In January 2023, HMD Global unveiled the Nokia T21 tablet in India. Before it was announced in India, the tablet was made official for the global market in September 2022. It is a mid-range tablet that replaces the Nokia T20 tablet from last year. As per Nokia India’s website, the T21 is a long-lasting tablet designed for both work and play.
The Nokia T21, which comes with 4G voice calling support, starts at Rs 17,999 (~$217) in India. The Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (Gen 3) and the Moto Tab G62 are the only new tablets that come with support for 4G connectivity and run on Android 12. The T21 also comes in a Wi-Fi only version, which was provided to GizmoChina for review. Here is my take on the tablet after using it for around three weeks.
What’s in the box?
The retail package of the Nokia T21 includes the following items:
- Nokia T21 tablet
- 18W charger (not available in some region)
- USB-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Quick Start guide
- Product and safety booklet
Design and Display
| Dimensions | Display | |
| Size – 242.5 x 157.3 x 7.5mm | 10.36-inch AMOLED display | |
| Weight – 471 grams | 1200 x 2000 pixels (FHD+) | |
| IP52 rating | 5:3 aspect ratio | |
| 360 nits of brightness | ||
| Color variants | Active Pen support | |
| Charcoal Gray | Widevine L1 support |
The Nokia T21 comes with an aluminium-unibody chassis. The vertical strip running beside the rear camera gives it a dual-tone look. With an IP52 rating, it offers splash resistance and limited protection. The thickness of the device is 7.5mm and it weighs around 470 grams. The company claims that the tablet is equipped with toughened glass on the front. The T21 comes in Charcoal Gray colour only.
The rear side of the Nokia T21 features a single camera with an LED flash. A power button and a loudspeaker are available on the left side of the tablet, whereas its right edge has a 3.5mm audio jack (at the corner), a USB-C port, and another loudspeaker. The top edge of the T21 has a microSD slot, microphones, and a volume rocker. The bottom side of the tablet is completely barren.
The Nokia T21 has a 10.36-inch IPS LCD panel that produces a 2K resolution and a 5:3 aspect ratio. I felt that the tablet should have offered at least up to 90Hz refresh rate and higher peak brightness for using it outdoors.
The 1-cm bezels around the Nokia T21’s display do not appear obtrusive and offer a good viewing experience. Since there is support for 2K resolution, the image quality is quite good. Users can choose from color profile options, such as natural, boosted, and adaptive. The T20 only supported Widevine L3, meaning it could only stream 480p resolution content on OTT platforms. With the Widevine L1 certification, the T21 supports HD content.
According to the brand, the tablet has dual stereo speakers that support OZO spatial audio recording. Regarding audio playback, it can deliver up to 96 decibels of volume. While the bass is missing, the sound output is quite loud, clear, and distortion free. The decent display and good audio performance make the Nokia T21 a good tablet for content consumption.
According to Nokia, the tablet is built to last since it is made from durable materials and has software support for up to 3 years. The retail package for the tablet does not include any accessories. However, the tablet does support a Wacom Active ES 2.0 pen (stylus), and users can also try using third-party Bluetooth keyboards.
Performance and Software
| Unisoc T612 | 8,200mAh battery |
| 4 GB of RAM | 18W charging |
| 64 GB of eMMC storage | Android 12 OS |
Under the hood, the Nokia T21 has the 12nm Unisoc T612 that works at 1.8GHz. While it is the only tablet to feature this chipset, a couple of mid-range smartphones, such as the Realme C33, C31, C30, Narzo 50i, and Narzo 50A Prime. do feature it. The tablet comes with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of native storage. The external storage slot supports up to 512 GB of microSD card.
The tablet packs an 8,200mAh battery, which is the largest in size as compared to its competitors. When used for work and entertainment, the tablet was able to easily last for two days. The company claims that the tablet can last up to 3 days on a full charger, which is possible if used conservatively. The retail package in some regions, including India, includes an 18W charger. It took over 3 hours for the tablet to achieve a full charge. I did not encounter a heating issue while using the device.
The Nokia T21 comes with Android 12 OS preinstalled. The tablet is promised to receive two years of OS upgrades and three years of monthly security updates. The review unit came with the Android security patches up to December 2022 preinstalled.
The T21 offers a near-stock Android experience and comes with some third-party apps, such as Prime Video, Netflix, Spotify, and Express VPN. The following are some of the apps that cannot be uninstalled. These include Entertainment Space, Kids Space, My Device app (by Nokia), Sign Pro PDF, Bamboo Paper, and Wacom Notes for taking notes and drawing, and Second Screen for use as an extra display for a Windows PC.
The performance of the tablet is good enough for web browsing, watching movies, casual gaming, and taking notes. If you wish to play games with high graphics and powerful software, it would be better to invest in a more powerful tablet. Here is a look at how the tablet performed on benchmarking apps.
Photography and Other Features
| Rear Camera | Other features |
| 8MP Hynix Hi846 camera | Face unlock |
| LED flash | MicroSD card slot |
| SIM slot | |
| Wi-Fi 802.11ac | |
| GPS | |
| NFC (region-specific, N/A on Indian variant) | |
| Bluetooth 5.0 | |
| Front Camera | Dual stereo speakers |
| 8MP Hynix Hi846 camera | 3.5mm audio jack |
There is an 8-megapixel camera on the front of the Nokia T21. Its back panel has an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash that offers autofocus and 8x digital zoom. The front camera is good enough for video calling or Zoom meetings. The rear camera offers decent performance for still shots when there is enough light. Both cameras support video recording at 30 fps.
The Nokia T21 tablet has all the important connectivity features, except 5G support. The SIIM tray has two slots, one for the microSD card and the other for the SIM. In the absence of a fingerprint scanner, the tablet offers security features like screen lock and face unlock. Aside from the dual stereo speakers, users can enjoy music via a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Verdict
I hope Nokia fixes the slight lag issue on the Nokia T21 through a software update. Otherwise, the tablet is worth considering a purchase as it comes with some impressive features like a 2K display, a sturdy build, 4G connectivity, good sound output, a near-stock Android experience, a microSD card slot, long battery life, and stylus support.
For the 4G variant, there are only a few competitors, such as the Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (Gen 3) and the Moto Tab G62. However, there are many rivalling products, such as the Redmi Pad, Oppo Pad Air, and Realme Pad X, if only the Wi-Fi variant is taken into consideration.
Price and availability
At the time of writing this post, the Nokia T21 is priced at Rs 17,499 (~$211) for the Wi-Fi only edition on Flipkart. The Wi-Fi + 4G version of the tablet costs Rs 18,499 (~$223) in India. Customers who purchase the Nokia T21 via the Nokia India website using the DEAL1000 coupon code can get an instant discount of Rs 1,000 as well as a flip cover worth Rs 1,999 for free. This offer is not available on Flipkart. Both variants are available for Rs 17,999 (~$217) and Rs 18,999 (~$229) on Nokia’s website [same as launch prices].
Disclaimer: All of the opinions in this Nokia T21 review are mine and based on my own experiences. There has been no editorial input from Nokia.
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