphone, with a price tag of £499.99. A sumptuous mid-range phone with typical mid-range specs in terms of performance, features and quality, but with an ace up its sleeve: significantly better durability than an average smartphone.

Featuring an extra protective casing on the exterior (some parts of the frame are protected by rubber), a sturdy build and a padded interior chassis, the Nokia XR21 can withstand a drop of 1.5 meters on a concrete floor and has been tested for vibration and temperature resistance. to MIL-STD-810H military grade levels.

For swimming and other adventures

It features a fully waterproof construction with IP68 and IP69K ratings. It is said to withstand a depth of 1.5 meters for an hour, be hit by powerful jets of water and has protection against the penetration of chemicals other than water. The screen is covered in Gorilla Glass Victus for added protection against cracking and its protective strips extend across the glass, minimizing the risk of edge impact.

This all adds up to a large phone with wide bezels around the screen. It looks like it has a permanently mountable shell. But it’s not extremely bulky, and the buttons on the frame are smoother than those built into many cell phone cases.

Matthias Inghé

Matthias Inghé

Matthias Inghé

You also get two bonus physical buttons, one on the top short side and one on the left long side, which can be set as shortcuts to different apps and functions. This can be useful if you wear thick gloves, for example. Thin gloves and even a wet screen are two things the phone can otherwise handle well.

The screen struggles in the sun

The screen itself is nothing remarkable, a 1080p IP panel with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, set by default to automatically adjust (up to 60Hz) in dynamic mode. There are slight changes in contrast across viewing angles, but nothing that causes too much disruption.

The screen has a fairly high brightness reaching around 500 nits. But with a screen surface that doesn’t do much to counteract reflections, you may have readability issues outdoors in bright sunlight, but a little shade or clouds in front of the lamp in the sky is enough to give a better appearance.

On paper, the Nokia XR21 is supposed to support HDR10, but the question is how good the effect will be with such moderate natural dynamics in the panel. Color gamut is also moderate, slightly below sRGB level, but with good color accuracy overall.

Matthias Inghé

Matthias Inghé

Matthias Inghé

You will enjoy using the phone the most when taking photos. Thanks to the 64MP main rear sensor, you’ll easily capture great images with reliable color balance and good dynamic range. An AI feature in the camera software, however, adds a little too much artificial sharpening and attempts to increase saturation in many of my test photos.

I don’t like this because it means I don’t have as much direct control over the outcome. However, the camera’s AI automatically detects if my subject is a portrait and offers suggestions for filters and more. Skin tones are also captured well.

Cameras are disappointing in low light

In low light, the camera loses quality, with lots of noise in dark areas and a long forced exposure making it difficult to hold the phone steady.

The main camera is joined by an 8Mp fixed-focus wide-angle. It matches the main camera in dynamic range and color handling, and daytime landscape photos can look very good, but lose both dynamic range and image clarity even faster when it’s dark.

This is typical mid-range hardware for photography, and the same goes for videos. You can’t get more than 1080p video at 30fps, and that’s with a fairly slow viewfinder and unconvincing image stabilization. Microphones are better and convincing especially if you are trying to pick up your voice.

Matthias Inghé

Matthias Inghé

Matthias Inghé

The camera’s moderate performance is partly due to a cheaper Omnivision sensor, but also to limited performance. It is powered by the Snapdragon 695 5G system chipset with 8 cores, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of semi-fast storage.

It’s fast enough to perform all basic tasks, like browsing, sending emails, scrolling through your Facebook feed, or streaming videos, without issue. But there are clear limits to how much heavy apps and games you can run without your phone crashing. More than 6GB of RAM would have been a plus, while 128GB of storage may be a little tight for some.

There’s no room for a Micro-SD card, despite dual SIM support via the slot underneath. Depending on where you live, this could be either two physical SIM cards or one physical and one eSIM.

The battery is a pleasant surprise

With a 4,800 mAh battery, my battery life expectations weren’t special, but the phone exceeds them.

Brightness has an unusual impact on battery life, so filming outdoors uses more power than working and browsing on a screen indoors. You can actively work on your phone all day, and with occasional use it will last a few days between charges.

This is good, because the charging is not very fast. It’s supposed to be able to handle 33W of charging, but in my measurements with a 65W charger I’m getting 1% charging per minute at best.

The Nokia XR21 shipped at launch with the older Android 12, but mine came from the factory with Android 13 without me needing to update. As always with Nokia, it’s a very clean interface with only a minimum of custom add-ons.

Nokia only promises two years of OS updates, and the phone is a year old at the time of writing, so don’t expect to get anything more than Android 14 for that. On the other hand, you get four years of security updates and a three-year warranty.

Pricing and availability

The Nokia XR21 cost £499.99/$499.99 at launch, but manufacturer HMD is currently selling it for £399.99/$399.99.

You can also buy a refurbished model from the same company for £319.99 in the UK.

Should you buy the Nokia XR21?

For most people, the answer is no. There are plenty of mid-range phones that offer better value than the Nokia XR21, even when it’s discounted.

However, if you want a rugged smartphone that can withstand the elements and offer long battery life, it’s still worth considering.

Specifications

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G
• 6 GB of RAM
• 128 GB of storage
• 6.49-inch IPS LCD, 1080 × 2400, 120 Hz
• 64 MP main rear camera
• 8Mp ultra-wide camera
• 16Mp front camera
• USB-C
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 5G
• WiFi 6
• Bluetooth 5.1
• NFC
• IP68/IP69K
• Ships running Android 12
• 4800mah battery
• 33W charging
• 168 x 7.8.6 x 10.5mm
• 231g