The Nokia G11 Plus was announced back in June 2022 and went on sale in July of the same year.
The device gives a nod to the name brand’s heritage now distributed by Finnish firm HMD Global, with some key features. Among its highlight features are a 50-megapixel camera, a fingerprint sensor and a long battery life.
We got a review unit in Lake Blue colour that also comes in Charcoal Grey. We share our impressions of the device below.
Unboxing
Exterior and Dimensions
The Nokia G11 Pro is a monolithic glass front attached to a plastic chassis with a plastic back rounding it off. It has a minimalist exterior design that keeps the device tidy in a way that is aesthetically appealing.
The top edge has a 3.5mm port for headphones and this is set slightly towards the left of the top edge.
The right edge has the volume rocker and the power button beneath it. In keeping with the minimalist design, both have a very small footprint on the device as a whole.
The bottom edge has a USB Type-C 2.0 charging port and a microphone for phone calls.
Towards the top of the left edge is where you’ll find the splash-protected SIM tray. The tray holds two Nano-SIM cards and has a dedicated slot for a MicroSDXC memory card for storage expansion.
The back of the Nokia G11 Plus has the camera bump with its two lenses, one above the other, and the LED flash below them.
The back of the device also has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for unlocking the phone as well as making secure transactions online.
At the bottom of the back is the device’s loudspeaker for audio playback.
In length, the Nokia G11 Plus measure 6.49 inches with a width of 2.99 inches and a thickness of 0.34 inches. It weighs in at 192 grams.
The device sits quite comfortably in hand and is barely noticeable in the pocket with a very small bulge.
Screen and Camera
The G11 Plus’ 6.52-inch screen is an IPS LCD display with a screen resolution of 720 by 1600 pixels. The ratio is 20:9 with a pixel density of approximately 295 pixels per inch.
It has a maximum brightness of 400 nits. This is not the phone to use in bright sunlight as the screen does not light up adequately for ease of viewing.
On the other hand, it has minimal loss of charge due to a power-hungry screen with a higher brightness capacity.
The screen has a lateral slit atop it where it meets with the frame. Nestled in between is the minimalist earpiece that though small is exceptionally clear.
Below the earpiece and under the screen is the punch-hole, wide-angle selfie camera rated at 8 megapixels. Its 2.0 aperture gives it clarity as it allows more light in.
The main camera is a wide-angle 50-megapixel lens with a great high dynamic range courtesy of its 1.8 aperture. The depth camera is a 2-megapixel lens.
Both front and back cameras deliver stellar video at 1080p with 30 frames per second.
Here are some sample photographs we took with the camera which we found to be pleasantly good.
Performance, Storage and Battery
The Nokia is pre-installed with the Android 12 out of the box which is upgradeable to the Android 13 operating system. It has no custom skins as it runs on pure Android, hence has no bloatware. Additionally, the Nokia G11 Plus enjoys regular monthly security updates for up to two years from the date of manufacture.
The phone runs on the Unisoc T606 chipset which has great performance though isn’t top of the range. It also runs on an Octa-core processor with two of its processors being the Cortex-A75 running at 1.6GHz. The remaining six cores are the Cortex-A55 also maxing out at 1.6GHz. Those are pretty decent speeds for regular functions.
Its graphics card is the Mali-G57 MP1 unit. It offers passable imagery on the screen for most content and is not power-hungry.
To power the device, the G11 Plus has a Li-Ion 5000mAh non-removable battery which aside from generally low depletion, runs for up to 3 days on a single charge.
We were impressed by this longevity and scored the device highly in that regard. However, the charging speed is on the lower side as the device has a 10 Watt charging brick.
Communication, Connectivity and Sensors
This Nokia operates across the 2G, 3G and 4G spectrum so it has range when it comes to connecting to cellular networks and the internet. Additionally, because this device is running the advanced module of lifetime evolution (LTE) of its 4G band, it has faster connection speeds.
It further has Wi-Fi 802.11 as well as Bluetooth 5.0 low energy (LE) ensuring that while it has lossless data transfer, it does not compromise the battery life.
The device further has FM Radio, GPS and USB Type-C to communicate and connect with various other devices and frequencies.
As stated before, the Nokia G11 Plus has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for securing the phone. Other sensors in the device are the accelerometer for tracking displacement and the proximity sensor which puts the screen to sleep when it is held to the ear during phone calls.
Our verdict
This is an ideal phone for users who like a simple device. The screen is large enough for easy browsing and viewing. The battery life on the phone is ideal especially if charging sessions are few and far between. It also has great connectivity and data transfer speeds.
The lower screen resolution and low brightness peak mean there are limits to where viewing is optimal as well as a less pleasurable viewing experience.