Nokia recently brought an updated version of Nokia 6.1 which was launched earlier in 2017. The new Nokia 6.1 Plus features almost everything a good mid-range smartphone should have. HMD Global has also tried to give a premium design with balanced performance with this smartphone. Let’s see how the smartphone performs and if its good enough to purchase.
Design and Build:
The smartphone features one of the best blends of glass and metal body. Both the front and back is made up of glass placed on a metallic frame. Its slim and sturdy but the glass made it slippery too. The design is pretty classic and Nokia 6.1 Plus is beautifully moulded.
The rear panel features a vertically aligned dual rear camera setup along with flash. The fingerprint sensor is following the same trail and placed just below the flash, followed by the Nokia logo. A small Android One logo is placed at the bottom of the panel.
On the front, it features a notch at the top which has sensors and a microphone. A small Nokia logo is placed at the front too. The volume rocker keys and the power button is placed on the right side of the edge while the SIM card tray is stapled on the left side. You’ll find a Type-C port at the bottom along with the speakers while the 3.5mm Aux port is on the top side of the edge.
Overall the build is fine and the smartphone is handy to use. The slippery part may be a problem but you can fix it with a rubber cover. The phone is lightweight and slim, making the ergonomic one of the best under this price range.
Display:
The new Nokia 6.1 Plus features a 5.8-inch FHD+ LCD panel with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and 2280 x 1080 pixel resolution. It is not exactly an edge-to-edge display but the display size is big, thanks to the thin bezels. The notch is the top is new for Nokia as its the first smartphone to offer it, its good but some may find it a bit annoying as there’s no option to turn it off. Talking about the display quality, the screen is bright for most of the time, but colors don’t pop or feel vibrant. The sunlight readability is also great so overall it’s a good display.
Specifications:
Nokia 6.1 Plus is powered by octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor paired with 4GB RAM. There is 64GB storage of onboard storage which can be expandable up to 256GB via microSD. Its a dual SIM smartphone with 4G LTE connectivity. It also offers others connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and USB Type-C OTG.
The smartphone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based Android One. The Stock UI is simple and clean. One can find the smartphone easy to use and fast updates. The customization options are very less and there’s no additional bloatware on this smartphone. We also hope that Nokia will release the new Android P update for it very soon.
Performance:
Nokia 6.1 Plus offers good performance with its SoC and 4GB of RAM. The multitasking ability and touch response are very fast and helpful. The apps and games also responded quickly as soon as you touch their icon. So as per everyday usage, it’s a great performing smartphone.
Coming to the high-end gaming section, Nokia 6.1 Plus performance was average. We Played PUBG Mobile on it and the performance setting was on Low as per the device specifications. The gameplay was although smooth but we expected it to be on medium. We also played Asphalt 9 and Free Fire on it and the gameplay was smooth but with low graphics. So its an average phone as per gaming.
The benchmark performance on Nokia 6.1 Plus is good but it could have been better. It scored 116099 on AnTuTu and 1336/4911 on Geekbench. The scores are low if we compare to the smartphones in a similar range.
On the security end, it only comes with the Fingerprint sensor and unlike others, it lacks the Face Recognition. The Audio and Video quality of the smartphone is also average. The 4G LTE connectivity was fine and we didn’t saw any call drop issue on this device.
Battery:
The battery life on Nokia 6.1 Plus is pretty reliable. It is backed by 3060mAh battery which lasted for a full day with moderate usage. The minimal users will surely get more than a day of battery life on it. Also, it is accompanied with Type-C Quick Charge support.
Camera:
Nokia 6.1 Plus sports a dual-camera setup on the back, comprising a 16MP primary lens and a 5MP secondary sensor. Even with such high-end specification, the camera samples were average. We were hoping to get an impressive result but the captured images are simply normal. The images have good color tone and details but it lacks the wow factor as we’ve seen on earlier Nokia devices like Nokia 7 Plus.
The front panel also sports a 16MP sensor for selfies. The camera captured decent images with the front too. The AI factor seems missing but it offers modes and stickers which were good alternatives. The camera app is simple with good customization options to give options to the users. But my only issue was with the device was, the output doesn’t seem as nice as it should be.
Gizmo Verdict:
As a price point of Rs. 15,999, Nokia 6.1 Plus offers decent specifications and software to the users. The design segment is surely one of the best in this price range but the performance doesn’t justify the price point. This smartphone will be a strong competitor to Mi A2.
