As we've come to expect from recent Nokias, the 7.2 is part of the Android One program and runs a mostly stock version of Android, and our review unit is still on Pie for the time being. While Android One does carry a promise for timely updates, it's worth noting that carrier-specific versions might not receive them just as quickly as those sold in the unlocked (retail) channel.
The Nokia 7.2 has a rather basic implementation of the Ambient display feature which will wake up the screen for new notifications, but that's it - there's no lift to wake capability, nor is there an always-on feature, not that LCDs are known for it. On a positive note, the LED inside the power button will alert you of missed notifications.
Security is handled in a conventional way - a capacitive fingerprint sensor on the back is the go-to option, but there's also a camera-based face unlock too. The fingerprint reader works as expected and unlocks reliably though it's not among the fastest around. Face unlock is barely usable, and we found it to fail on occasion even in good lighting, not to mention anything dimmer - stick to fingerprints.
Ambient display • Lockscreen and security settings
Once unlocked, the 7.2's software is Android as Google intended it through and through. The standard Android 9 homescreen utilizes the default Android pill-based navigation. A tap on the pill button takes you Home, a quick flick from it to the right switches back and forth between the last two apps, while sliding it to the right takes you to one of the UIs for task switching.
Lockscreen • Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • Notifications and toggles
A short-ish swipe up from the bottom evokes the 'other' task switcher which is also the way to go into multi-window, which we've ranted about on numerous occasions for its clumsiness. A longer swipe up takes you straight to the app drawer, though a second swipe up from Task switcher 2 will also work. And there's a back button on top of all that, to be replaced with a gesture come Android 10.
Task switcher 1 • Task switcher 2 • App drawer
As for multimedia, it's all in the hands of Google's default apps. The Photos app is in charge of gallery-related tasks and video playback, while Google Play Music is the audio player. There's a file manager with batch actions and Google Drive sync, and Google's Calendar is Nokia's calendar of choice. An FM radio receiver is available on the Nokia 7.2, and the app that goes with it is one of the more barebones takes we've seen.
Google Photos • Photos • Google Play Music • FM radio • Google One • File manager
The Nokia 7.2 has the Snapdragon 660 inside, a chipset that was all the rage some two years ago when the Nokia 7 plus came out. Now, it's obviously not so hot with newer, more efficient, options available in the 600 and 700 series. The 14nm S660 is nevertheless decently powerful, packing an octa-core CPU in a 4x2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 configuration (Cortex-A73 and Cortex-A53 based, respectively) and an Adreno 512 GPU. Our review unit is the top-spec 6GB/128GB trim, with 6GB/64GB and 4GB/64GB options also available.
The Nokia 7.2's Kryo 260s struggle to match the performance of more recent midrange Kryo 360's in Snapdragon 710/712-powered devices like the Realme XT and the Xiaomi Mi 9 lite even if the difference isn't huge. Still, the Nokia does tend to occupy the bottom half of the charts in both single-core and multi-core tests in GeekBench 4 and 5 alike.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
The same hold true in Antutu, where the Nokia 7.2 is outperformed by pretty much every current competitor.
Higher is better
In the graphics department, the 7.2 trails the 700-series competition, but it does match the S675 devices in some tasks, and it pulls ahead of them in others. So in this respect 660>=675.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Two years is a long time and putting out a phone with the same chipset as the model two generations before it is a bit puzzling. The Nokia 7.2 isn't slow or anything - on the contrary, it delivers very decent numbers. Newer, better, more efficient and more powerful silicon options are available, however, and those do come in rival offerings.
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