This $100 Android cellphone has no enterprise being this good for the value

Are you bored with the hovering value of telephones? When you’ve got a household of 4, you possibly can simply spend $4,000 on 4 flagship units, and that would occur frequently.

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Some households merely can’t afford the price of Pixels, Galaxies, iPhones, and so forth., in order that they have to show to extra budget-friendly units. So what in case you might have 4 telephones for near $500, no long-term contracts or sketchy agreements required?

That is the purpose with the Nuu N20 cellphone, which presently runs for $125 on Amazon.

Earlier than I proceed, please be mindful the value level of this cellphone. If you happen to anticipate flagship seems and efficiency at $125, I’d love to hitch that dream you are having as a result of it actually is not actuality.

That being stated, the Nuu N20 performs remarkably properly, given how cheap it’s, particularly once you discover out it features a fingerprint scanner and face unlock. (Understand that I am coming from a Google Pixel 9 Professional.) 

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Sure, it has the naked minimal RAM (6GB) for working Android, the CPU is a 1.6 Ghz, and the OS is a model behind (Android 14), however it makes probably the most out of these specs and performs properly sufficient to be a viable gadget for a number of sorts of customers (particularly youngsters).

However how does the N20 get up? Let’s discover out.

My expertise

First, onboarding any Android cellphone has grow to be really easy lately. Insert your SIM (or join it to Wi-Fi when prompted), add your Google account, and end the setup. Inside about two minutes of unboxing, I had the N20 up and working and able to take a look at.

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The very first thing I observed was the fabric used for the cellphone’s again aspect. Though the body is zinc alloy, I am not 100% sure what was used, because it feels a bit like cardboard. It is not cardboard, but when that texture bothers you, you will positively need to connect the included clear case (a sensible transfer regardless).

The N20 (with the case hooked up) weighs roughly the identical as my Pixel 9 Professional (242 grams for the N20 and 239 grams for the Pixel). The cellphone can also be barely taller than the Pixel 9 Professional, however it would not really feel awkward within the hand.

However what about efficiency? In any case, a $125 smartphone is actually not going to beat a $1,000 cellphone. That being stated, the N20 performs fairly properly. Though animations aren’t practically as easy as these on my Pixel 9 Professional, they are not as janky as you would possibly suppose. 

I’ve actually skilled Android telephones within the $300-$400 vary that had been worse. It helps that the N20 ships with little or no bloatware. There’s an FM Radio app and a Nuu Assist app, however aside from that, it is inventory Android. The house display screen launcher is Quickstep, however you’ll be able to set up a special launcher from the Google Play Retailer. I’ll say that Quickstep does resemble the Pixel Launcher (which is an efficient factor).

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I discovered YouTube movies performed properly, and the cellphone’s sound was beefy sufficient (albeit fairly tinny) for me to listen to all the pieces. The show is surprisingly crisp (even exterior within the solar). The show refresh charge is 90Hz, so it is pretty succesful.

One factor to bear in mind with the bottom RAM (6GB) is that you may add 4GB extra through prolonged RAM. As soon as you’ve got enabled Prolonged RAM (from inside Settings > Prolonged RAM), you will should reboot for the change to take impact.

After including the max 4GB of prolonged digital RAM, I did discover a slight velocity improve in animations, however they nonetheless had a slight choppiness to them (though they had been smoother than earlier than the change). Keep in mind, this is not the identical as extra bodily RAM.

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So far as the digital camera is anxious, it is serviceable; adequate to seize the “what” in an image however not essentially sufficient to inform a full story. You will not be successful any awards or impressing your mates with this digital camera, however it simply takes photographs and even affords a Professional mode to be able to configure all the pieces from white stability, ISO, shutter velocity, and extra.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

Finally, I got here away with the impression that the N20 cellphone is kind of spectacular for its value. That is an Android cellphone I would not hesitate at hand over to a child (ensuring to decide on the kid choice throughout setup) or somebody on a good finances who wants a dependable cellphone that is not filled with bloatware or weighs 4 tons.

The Nuu N20 cellphone is nowhere close to a flagship-level gadget, however it would not fake to be one. This can be a primary smartphone at an affordable value.

The specs

• Working System – Android 14
• Digicam – Rear Digicam: 16MP + 8MP wide-angle with LED flash/Entrance Digicam: 5MP
• Processor – 1.6GHz Octa-Core
• Show – 6.6″ HD+ 1600 x 720 90Hz Refresh Fee
• Battery – 5000mAh
• Reminiscence – RAM: 6GB RAM + 6GB Prolonged RAM (on my gadget, the Prolonged RAM solely went as much as 4GB)
• Storage – 128GB
• Exterior Storage – microSD (as much as 128GB)
• Dimensions – H 6.48 in x W 2.97 in x L 0.35 in
• Networks – 4G B2/4/5/12/25/26/41/66/71 3G B2/4/5 2G 850/900/1800/1900
• Connectivity – WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4GHz / 5GHz) Bluetooth 5.0 GPS with A-GPS Help Ports – USB Kind-C 2.0 Twin SIM Twin Standby 3.5mm Headset Jack
• Sensor Kind – Accelerometer, Ambient Gentle, Compass, Fingerprint ID, Proximity