Skip to main content

Nokia T20 | First look

I recently purchased the Nokia T20 and had no real expectations going in. I did some light research on Youtube so I kind of knew what to expect. What I didn't anticipate was enjoying the tablet as much as I have thus far. The performance is solid aside from the occasional jank in the UI. Speaking of the UI, it's as stock Android as one can get today, and to be honest that's my preference. 

For a budget tablet under $250, I can already tell this thing is pretty legit. Let's chop this up and talk about a few things I've noticed so far.

Display

The display is good say for a couple quirks that took me a little bit to get used to. For instance, the screen looks really blue to me. Fortunately, there is an adjustment in settings that can make the display a little warmer, not much though. Off angles are good, however, things do get a little dim. This is definitely not a Samsung display. Outside of that, I must say that the display meets my needs. Colors are nice and saturated producing vibrant hues.

Perks

Nokia touts 2yrs of Android updates and 3 years of monthly security patches. If proven to be true the T20 would rival tablets made by Samsung and possibly beat out other Android OEMs. Promised updates are a selling feature for me and wished more Android device makers would follow suit. 

Performance

While not earth-shattering, I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth things moved around the screen. Animations are nice and tight. Multitasking is another bright spot. Apps did a decent job with staying in memory (only 4gb of RAM) and launching without having to reload. 

Speakers

The Nokia T20 features dual speakers, one on each side of the tablet. I found the sound to be good as I prefer rich tones and don't expect bass in this form factor. Speaking of bass, there is none and to me, that's not a big deal. Music and video get loud enough although there is definitely room to improve here. The one odd thing I noticed is that the volume is loud at low volumes and does not increase that much when turning up the volume. Could be a bug so I will keep my out on this one.

UI and Overall Experience

As I mentioned before, the UI is stock Android which is good and bad if I am being honest. So, what's good? It's a familiar UI and very similar to what I have on my Pixel 6. The search bar at the bottom of the screen and the At a Glance widget with the date and weather at the top. With a swipe right, you have Google's Entertainment Space. Here is where your videos, books, and games reside. I think it's a good idea for tablets and plan on talking more about this in another blog post. The rest of the UI resembles a Pixel. Swipe up to get to your apps and the like. Unfortunately, this is where we have to talk about the not-so-good. That's just it. The tablet ships with a phone UI and not a tablet UI. The Nokia T20 can use Android 12L like yesterday.

Conclusion

A tablet missing a tablet UI would scare off most people but I am encouraged especially with Google taking the category more seriously with Android 12 set to release in the Spring of 2022. For those in the market for a tablet, especially a budget tablet, I believe the Nokia T20 is worth a look. The tablet is good now and will be even better after Android 12L.

Specs

  • Runs: Android 11 (2yr OS updates and 3yrs of security patches)
  • Display: 10.4 inch 2k display with 400 nits of brightness
  • CPU: Unisoc T610
  • Storage: 64gb of internal storage (up to 512gb of Micro SD Card support)
  • Battery: 8200 mah (15w fast charging; 10w charger in the box)
  • Bluetooth: 5.0
  • Speakers: Dual stereo speakers
  • Mics: Dual mics


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I attended a Pixel Superfans event at the new Google Store in Santa Monica, CA

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a Pixel Superfans event at the new Google Store in Santa Monica. It was a soft launch of the store and a good way to meet like minded people. The staff were very nice and helpful. While I was at the store I was able to finally check out the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and wow that device is extremely impressive. Outside of that, I was able to look around the store and check out other Google products which there are quite a bit to see. I'm looking forward to my next visit to the new Google Store. Take a look at the pictures below including one of some swag I got from Google at the event.

Reviewing the Pixelbook Go after 5 yrs | Software that is outpacing the hardware

  No doubt, the Pixelbook Go has served me well in my 5 yrs with the laptop. This is not necessarily a review of the features on the laptop but a review of the PBG hardware and its usability in 2025. I acknowledge that I am a part of a very small club of users that still have and use this device but I must say that I still enjoy using the PBG every single day. Now, to the review. Hardware Right off the bat. The hardware is probably the least compelling aspect of the PBG. When the laptop was first released in 2019 it was already a year or two behind the competition with the onboard soc. Surprisingly, this has not negatively impacted using the laptop with most tasks. Web surfing is a breeze and most Android apps run pretty effortlessly. The 8th Gen i5 Intel soc paired with 8GB of RAM is well optimized and I feel that Google is getting as much as it can out of the chip.  Where the PBG falls short is with video editing apps. I've tried several Android apps and a couple of Linux ap...

Soundcore K20i review | A look at Ankers budget friendly earbuds (video)

Soundcore K20i by Anker, Semi-in-Ear Earbuds, Bluetooth Wireless, 36H Playtime, Fast Charge, Clear Sound, Comfortable Fit, ENC 2-Mic Clear Calls, Custom EQ, IPX5, Bluetooth 5.3, App Control. https://a.co/d/a27Mi9t