Nokia 5 hands-on preview: bouncing back on stock Android

The Nokia 5 is crafted out of a single sheet of anodized aluminum that can be painted in Silver White, Matte Black, Tempered Blue and Copper White colors, so it joins the ranks of premium chassis phones in its class like the Moto G5 Plus or most every Xiaomi handset. The smooth metal body is a looker, especially in the blue or red hues, and I wouldn't call it slippery in the hand. In addition to that, the phone is well-made, with no gaps or creaks all around, and with solid, easy to press buttons that give good tactile feedback. The phone carries a 5.2-inch HD display, which is nothing to write home about in terms of resolution, but has good viewing angles, and no visible slant to the overly cold or warm side of the color spectrum. The Nokia 5 also comes with the ubiquitous Micro USB port at the bottom, and a fingerprint scanner doubles as a home button.

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset, the Nokia 5 also has 2 GB of RAM, which seems to be the bare minimum these days. The handset sports 16 GB of internal memory, but does offer a microSD slot for storage expansions, too. A hearty 3000 mAh battery keeps the lights on, which, given the specs and display resolution, should keep you going for a while.

Not to be outdone by the Pixel phones, Nokia cooperated with Google on a stock Nougat interface that the crew from Mountain View itself tipped will be receiving the latest Android updates shortly after they roll for its own phones, and security updates immediately after they are pushed out. That's very nice to know, though if you are accustomed to more feature-rich interfaces, stock Nougat will look and feel a bit flat in comparison.

The Nokia 5 will land with a 13 MP camera with bog down average specs like a 1.1 micron pixel size or an f/2.0 aperture. We don't expect wonders from this one, though it does sport fast phase detection autofocus, HDR mode, and dual LED flash next to the lens. The frontal camera comes with 8 MP sensor, which should be enough for any selfie enthusiast, too.

The new Nokia 5 will launch some time in Q2 of 2017, and will sport a pretty decent 189 Euros tag. This, however, puts it in direct competition not only with the myriad of Chinese phones that can be had for a similar price with a tad better specs, but also against the excellent Moto G5 Plus that also made a cameo at the MWC. Lenovo's Moto G5 Plus also has a 5.2" display, but with 1080p resolution, and has a 12 MP camera that flaunts the same specs as the one on the S7, down to the Dual Pixel focusing tech. Still, what the 5 has going for it is the Nokia-specific brand of nostalgia in people, so we have to pit it against all its direct competitors before we pass judgment when we get a review unit.