HMD are pitching the Nokia 5.3 as budget-friendly and 'Android 11-ready'

Picking up where the original Nokia 5 left off, the new Nokia 5.3 features a 6.55-inch HD+ screen, a Snapdragon 665 processor, 4000mAh battery, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of on-board storage. It's also got a quad-lens rear camera to the sum of a 13-megapixel lens, a 5-megapixel ultrawide lens, a 2-megapixel macro lens and a 2-megapixel depth lens.

At a glance, it's a pretty competitive sum of parts for a sub-$400 smartphone. Of course, the real value here is in the slimmed down version of Android and the promise of two years of software and three years of monthly security updates. 

According to Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer at HMD Global, “the Nokia 5.3 is unique for us because it features a lot of firsts for a Nokia smartphone at this price-point. Our goal with the Nokia 5.3 was to give Australians a robust device that allows them to both create and enjoy content in a different way." 

"Bringing an  AI-powered quad  camera, as well as being the first Nokia phone to use the Snapdragon 665 Mobile  Platform, the Nokia 5.3 is an exciting opportunity for us to bring this entertainment and creative powerhouse  to Australians.”

Our review of HMD's last budget-friendly phone, the Nokia 4.2, came away a little mixed. We found that "The Nokia 4.2 is a decent budget smartphone when it comes to the essential but it falls off hard if you expect anything more from it." Hopefully the Nokia 5.3 fares a little better.

In Australia, the Nokia 5.3 is available for an RRP of AU$349 through JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Officeworks from Thursday 21 May. It's also slated to come to Big W and The Good Guys at a later date.