Nokia 6.2 review

Android Pie, version One

One of Nokia's highlights is the participation in the Android One program. Just as expected, the Nokia 6.2 runs a 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 6.2 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 having 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 usable, too, but it also isn't among the fastest we've tried and is far less secure.

Ambient display • Lockscreen and security settings

Once unlocked, the 6.2'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 6.2, 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

Performance and benchmarks

The Nokia 6.2 is powered by the Snapdragon 636 chipset - once a fairly popular solution in the midrange, but nowadays a fairly dated chip. It's not that the 636 is a bad SoC, there are already much better 'snapdragons' found in cheaper phones. The handset is equipped with 3GB or 4GB of RAM depending on the base storage - 32GB or 64/128GB.

So, the Snapdragon 636 chipset has an octa-core processor with 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Gold (Cortex-A73 derivative) and 4x1.6 GHz Kryo 260 Silver (Cortex-A53 derivative). The GPU is Adreno 509.

Starting our benchmarking routing with GeekBench. Quite expectedly, the Nokia 6.2 fell around the bottom of the chart, and most of its direct competitors are doing better. The Snapdragon 660 chip inside the Nokia 7.2 is as dated, but it offers a faster processor as well.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X2
  6926
• Realme XT
  6102
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  5989
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  5549
• Nokia 7.2
  5440
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  5396
• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  4927
• Nokia 6.2
  4882
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus
  4780
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  4146

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X2
  2508
• Realme XT
  1899
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  1851
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  1715
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  1576
• Nokia 7.2
  1534
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus
  1340
• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  1334
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  1319
• Nokia 6.2
  1311

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X2
  1744
• Realme XT
  1569
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  1471
• Nokia 7.2
  1425
• Nokia 6.2
  1255

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Realme X2
  547
• Realme XT
  410
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  395
• Nokia 7.2
  336
• Nokia 6.2
  276

Graphics performance is pretty much rock bottom for the Nokia 6.2 and its rivals are much better-equipped.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  24
• Realme X2
  24
• Realme XT
  23
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  21
• Nokia 7.2
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  13
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  13
• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  9.7
• Nokia 6.2
  9.2
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus
  8.4
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  7.4

GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  14
• Realme X2
  13
• Realme XT
  13
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  12
• Nokia 7.2
  8.1
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  8
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  6.9
• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  5.9
• Nokia 6.2
  5.7
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus
  5
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  4.6

3DMark SSE 3.1 Unlimited

Higher is better

• Realme X2
  2576
• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  2439
• Realme XT
  2284
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  1959
• Nokia 7.2
  1427
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  1353
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus
  1002
• Nokia 6.2
  998
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  988
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  587

Finally, the compound AnTuTu tests are equally uninspiring - the Nokia 6.2 posted rather uncompetitive scores as well.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  224759
• Realme X2
  215578
• Realme XT
  185193
• Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite
  175478
• Samsung Galaxy A50
  144574
• Huawei P30 Lite (perf. mode)
  141600
• Nokia 7.2
  139495
• Sony Xperia 10 Plus
  120573
• Motorola Moto G7 Plus
  117829
• Nokia 6.2
  114947
• Samsung Galaxy A30
  96550

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Redmi Note 8 Pro
  279355
• Realme X2
  257443
• Nokia 7.2
  164484
• Nokia 6.2
  140736

There is good and bad news as far as performance one the Nokia 6.2 is concerned. And we will start with the good stuff - the phone never heats up and never throttles. The performance you'd get is balanced and consistent, and Android OS, as well as many of the popular games, ran smoothly most of the time.

The bad news is that the Snapdragon 636 is a dated chip already and the Nokia 6.2 is already behind the competition at launch. And it will only get worse. It has the processor to last it a few years, but the GPU will become insufficient sooner rather than later.