Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for tablets in general has seen renewed interest. Nokia recently launched the Tab T21, an entry-level Android-powered 10-inch tablet that caters to mostly students and children. I spent some weeks using the Nokia T21 and here’s my take on how the device competes against other offerings in the price segment like the Oppo Pad Air, Realme Pad and the Redmi Pad.
Nokia T21 tablet: What’s changed?
The Nokia T21 is an iterative upgrade over its successor – the Tab T20 (review). Powered by the Unisoc T612, Nokia has made slight improvements to the camera and available storage options. While the processor offers more or less the performance as its predecessor, the tablet now gets Widevine L1 certification, which lets users stream content in FHD on popular OTT platforms like Netflix.
Design and display
Nokia’s T21 comes with an aluminium body that makes it look and feel premium. The build quality is top-notch and although I haven’t dropped it, it feels like the tab can take a few hits and survive drops from small heights. It has a matte finish, which feels nice to touch but is slippery like the majority of tabs in the price segment.
On the right side, you get volume buttons on the top and a microSD card slot. The top right side of the tablet sports the power button and two speakers, while the bottom side houses the other two speakers, a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
It has a 10.4-inch LCD with a Full HD+ resolution that is pleasing to look at. The bezels are pretty big, but I don’t mind big bezels on tablets since they make it easier to hold the tablet from the front without touching the screen. It has a peak brightness of 360 nits, which makes it hard to see anything under direct sunlight.
Also, I found that the white balance is slightly on the warmer side by default and turning the colour temperature to the colder side from the device display settings fixed the issue for me.
Performance and user interface
Running on Android 12 out of the box, the Android experience on the Nokia T21 is similar to what you get on recent HMD Nokia phones. The user interface is near stock Android with a few extra options. Instead of the Google feed we all are used to seeing when swiping left from the home screen, you get an app that sorts content and offers recommendations from various Google services like YouTube, Books, Play Games and YouTube Music.
Although the device gets Widevine L1 certification that lets users stream content from OTT platforms like Netflix in Full HD, I noticed that the YouTube app can play some videos in Full HD but many are only available in HD resolution (720p). I hope this is a software bug and that Nokia can fix it in a future update.
For photography, the device gets an 8MP rear and front camera, which can be used to take photos or attend online meetings, but don’t expect too much from them.
Talking of performance, the Tab T21 is powered by the Unisoc T612, a chipset launched in May 2022 that offers performance similar to the five-year-old Snapdragon 665. When I first booted up the tablet, it lagged a bit and I thought it might be the initial optimisation phase but over time, I realized that the chipset is just not powerful enough. The user interface did get a bit smoother when I installed a third-party launcher, but the majority of people who buy the tablet won’t do so.
I don’t know if it’s just my review unit, but system animations like pulling down the notification bar and swiping notifications are not smooth. The RAM management isn’t the best either. I tried opening 5-6 apps and switching between them to launch the app again. At times, I felt like Nokia should have just gone with Android Go.
Nokia says the Tab T21 will get three years of security patches and two Android upgrades, which sounds good on paper but unless Nokia optimises the device performance, it might end up making the tab slower in the long run since newer operating systems usually need more processing power.
Audio and battery
The Nokia T21 has stereo speakers with Ozo playback and they sound great. I watched a few movies and played songs on the tab and the experience was really good. The tab can easily fill a medium-sized room at full volume, making this an easy recommendation if all you want to do is watch movies and videos or listen to music.
Packing an 8,000mAh battery, the tab can easily last one to two days depending on your usage. The only gripe is that it supports a maximum of 18W charging, which means the device will take nearly three hours to fully charge.
Nokia T21 tablet: Should you buy it?
Like its predecessor, the Nokia T21 is a good choice if you want a tab to browse the internet, watch videos, listen to music or read ebooks. Compared to other devices in the price segment like the Oppo Pad Air, Redmi Pad and Realme Pad, Nokia’s latest entry-level tab has a premium look and feel but the performance is not that great.
Those looking for a tab for kids or media consumption can consider the Nokia T21. But if you are looking for a device to multitask or play games, I would recommend taking a look at the likes of the Realme Pad or the Redmi Pad.
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First published on: 05-04-2023 at 17:38 IST
