Nokia 7.1 Review: Unrealized potential

Just a few years ago, Nokia has been rarely mentioned in Android police … or a lot anywhere, really. Microsoft is committed to preparing the famous smartphones section of Nokia and is still able to work Windows Phone. The remainder of the Nokia partnered with HMD to revive the brand in 2016, and some phones that come out of this partnership, with the help of the Nokia/HMD commitment to Android One. I have been given high marks for phones like Nokia 6.1 and 3.1 – with great budget devices. Our attention caught our attention is our attention because it chases a long space of price at $ 350. Nokia 7.1 displays itself as the best in the two worlds: distinct features and devices at a still management price. On paper, Nokia 7.1 has a lot for it: a strong medium -range chip, a large screen, and a large -scale LTE support. In practice, he does not do that completely Leave the noise level.

Specifications

Goodness

Not very good

Design, devices, what is in the box

Like many modern phones, Nokia 7.1 is a glass sandwich and aluminum. The back plate is “2.5D”, so it bends slightly on the edges to make it more comfortable in the hand. The glass has a mirror -like quality, so prepare for a lot of fingerprints. 7.1 also contains beveled edges on the aluminum frame that we saw on many previous Nokia phones. It is visually attractive and add a group of colors to the white model. The Gunmetal Blue is a beautiful -looking phone, but it is not flashy. Aluminum buttons and have the same rudder.

Nokia 7.1 has a fingerprint sensor at the traditional location on its back directly below the camera. I haven’t had any problem with fingerprint sensors on previous Nokia phones, but this seems to be a problem. On both the Nokia 7.1 units that I used, the sensor takes a longer victory than I expected to open the phone, which is very difficult to satisfy it about getting to know the fingerprints. I had to delete my stored prints and re -train the phone several times before I get a profile that works reliably. Nokia definitely has some improvement to do here.

It will not take a long time to notice that Nokia 7.1 has completely embraced the fissure. It is the same as Pixel 3 XL but it is more tight. There is a small earphone (not a loudspeaker) in the middle, surrounded by a sensor window and a front camera. The pieces revolve around one case tape, so the phone interface does not seem strange or not like some last 2018 smartphone. The radius of the round corners and the frame of the phone is almost the same. It is so close enough that I do not find it out of sight.

The bottom at the bottom of 7.1 is the most prominent example because of the lack of a medium -term phone. Despite the design of the space -saving fissure, the bottom contains somewhat large chin. Nokia was also good enough to slap a logo on the chin, so thanks for this.

The screen is a LCD screen, so I expected some chin at this price point, but this network is huge, and you don’t even get a confrontation speaker. It is the IPS 19: 9 1080 pixels, and both colors and sharpness are fine. The brightness is good enough to use the open air, and perhaps a little less than Pixel 3. The bonus points to support HDR as well. Nokia has an HDR upgrade feature listed in the program, but this is not something to go to. It is by default, and makes a file very Simple difference when watching videos other than HDR. The dynamic range of some videos may improve, but some made it look exaggerated.

The screen is a small problem on this phone. The rear lighting looks inconsistent on the upper and lower edges with shadows and hot points, especially around the fissure. I used two different 7.1s, both of which had this problem. It is difficult to take pictures in the pictures, but it is clear that you see when you put eyes on the phone. This is not necessarily breaking a deal, but I don’t know if I want to look at it every day. The radius of the angles is a bit extremist – it can cut the user interface elements that reach the edge.

If you are still wandering in the headphone socket: good news. This phone has one on the upper edge. Below at the bottom, you have the USB Type-C port and a gunshot loudspeaker. If you are tired of the disappointing Haptics on Android: Bad News. The vibration engine in Nokia 7.1 feels weak and weak.

Nokia does not include much in the way of accessories with 7.1. There is a SIM launcher, the usual guarantee and evidence package, cable/USB Type-C charger capable of 18W. This phone has a headphone socket, so Nokia was good enough to provide some earphones in the box. However, he did not choose to save good Earphone.

Software, performance and battery

Nokia 7.1 is a single Android device like all recent launch operations in Nokia (outside China). This means that you get a clean version of Android and guaranteed updates. The importance of this cannot be exaggerated. Nokia launched this phone with Oreo, but you are supposed to get an update to PIE. This was supposed to happen in October, but we are still waiting.

Building stocks for Android Oreo on this phone is more than pixels, which has dedicated Google features. I always find that it is refreshing to use a phone that is not carried by applications and excess system features that I will never use. The only real customization of Nokia is the way the status bar with the fissure behaves. You cannot enable the percentage of the battery in the status bar, but the phone shows the percentage when opening the notifications. It also has a Volte icon on the left next to the name of the carrier in the shade (if supported).

The arrows are probably connected to Android with a good performance, and this is usually the case. With Nokia 7.1, I was somewhat disappointed of speed and response. This phone works on Snapdragon 636, which uses the CIALCOMM CPU. He – she He should Be faster than Nokia 6.1 with 630 SOC, but it’s not. The applications are not loaded faster, and 7.1 gets volatile situations where 6.1 is fine. It can be slow to wake up. 7.1 It is not slowly slow, but it’s not fast as it should be. I think Nokia is initially expected to have a ready -made pie to go on this phone at the launch, but it could not end it in time. Thus, the Oreo building was not well improved. We hope to update the pie is better.

This phone has a battery in the middle of the 3,060mAh road, so the longevity is not a special thing. I have three simultaneous Google accounts, and I used the phone mostly to browse the web, messages and a little music flowing over Bluetooth. With heavy use, I can get four or five hours from screen time for one day. With lighter use, it looks like three hours over a day and a half. Nokia 7.1 will make a whole day with juice to spare it, but it is not a multi -day phone.

When connected, the 18W stock charger is rises. It seems that it understands the USB-PD standard because my pixel charger can also be directed 18W to Nokia 7.1.

camera

Nokia 7.1 has a pair of back sensors: a 12 -megapixel main sensor and a 5 -megapixel depth sensor. This is a typical preparation for budget devices as the secondary camera does not provide specific additional functions (for example zooming or a wide angle). My general impression on Nokia 7.1 is good. It takes solid pictures in a bright light, and does not collapse quickly in low light as a very cheap phone.

This camera is capable of very nice outdoor results and bright internal settings. The pictures are clear and vibrant – in fact a little vibrant if you are honest. Regardless, it looks nice. Nokia processing provides some fine details, but this is only clear if you are knocking. There is an Auto-HDR mode, but it does not seem to make a big difference. The average dynamic range of the budget phone. You will notice some joined sites in harsh lighting and loss of details in dark areas.

In low settings, Nokia gets some transcendent images. This depends on what you are trying to capture. 7.1 tends to produce brighter images with longer exposure, so anything will move blurry. White balance is also doubtful. 7.1 does a average work to control noise, so the fixed topic may still be fine. Treatment seems somewhat inactive in all fields, but it is more clear in low light. You may take two pictures of each other, but one will look much better than the other.

Should you buy it?

Perhaps within a few weeks. Nokia 7.1 has sufficient improvements in devices to justify the price jump on 6.1. The camera is better, devices are more accurate (unless you hate glass), and improve specifications. It will be intelligent to wait a little on this phone because it is still running Android Oreo instead of the pie, and the current program is disappointing.

Although there are better specifications than Nokia 6.1, 7.1 is slower in daily use. This is not used, but I feel that I am waiting for the phone to be attached a lot. Nokia deserves the right to praise a device with these specifications for $ 350, but this does not help you much if the performance is not equal. Then there is a fingerprint sensor, which is slow and rejects scanning processes a lot. We hope that the update of the pie will improve better than the Oreo launch program.

Personally, I do not like the asymmetric view on the front of the phone. The fissure is not unusually bad, but the combination of the fissure and the chin looks at me. However, the phone is well designed with a pointed background and covered edges. Lighting the uneven plate around the top is also a source of anxiety. It is accurate, so some buyers may not notice. If you are difficult to satisfy, then you will Note.

This is a phone I want to like, and I may like it when the pie is launched. Many rough edges can calm and make Nokia 7.1 smart purchase.

Purchase it if …

The cheapest budget phones are not so completely Good enough, and you are ready to trust that Nokia will come up with a good pie.

Do not buy it if …

You don’t like cracks or want a device much better than other budget phones.

Buy: Amazon (9)