Review of Nokia 6.1 64GB smartphone, its advantages and disadvantages

Nokia is known to many and sounds like a kind of hello from the 2000s. This is not surprising, because for many this name is associated with high-quality, fashionable and cool mobile phones, and having a Nokia with you was then prestigious. There were no questions like "which company is better to buy", the answer was obvious. Indeed, the Finnish corporation held a fairly large share of the world market since 2000 and was able to hold out until 2011. Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of smartphones displaced the company, and attempts to hold its position again were unsuccessful.

In 2017, they released a quite good Nokia 6 at an affordable price, and in 2018 they improved and supplemented it to 6.1. Will an inexpensive and budgetary android phone be able to occupy the niche of popular models, and the company will again become the best manufacturer? As they say, time will tell.

This device has every chance of getting into the rating of high-quality smarts in the middle price range. A powerful processor, stylish design and good performance - this is in short what can be said about this gadget, the approximate price of which is 19,990 rubles. or 50,000 tenge.

Equipment

Considering the proposed set, the first thing to pay attention to is a rigid and durable cardboard box with a good and associative image. We open it, and the beautiful, austere candy bar and a thick stack of instructions are immediately striking. It comes with a wired headset, cord length about 1 meter, USB type C cable along with an adapter for charging from the Fast Charger network (18 W). The key clip for removing the SIM tray is carefully sealed, it takes a long time to remove it.

Main characteristics

The introduction itself talked about design and performance. Below is the exact technical description of the device:

• Platform: Android Oreo 8.0 - 8.1;
• Screen: 1920 × 1080, 403 ppi;
• Diagonal - 5.5 inches;
• Camera (Mpx): rear - 16, front - 8;
• Sound: OZO Audio, one speaker;
• Number of microphones: 2;
• Radio: FM;
• Protective glass: Corning Gorilla Glass 3;
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, 64-bit, 8-core;
• Graphics card (GPU): Adreno 508;
• Memory (Gb): operational - 3, permanent - 64, microSD up to 128;
• Connectors: USB 2.0 Type-C, for a headset - 3.5;
• SIM: 1 - nanosim, 2 - dualsim or microSD;
• Communication and Internet: 2G / 3G, LTE, Bluetooth 5.0;
• Network: Wi-Fi 802.11;
• Navigation: GLONASS, GPS, BDS;
• Battery: non-removable, 3000 mAh;
• Dimensions (mm): 148.8 × 75.8 × 8.1;
• Color: white, blue, black;
• Weight (grams): 172.

Design

The device is a black candy bar with stylish copper-colored stripes on the edges. Full metal body with brushed finish, and the metal finish is an aluminum magnesium silicon alloy (6000th alloy). The shape is a bit brutal - sharp edges, thin profile and flat edges, but overall it looks expensive.

On the right side there are paired volume buttons and a power button, on the left side - the tray for sim cards is symmetrically located and sits very tightly. 3.5 mm headset jack with microphone - at the top, on the opposite side - USB 2.0 and speaker with microphone.

On the back panel, all items are arranged symmetrically. Above and below you can see thin, barely noticeable plates.In the very center there is a vertical inscription - Nokia. Above the inscription - unlocking in the form of a round, fingerprint scanner. Above it is the vertical block of the rear camera, and at the very top is the second microphone. At the very bottom are: Android logo and technical information.

The oblong-shaped photo module is located under the glass. Above - the lens, at the very bottom - a double flash and between them - the inscription of the famous company "Zeiss". The module is edged with copper trim, which is reminiscent of the style - lumia.

The front panel is covered with a protective glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Above the 5.5-inch screen in the center is a speaker, to the right is the front camera and a small company logo.

Based on positive reviews about the appearance of the smartphone, we can assume that its design will contribute to the increase in the popularity of the models. It all depends on the specific selection criteria.

But, despite the representative appearance, convenient arrangement of elements and the absence of backlash of mechanical buttons, there are still some shortcomings, such as:

• Rough enough body;
• Sharp edges cutting into the palm;
• The soiled coating, despite the dullness and pleasant tactile sensations, remains on it with marks and streaks;
• The fingerprint sensor (fingerprint scanner) is located low and small, it will not be very convenient for owners of long fingers to look for it.

Screen

The display with the classic aspect ratio - 16: 9, is equipped with a high-quality liquid crystal matrix - IPS. The pixel density per inch is 403 ppi. The diagonal is 5.5 inches and the maximum resolution is 1920 × 1080.

The picture is clear and contrasting. The display accurately reproduces color shades. The color scheme does not change when viewed from an acute angle. No blackouts in the sun as the backlight dimming helps to resist the sun's rays.

The display is protected by corning gorilla 3 glass, smoothly turning into the metal frame of the case. Oleophobic coating allows fingers to glide easily over the surface. The touchscreen is capable of recognizing about 10 simultaneous touches.

Turning on the blue saturation filter for night viewing allows your eyes to rest.

Unfortunately, modes for the screen are not provided in the settings. The only thing is that you can lower the resolution and adjust the size of icons and elements.

Functionality and interface

The device runs on Android 8.0 Oreo platform. When you turn it on for the first time, an update to 8.1 is immediately offered. It is attractive that it works without any different shells with a minimum number of third-party programs and utilities, only standard and pre-installed by Google itself.

What else is worth paying attention to is a strict interface without pretentious shells and maximum functionality, just because of their absence. Everything works smoothly and smoothly, without any brakes in response to pressures and gestures.

Iron

Surprisingly, the smartphone, although it belongs to the middle-price category, is not bad for active games. An eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 with a frequency of 2.2 GHz, although not the most productive, but rather smart.

The fourth generation RAM has a small volume - 3 GB, on the one hand it is enough now, but in the future the smartphone may start to slow down. The internal storage is 64 GB, type eMMC 5.1. It can be expanded by up to 128GB thanks to a microSD slot.

Having tested the device for speed and lags under load, we can say that the frame rate at medium game settings is 60 FPS, and at high settings - from 45 to 60. At the same time, the body and the percent itself did not get very hot and the sensor worked well and debugged. An Android phone for the price and performance is a pretty good and reliable option. It is suitable for many games at the moment.

Communication

In addition to the well-known function called blacklist, a new one has appeared - caller ID. Its essence is that it gives information about the organization by a designated number. Two SIM cards can be used, but one of them is compatible with SD. Slots work together, so there is no need to rearrange cards. It is enough to choose from the menu.The chosen one will work in 4G, the rest in 3G and 2G. Also available Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi.

Data transfer by cable is available via USB 2.0. Connecting new devices is supported by USB-OTG. Geolocation is supported in the following formats: BDS, GPS and GLONASS. Exact location, with an error of 2 - 3 meters.

Networking is available via communication:

• 2G: GSM / GPRS / EDGE - 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
• 3G: WCDMA - 850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz;
• 4G: FDD-LTE - 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/18/19/20/25/26/28/29/30/66.

Autonomy

A non-removable battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh is installed in a case with a thickness of 8.1 mm. The adapter supports fast energy storage. In 45 minutes, the battery is charged approximately 50 - 55%, a full charge takes approximately one and a half hours. With an average consumption, uninterrupted operation is ensured for 12-16 hours.

Wireless charging is not supported due to the metal frame of the case. Lack of flexible energy saving adjustment modes, the program independently manages energy consumption. The main power saving mode is limiting the frequency of the processor, slow data transfer and no vibration when calling.

Camera

On the back of the smartphone, the 16 MP camera lens is clearly located. Remarkable phase detection autofocus and aperture - f / 2.0. Equipped with a high dynamic range (HDR) function that allows you to get close to the subject as accurately as possible without any distortion. Additional functions allow you to watermark photos in the form of date or weather information, stitch panoramas and shoot slow-motion video.

Manual focus control is available for more professional shooting. The interval for setting and adjusting ISO is 100 - 3200. It is worth noting an interesting photography mode - the image from the front camera is superimposed on the image from the main camera, resulting in a picture-in-picture effect.

Selfie camera with a matrix of 8 MP, equipped with autofocus and its aperture is - f / 2.0. In principle, he can do everything except for creating panoramas. It is worth mentioning that the optics for photo and video were developed in cooperation with the well-known company - Carl Zeiss.

Many people wonder how the "average" androidphone takes pictures. During the day, the camera and video camera shoot perfectly. Sharp detail, excellent light handling, fast autofocus, clean crop and natural color reproduction. You can safely throw in the piggy bank of positive qualities: a high-quality selfie, which not all flagships can boast of and perfect gluing of panoramas. The blur is applied clearly and neatly without unnecessary detail.

At dusk, even in relative light, the sharpness of the photo drops slightly and grain appears due to the automatic ISO increase. Despite the negative nuances, the photo quality still remains above average.

With insufficient light, colors begin to distort and autofocus starts to lag. Sharpness is lost and photos are smoothed and washed out.

An example of a daytime photo:

Compare how he takes pictures at night:

As for video, the fast processor makes it possible to shoot videos in 4K resolution and at a speed of 30 fps. But due to the lack of stabilization, the videos are of poor quality and jerky, albeit with good color rendering.

Sound

A good speaker is worth noting. Sounds pretty loud and clear. It clearly conveys the lower boundaries, while the upper ones do not glow or creak. But using headphones will slightly improve the sound, making it cleaner and free from external auditory stimuli.

The bundled headphones sound average. The sound is rather dirty and the transfer of borders is not clear.

Price

How much does a mid-range phone cost? The price at the time of publication was $ 290, approximately 19,500 rubles. At the moment, prices in mobile stores are fluctuating around 19,990 rubles. But sometimes, in honor of different holidays, their subscribers are offered various discounts or loans on good terms. Therefore, it is up to you to decide where it is profitable to buy.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before choosing a “smart” for yourself and which model is better to buy, you need to clearly understand its strengths and weaknesses, based on your preferences. Before completing the review, let's highlight the main qualities.

• Good display that accurately reproduces colors;
• Google's Oreo platform, no brakes, no glitches, and good security;
• Presentable appearance;
• The camera is above average;
• Clear sound and loud enough;
• Powerful processor;
• Autonomous work.

• Waterproof;
• Lack of wireless charging capability;
• Inconvenient body - slippery, sharp edges and gets dirty quickly;
• Lack of stabilization;
• Poor night photography.

Once upon a time and the truth "nokia" was a household name, symbolizing "unkillable tank". Despite its decline, the company tried to release a fairly good product using quality materials. Therefore, I would like to hope that the model will win the trust of many, and the new items released will revive the brand's popularity anew.