Nokia G60 review - Mid-range phone with recycled content
Possible competitors in comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Drive | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
79.2 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2022 | Nokia G60 SD 695 5G, Adreno 619 | 190 g | 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.58" | 2408x1080 | |
78.5 % v7 (old) | 11 / 2021 | Nokia G50 SD 480, Adreno 619 | 220 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.82" | 1560x720 | |
81.7 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2022 | Motorola Moto G82 5G SD 695 5G, Adreno 619 | 173 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.60" | 2400x1080 | |
80.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2022 | OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G SD 695 5G, Adreno 619 | 195 g | 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.59" | 2412x1080 |
Case and equipment - Also available by subscription
Can a cell phone for 350 Euros really be built sustainably? This is how much the Nokia G60 costs at the time of testing, for example at amazon.de. In view of prices starting at 580 Euros for a Fairphone 4 with modular construction and responsibly sourced raw materials, this seems questionable. Nokia has nevertheless tried to take the first steps with the mid-range phone and uses 60% recycled plastic for the casing.
It is also possible to rent the device via the Nokia Circular subscription where you pay 15 Euros per month and get a replacement device if the phone no longer works. After 3 months, you can cancel at any time at short notice. The used devices are returned to Nokia, where they are refurbished for resale, recycled, reused for production or repair at a parts store, or donated to a charity. This is also intended to increase sustainability.
The recycled content also results in the unique look of the case's back, which is offered in either black or light gray and contains plastic particles that shimmer in the light. The matte plastic frame blends cleanly into the back and the screen is also well-fitted, resulting in narrow gaps and hardly noticeable transitions. The Nokia G60 copes well with pressure on the case. Only when twisting do visible spots appear in the screen's liquid crystal, but they disappear again immediately. The chassis is protected against splash water and dust according to IP52.
128 GB of mass storage is on board. In Europe, only the model with 4 GB working memory is currently offered, which is not really up-to-date in this price range. Internationally, there is also a variant with 6 GB of working memory.
Unfortunately, inserting a microSD to expand the memory blocks one of the two SIM slots. With our reference microSD card Angelbird V60, we get the picture of a very slow card reader that delivers fluctuating results in the CPDT benchmark.
SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
Average of class Smartphone (7.7 - 77, n=77, last 2 years) | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G (Angelbird V60) | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G (Angelbird V60) | |
Nokia G50 (Angelbird V60) | |
Nokia G60 (Angelbird V60) |
Cross Platform Disk Test (CPDT)
Communication, software and operation - Pure Android with the Nokia Phone
Nokia's G60 is a 5G phone, but it does not cover as many frequencies in the 4G range, so you might not be able to use the phone for mobile Internet when traveling abroad.
Nokia calls the phone WiFi 6-ready in terms of Wi-Fi, but there are no advantages over other phones in the price range with Wi-Fi 5 in terms of speed: Nokia's G60 shows stable transfer rates of around 350 MBit/s in our test with the reference router Asus ROG Rapture AXE11000. That corresponds to the class standard.
Nokia relies on Android One, i.e. pure Android, and does not install any advertising apps ex-factory. Security updates are supposed to be available for 3 years and OS updates for the same amount of time, which puts Nokia in a good position in this price range. Furthermore, the security updates from September 2022 are quite up-to-date at the time of testing.
The touchscreen reacts very reliably to touches and is also very responsive with up to 120 Hz. However, the system automatically determines when the 120 Hz is activated. According to our test results, this happens very often. Only when the picture does not change for a longer period of time is it reduced to 60 Hz. Nokia's G60 does not have a Google Assistant button.
The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the standby button on the casing's right. It reliably detects a learned finger and unlocks the device after a short delay. Unlocking via facial recognition is also possible, but only via the front-facing camera and a software solution, so it is not quite as secure and sufficient light has to be available.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
Nokia G50 | |
iperf3 receive AX12 | |
Nokia G50 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Nokia G60 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
Nokia G60 |
Cameras - Wide-angle camera with low quality
The main camera's sensor has a resolution of 50 megapixels and comes from Omnivision. Photos are recorded in 12.5 megapixels by default in order to use larger and thus more light-sensitive pixels. The full resolution can be enabled in a special mode if desired.
Photos often look a bit gloomy and blurry in detail outdoors but offer a decent variety of details and color nuances overall. In low light, the brightening only succeeds at the expense of a blotchy representation of larger color areas and quite low sharpness. There is also hardly any drawing in very dark areas.
Videos can be recorded in 1080p and 30 fps. The brightness adjustment works well, but the autofocus is very slow. The wide-angle lens can also be used for videos, but you cannot switch the camera during the recording.
Speaking of wide-angle: the 5-megapixel camera takes decent brightened photos, but some of them look very grainy, and distant objects are only displayed as pixel mush. You can use them as snapshots, but they do not meet higher demands.
The front-facing camera takes decent selfies in good light, but you should not enlarge them too much, otherwise grainy color areas are very noticeable.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Main cameraMain cameraLow LightWide-angle

Display - More brightness would be appreciated
Unfortunately, the 1080p screen of Nokia's G60 is not really bright, so you will have problems reading the display outdoors on bright days. We noticed a clear blue cast in our tests with the spectrophotometer and the CalMAN software.
The black level is good, but the contrast ratio is only mediocre due to the low maximum brightness and the colors look dull.
At least the display does not show PWM flickering even at very low brightness, so it is very suitable for people sensitive to flickering.
|
Brightness Distribution: 88 %
Center on Battery: 417 cd/m²
Contrast: 1544:1 (Black: 0.27 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.68 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.89
ΔE Greyscale 5.5 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
98% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.428
Nokia G60 IPS, 2408x1080, 6.6" | Nokia G50 IPS, 1560x720, 6.8" | Motorola Moto G82 5G OLED, 2400x1080, 6.6" | OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G IPS, 2412x1080, 6.6" | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Response Times | -54% | 53% | 32% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 33 ? | 52 ? -58% | 13 ? 61% | 27 ? 18% |
Response Time Black / White * | 22 ? | 33 ? -50% | 12 ? 45% | 12 ? 45% |
PWM Frequency | 2358 ? | 119.4 | ||
Screen | 17% | 33% | 1% | |
Brightness middle | 417 | 568 36% | 635 52% | 590 41% |
Brightness | 388 | 525 35% | 640 65% | 561 45% |
Brightness Distribution | 88 | 85 -3% | 96 9% | 92 5% |
Black Level * | 0.27 | 0.24 11% | 0.38 -41% | |
Contrast | 1544 | 2367 53% | 1553 1% | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.68 | 5.31 7% | 2.96 48% | 5.15 9% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 8.62 | 9.04 -5% | 7.63 11% | 10.35 -20% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.5 | 5.6 -2% | 4.8 13% | 7.1 -29% |
Gamma | 2.428 91% | 2.517 87% | 2.214 99% | 2.143 103% |
CCT | 7955 82% | 7541 86% | 6970 93% | 8540 76% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -19% /
2% | 43% /
38% | 17% /
7% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
22 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 11 ms rise | |
↘ 11 ms fall | ||
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 44 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
33 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16 ms rise | |
↘ 17 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 41 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8619 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
Performance, emissions and battery life - Good performance rates in the G60
With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G Nokia relies on an SoC that is very popular in the mid-range. Accordingly, the Nokia G60 delivers suitable performance rates for its price range and can even outperform the originally more expensive Nokia X20 which is still based on the slightly older Snapdragon 480. The power is usually sufficient for smooth system operation in everyday use. Only more complex apps cause stutters.
The warming of the case under a longer load is clearly noticeable and very high at 46.7 °C even at room temperature. Nokia's G60 could heat up even more and become uncomfortable in hot ambient temperatures. However, the SoC does not throttle even after a longer load, as the 3DMark stress tests show.
The speaker on the bottom edge cannot get that loud and sounds quite thin during music and speech. Better sound is provided by external devices that can be connected via Bluetooth or 3.5 mm port. Modern aptX codecs like aptX Adaptive are supported via Bluetooth.
A charger is not included in the Nokia G60's box, but various chargers from other manufacturers worked without problems in our test. The phone can be charged with a maximum of 20 watts and thus needs about 2 hours until the empty 4,500 mAh battery becomes full again.
Due to the smaller battery size, the G60 also has to make concessions in terms of runtimes: 14:31 hours is still a decent runtime, and you can even manage 2 days without a power outlet with moderate use.
GFXBench | |
on screen Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen | |
Average of class Smartphone (5.5 - 166, n=200, last 2 years) | |
Nokia G50 | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (18 - 38, n=23) | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
Nokia G60 | |
1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen | |
Average of class Smartphone (3.4 - 321, n=200, last 2 years) | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (21 - 23, n=23) | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
Nokia G60 | |
Nokia G50 | |
on screen Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen | |
Average of class Smartphone (0.85 - 144, n=201, last 2 years) | |
Nokia G50 | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (11 - 24, n=23) | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
Nokia G60 | |
2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen | |
Average of class Smartphone (1.2 - 129, n=200, last 2 years) | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (7.7 - 8.2, n=23) | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
Nokia G60 | |
Nokia G50 |
Octane V2 - Total Score | |
Average of class Smartphone (2228 - 100368, n=205, last 2 years) | |
Average Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G (17849 - 31647, n=21) | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Nokia G60 | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G |
Nokia G60 | Nokia G50 | Motorola Moto G82 5G | OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | Average 128 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AndroBench 3-5 | -2% | -8% | -6% | 14% | 157% | |
Sequential Read 256KB | 521.5 | 515 -1% | 473.4 -9% | 509.21 -2% | 725 ? 39% | 1941 ? 272% |
Sequential Write 256KB | 478.6 | 486.6 2% | 445.7 -7% | 482.15 1% | 523 ? 9% | 1558 ? 226% |
Random Read 4KB | 187.2 | 182 -3% | 180.8 -3% | 179.02 -4% | 191.9 ? 3% | 280 ? 50% |
Random Write 4KB | 177 | 166.5 -6% | 155.5 -12% | 147.46 -17% | 184.1 ? 4% | 320 ? 81% |
Temperature
(-) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 46.7 °C / 116 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(-) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 45.9 °C / 115 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 22.3 °C / 72 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
Speaker
Nokia G60 audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (79.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 30.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (7.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 6.9% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (9.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 6.8% higher than median
(±) | linearity of highs is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (28.7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 73% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 23% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 85% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 12% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G audio analysis
(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (80.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 30.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (11.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 5% higher than median
(+) | mids are linear (6.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (6.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (24.2% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 53% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 39% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 36%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 70% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 23% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 24%, worst was 134%
Battery life
Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite 5G | |
Motorola Moto G82 5G | |
Average of class Smartphone (476 - 3244, n=198, last 2 years) | |
Nokia G50 | |
Nokia G60 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Standard with interesting aspects
Nokia's G60 is a fairly average mid-range smartphone that wants to stand out from the competition in a few aspects: on the one hand, there is the longer update promise, which is actually not bad in this price range. Pure Android is also convincing.
The phone also offers a somewhat more sustainable approach in terms of the casing due to the recycled content, but it is by no means on the level of a Fairphone. In this context, the Circular subscription is a way to use the Nokia G60 more sustainably, namely to rent it for a relatively cheap monthly rate and return it to Nokia after use, recycling the phone for as long as possible.
The disadvantages are the somewhat dim screen and also quite dark camera pictures. The speaker is also hardly convincing, the phone gets quite warm and offers a smaller battery than many comparable devices.
Nokia's G60 offers interesting approaches in the field of sustainability, pure Android, and good performance rates. However, the buyer has to live with a dim screen and shorter battery runtimes.
The competition is big in the mid-range, for example, the Motorola Moto G82 which even has an OLED screen. The OnePlus North CE 2 Lite, on the other hand, convinces with its fast charging technology.
Price and availability
The Nokia G60 is available from many retailers at the time of testing. Directly from the manufacturer, you can get it for 349 Euros or in a circular subscription.
The device is also available for the same price at amazon.de and you can currently save 20 Euros at our lending partner cyberport.de you can currently save 20 Euros.
Nokia G60
- 10/08/2022 v7 (old)
Florian Schmitt