Nokia 3.1 review: in its own link

Nokia 3.1 is one of the latest HMD Global phones in the budget, which is placed between NOKIA 2.1 equipped with Android and Nokia 5.1. The phone was announced in May this year, and it was sold in the United States earlier this month. All the distinctive features of the last Nokia devices exist, including the wonderful building quality, Android experience, and good price specifications. HMD Global had to make some discounts to reach the price point below $ 160, such as dropping the fingerprint sensor, but I think Nokia 3.1 is still a strong device.

Specifications

Goodness

Not very good

Design, devices and what is in the box

HMD GLOBAL remained a Nokia’s reputation for phones that were well built, and Nokia 3.1 is not an exception. On the front there is a Gorilla 2.5D glass panel, with a 520 x 14440 LCD screen.

There is an aluminum frame that extends along the side to help receive the cell, and the back often plastic (with a glass piece covering the camera lens). The entire phone looks very special, especially compared to other budgets in the United States.

You may have noticed one thing missing – Nokia 3.1 does not have a fingerprint sensor. This is a little strange, especially given some other phones in this price range (such as 150 euros Moto E5, 0 Blu R1, 0 Moto G5, etc.). There is definitely a disturbing sensor, but given the other advantages of this phone, I can accept it.

My other problem with Nokia 3.1 design is the feeling of the button. The power button and sound missiles of the same material are made as the back of the phone, so it may be difficult to find it actually.

The phone is operated with a Mediaatek MT6750 processor, with 2 GB of memory and 16 GB of internal storage. There is a more expensive model with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of storage, but this version is not sold in the United States.

Good performance is never with budget phones, but Nokia 3.1 is fast. I was worried that the Mediaatek processor will be slow, but the phone is sparkling from time to time – usually while switching between applications. The construction of Android is likely to help perform – there is no late OEM skin or pre -installed Bloatware software, which slows down things.

The battery life was good in the test. 2990 mAh battery is not huge, especially when compared to 5,000 mAh per hour Moto E4 Plus, but I still finish most of the days with 30 or 40 % survival. Say somewhere in the range of 4-5 hours of time on the screen, depending on the use.

Nokia 3.1 is Android One, which means that it works to operate a program close to the stock and must receive updates somewhat quickly. However, the phone is still on Android 8.0 instead of 8.1. At the time of writing this report, my review unit had a safety correction level on May 5. It is difficult to say with certainty how much Android P arrives, but we hope that Project Treble will speed up things slightly.

Finally, Nokia 3.1 has all the usual features in Android budget devices. This includes an expandable MicroSD storage card, a double SIM to use transport companies simultaneously, FM radio, and headphone socket. You cannot take the headphone plugs as a Muslim for it these days.

In the box, you can get Nokia 3.1, the wall charger, the microusb cable, the ear headphones, the SIM card expelling, and a quick start guide.

Camera samples

Nokia 3.1 has a 13 -megapixel rear camera with flash and 8 -megapixel front camera. With enough light and semi -stable theme, you can take great pictures. The goat image below, for example, looks like it was taken with Moto G6 or OnePlus 6.

If you are in a dim lighting room, or do not give the phone enough time to focus, the results do not look great. Here are some pictures:

Our ruling: Should you buy it?

probably. Nokia 3.1 is a distinctive budget phone, with decent specifications, clean Android experience, and great building quality. However, the lack of a fingerprint sensor is somewhat confusing, especially when some other phones can be found in this price slide.

In the United States, Nokia 3.1 is sold with 16 GB storage and 2 GB RAM for about $ 160. It relates to the only phone that has opened $ 150 that you can buy in MURICA, especially since Motorola does not sell the unintended Moto E5 devices here. He is in his own bond – and then the title of this review.

In Europe, the phone costs 139 euros, and there is a 32 GB RAM for 169 euros. The main Moto E5 is a value of 150 euros, and although it has a larger battery and fingerprint sensor, you will have to deal with Android updates a lot slower – and Motorola is only one major version.

The NOKIA 3.1 ecosystem is somewhat decent, at least in the United States. Since this is a less well -known device, you will not find cases of major companies such as OTERBOX or Spigen, but there are still a lot of options.

Regardless of where you buy, Nokia 3.1 is a good price for the price, just like every other HMD Global device.

Purchase it if …

You are on GSM Carrier (AT & T, T-Mobile, Cricket, etc.) and you want a good phone with a limited budget.

Do not buy it if …

You are on board CDMA (Verizon, Sprint, etc.), you really need a fingerprint sensor, or want to use a dedicated ROM.

He buys: Amazon, Best Buy, B & H