Syed Imran Haider 
While most of the rugged phone designs tend to be hefty, the Nokia XR21 has taken a different approach. While the phone is undoubtedly large, it is modestly weighted and comes with the rugged specification that enables it to be strong and durable.
The design
In the last few years, some of the rugged phones have been so monstrous and heavy that they are simply impractical for daily use. Luckily, the XR21 does not fall in the same category because it weighs 231g and this makes it easy to carry. As far as the external features are concerned, they are a combination of the familiar with some unexpected twists thrown in. The right side has the volume rocker, along with a power button that also functions as a thumbprint reader.
There is a custom button on the left, with another redefinable button on the top edge and also a 3.5mm audio jack. The card slot has ended up on the bottom edge, next to the USB-C charging port. Two nano-sized SIM cards can be used, but there is no MicroSD card support. This means the 128GB internal storage is all the phone will have.
As for the back of the phone, it has a subtle texture, which makes it easy to grip. It is completely flat, with the exception of the camera cluster. The cameras are slightly offset to the left, which makes it difficult to take accurately framed pictures.
Hardware
The Nokia XR21 comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G. The SoC uses the Kyro 660 CPU and it is combined with the Qualcomm Adreno 619 GPU for providing a boost to the graphics. There are two 2.2GHz Kyro Gold cores for performance,w hile six 1.7GHz Kyro Silver cores are included for power efficiency. As far as memory is concerned, Nokia has opted to keep it at 6GB.
The screen is a 6.49-inch IPS panel that supports a refresh rate of 120Hz and it is quite shiny and bright. But, to keep the weight down, Nokia has made compromises in terms of battery. The phone only comes with 4800mAh, which is acceptable for a standard phone, but not so much for a rugged phone. In fact, it is actually lower than expected. However, the phone does recharge quickly if you use a USB-C power supply that can support 33W charging.
Cameras
Nokia has decided to go with the OmniVision sensor for all its cameras i.e. front and rear. The back camera is 64Mp and was the first one that had been built by OmniVision for thin smartphones. It offers improved color accuracy and sensitivity. The camera app comes with an excellent selection of special features, which include SpeedWarp, slow motion, dual rear and front shoot, night mode, panorama, flash shot and Pro. As for the front camera, it is a 16Mp that can take decent pictures.
The Verdict
The XR21 resembles the Motorola ThinkPhone, but has a more elegant and robust design that stands out from other rugged phone options, but the price is still a bit too high.
