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As HMD Global continues its move to revive and manage the popular Nokia brand, the company adds yet another device to its growing roster of Android-powered smartphones: meet the Nokia 7.1.
Announced earlier today in London, the Nokia 7.1 serves as one of the better-specs midrange HMD devices in their 2018 line-up. But is it any good? Let’s find out.
Build and Display
The Nokia 7.1 comes with the all-too-familiar glass and metal build, which were used to seeing in today’s higher-end smartphones, as well as on the Nokia 8 Sirocco. The LCD display measures 5.84-inches with a notch on the front and is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. With the back however we have yet to hear if it is also covered by the same protective glass. The metal band surrounding the phone has a nice color accent, similar to the finish found on the Nokia 6.1. On the back, you’ll find the 12-5 megapixel dual camera set-up, which is above the fingerprint sensor. The front has an 8-megapixel camera for selfies.
On the bottom of the metal edge, you’ll find a USB-C port as well as the loudspeaker grille. The sides house the volume and power buttons and the card tray. Fortunately, Nokia had the good sense to retain the 3.5mm headphone jack, which can be found on top.
For a midrange phone, the device is nicely built and carries that signature Nokia construction quality that we’ve been used to over the years.
Internal Specs
The phone contains the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset, alongside an Adreno 509 GPU. As is with other Nokia phones, the 7.1 comes in different storage configurations – you can get it either in a 64GB storage and 4GB RAM combo, or 32GB + 3GB configuration. We’d recommend getting the former as more RAM will no doubt help with performance. If you want to boost the phone’s onboard storage, the Nokia 7.1 accepts memory cards of up to 400GB capacity. Powering the phone is 3060 mAh battery, which hopefully will be enough for daily use.
Software
One of the highlights of the new Nokia phones is that they run under Google’s Android One program (if you’re not familiar with the concept, you can check our article here). Simply put, Android One phones such as the Nokia 7.1 will receive regular and timely updates from Nokia, something that other OEMs usually fail to do. This means that the phone will be secure as monthly updates usually include security patches.
The 7.1 launches with Android 8.1 Oreo, with HMD promising to update it to Android 9.0 Pie. Hopefully, they’ll stay true to their word, as the company so far has been compliant with providing Android OS updates to its users for the most part.
Alternatives
The Nokia 7.1 will be priced at around $350.00. If you’re after something a bit more affordable, the Nokia 6.1 is also a great alternative – check out our review here. It’s also got Android One and features better specs than the 2017 series of Nokia phones. If you’re willing to go a bit higher though, then you might want to check out the Nokia 7 Plus.
The Bottom Line
It is certainly nice to see HMD Global continue on their path to make Nokia a household name once more. With the launch of the 7.1, it is great to see more competition in the smartphone market, particularly in the Android division. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
I just wanted to say that you have literally got every bit of information I could want on these gorgeous Nokia phones!! Thanks for putting this all together, I really mean it, because I have been seriously thinking about buying one, but now with all this info, I’m seeing the Nokia 7.1 is exactly what I’m looking for. Thank you again.
Babs
Glad you found the article helpful! I myself got the Nokia 6.1. They’re solid devices with great software. HOpefully we’ll see more Nokia devices get launched in the months to come, and we’ll be covering them as well.
Thank you for this review. Do you think the Nokia 7.1 is suitable for lots of apps? Have you considered it against other android phones in the same price range? A long time ago I only used Nokia but they did kind of lost their way so now I look at all the options. I think the phone makers take their customers for granted and just assume that people would continue to buy their brand without necessarily improving their phones significantly. I hope this is a good one.
Thanks for dropping by, yeah I’d pretty much say that the 7.1 will be great for users who use a lot of apps. It has the same storage options of 64 GB or 32 GB and let me tell you, as someone who uses the Nokia 6.1 on a daily basis with 64 GB of storage it does pretty well in that department.
Nokia’s also been consistent with their support lately, so that’s an added plus.