Nokia 6.1 performs as good as it looks. But is it enough?
It's been a busy 2018 for Nokia. Building on its efforts from the last year, which saw it successfully reboot itself under HMD Global's leadership, the Finnish smartphone maker, has been gunning for the market with renewed vigour.
In a bid to ensure the company makes a strong push for the smartphone market crown and covers market segments across the board, 2018 has seen Nokia announce smartphones that start from as low as $85 and go all the way up to approximately $950. Though not all of these devices are available in India currently, thankfully the most important ones – Nokia1, Nokia 6.1, Nokia 7 Plus and its new flagship device, the Nokia 8 Sirocco – did make their way across to our shores.
Despite all of them being interesting phones in their own right, it's arguably the Nokia 6.1 that has evoked the least amount of chatter. While the Nokia 8 Sirocco has impressed with its curves and the 7 Plus shined as a capable all-around device, it is the 6.1 that despite its promise of stock Android-powered performance paired with a premium design has not been talked about much. A major reason for this is the segment that the phone plies its trade in.
Starting at Rs 16,999 for the 3GB+32GB RAM and storage variant and going up to 18,999 for the recently released 4GB+64GB one, the 6.1 finds itself pitted directly against the likes of Redmi Note 5 Pro, Asus Zenfone Max Pro and even Huawei P20 Lite – all phones which bring with them almost flagship-level specs that too for a fraction of the cost of one.
Yet, in a segment that is dominated by the talk of paper specs, the Nokia 6.1 stands its ground. Why is that so? Let's find out.
Design
As is the case with the 8 Sirocco, the single biggest defining feature of the Nokia 6.1 is its design. From the moment you lay eyes on it or hold it in your hands, the device impresses with its looks. At 172g, the device is slightly on the heavier side, but this weight also gives the phone a pleasant heft that is reassuring, to say the least.
With the fingerprint scanner moving to the back and the physical home button being done away with, the Nokia 6.1 is in many ways different than its predecessor. However, overall it comes with a similar boxy design that the 6 donned last year. The sharp edges remain and so do the thick bezels at the top and the bottom of the display.
Though the bezels are still okay to live with, it's the sharp edges can ruin the experience of using the phone as they make holding it a little uncomfortable at times. Another qualm that I have with the design is the placement of the fingerprint scanner. Placed just below the tall camera and flash module, the scanner is a little difficult to reach.
Carved out of a single block of series 6000 aluminium, it feels familiarly solid like other Nokia phones before it. With copper coloured accents running around the phone's outline, camera module, fingerprint scanner and the buttons, the Nokia 6.1 ends up sharing design elements with the mid-segment 7 Plus, which definitely helps give the device a premium feel.
Surrounded by a sea of Chinese metal unibody phones, it's the copper coloured trim, paired with the matte finished Black/ Blue/ Silver White back that helps the phone stand out on its own in the segment. Despite essentially being the same as most devices out there, the phone's finish, its premium build and the two-tone colour scheme helps add a touch of class to the Nokia 6.1 and makes it look nothing like the competition.
Display
Coming to the front of the phone, what stands out is the is the lack of a tall 18:9 display or a notch on the front. These are two design elements that smartphones in 2018 have widely adopted, but have been given a miss with the Nokia 6.1. Instead, the phone is adorned by a regular 5.5 inch Full HD IPS display with 16:9 aspect ratio that is covered by a 2.5D Gorilla Glass on top.
Frankly, in a market segment which is seeing itself being flooded by phones that sport tall displays, Nokia's insistence to not get ahead of the curve itself may lose it some points on the spec sheet. However, in the real world, it appears to be a decision that should not hold the phone back much.
No doubt the thick bezel at the top and the chunky chin at the bottom does take away from the multimedia viewing experience on the device, but if that's not too much of a concern, the display shouldn't pose any problems. The Full HD panel is definitely plenty bright and looks sharp even when looked at from difficult viewing angles.
Specifications and performance
Apart from the design, the other big talking point about the phone is its performance. And surprisingly so.
To be honest, for the price that Nokia is asking for the device, the phone feels a little underpowered. However, that's only on the spec sheet. In everyday use, the Nokia 6.1 feels as fast as any other device out there and a definite upgrade on the Nokia 6 from last year.
There is no doubt that the likes of the Redmi Note 5 Pro will have the beating of the 6.1 on synthetic benchmarks, yet, in real-world situations, users will find it difficult to discern a notable difference between the two. Using the 4GB variant for our review, we never found the phone to be lacking in power, and switching between applications and playing heavy duty games was usually a breeze.
Much of this is down to the fact that the phone brings with it upgraded internals in the form of the Snapdragon 630 SoC and up to 4GB of RAM paired with a clean stock Android experience.
Apart from improving performance, being part of the Android One family sees the 8 Sirocco running on the latest Oreo version — Android Oreo 8.1 out of the box. This guarantees it timely security updates for at least two years as well as two major Android updates in Android P and Android Q in the future.
Depending on the variant of choice, the device also brings with it up to 64GB of storage. The more affordable 3GB RAM variant only brings with it 32GB of onboard storage that could be a bit less. However, the 6.1 comes with expandable storage up to 256GB that should suffice for most users
Camera
Now, this is where things start to go a little downhill for the Nokia 6.1. In terms of the optics, the Nokia 6 comes with a 16-Megapixel rear shooter with ZEISS optics, f/2.0 aperture and dual-tone flash, and an 8-Megapixel selfie shooter in the front. On paper, or otherwise, the camera module on the device does not win the device any battles.
As has been symptomatic of Nokia branded phones under HMD Global, the device fails to excite when you use it to click pictures. However, its frailties are even more exposed when you pit it against competing devices like the Redmi Note 5 Pro and Asus Zenfone Max Pro and so on. All of these devices come with dual camera setups which quite frankly click much better snaps than the Nokia 6.1.
In isolation, the phone's camera performance is acceptable. Used in ideal light, the photos come out just fine, however under low light photographs lack detail, colour accuracy, and are grainy and noisy. To its credit, the device can capture 4K HDR videos, however, the lack of OIS hampers the end result of these recordings too.
Coming to the front, the 8-Megapixel shooter also does the phone no favours. The performance is similar to the rear camera where ideal lighting sees the phone clicking just about acceptable pictures, while low light again leaves much to be desired.
Battery
Well, to be honest, the battery life on the phone is pretty good. On a single charge, the phone easily lasts a day of heavy to moderate usage. With the included fast charger, the phone took us little over 40 minutes to go from 0 to 50 and about two hours to charge the battery to the brim.
Though the battery performance is not the same as the Nokia 7 Plus, which easily gets through two days of use without needing to be recharged, the Nokia 6.1 still impresses with its screen on time.
Verdict
What makes it a winner is Nokia sticking to its guns and creating a device that stands out in the sea of very similar phones available in the segment.
In a budget segment defined by spec sheets, the Nokia 6.1 is a reminder of what really counts – good design and performance. There is no flashy bezel-less display and no monster 6GB RAM chip. Yet, the phone looks and performs as well as any phone in the price range.
In terms of design and build quality, it not only outdoes most devices in its segment but also comes out looking like a truly premium device, one which can give far more expensive phones a good run for their money.
However, what's also true is that its cameras, and more importantly, the price that it's being sold at, does no favour. There's no denying its a worthy challenger to the likes of Redmi Note 5 and Asus Zenfone Max Pro, but starting at Rs 16,999 and going up to Rs 18,999, the phone just feels too rich for what it offers.