REVIEW: NOKIA 7.1

Nokia 7.1 is an interesting mid-range device that HMD announced in October 2018 at the London event, organized just for this device. After the great success of Nokia 7 in China, the rest of the world was asking for a similar device, something that would be a bit better than Nokia 6, but still affordable. Nokia 7.1 came as an answer to all the wishful thinking of Nokia fans around the world.  Actually, Nokia 7.1 is improved Nokia 6.1 Plus. That could be troubling for many but bear in mind that this model has many features that are better, and come as a nice surprise. I spent a lot of time with the device, to check if it is good as HMD said, and to see if I’ll get used to a notorious notch. Without further ado, let’s start with a review.

Pro

• Nice design
• Great build quality
• Crisp and sharp display
• Great loudspeaker
• Notch

Con

• Slippery and fingerprint magnet
• Snapdragon 636 bad choice for price class
• Camera not performing well
• Average battery life
• Quick charging not so quick
• Notch

Hardware specifications

• Dimensions: 149.7 x 71.18 x 7.99 mm (9.14 mm with camera)
• Mass: 160 g
• Body: Aluminum frame, glass back, and front
• Display: PureDisplay Full HD+ 5.84’’, 19:9 ratio, Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
• Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 636
• Memory: 32/64 + 3/4 GB LPPDDR4x
• Camera: Primary – 12 MP 2PD/AF/f1.8/1.28um, second – 5 MP, BW/FF/f2.4/1.12um, Front – 8 MP FF/f2.0
• Connectivity: 3.5 mm headphone jack, LTE Cat. 6, 300Mbps DL/50Mbps UL, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth® 5.0, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C (USB 2.0)
• Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer (G-sensor), E-compass, Gyroscope, Fingerprint Sensor (on the back)
• Battery: 3060 mAh, 18W charger
• OS: Android 9 Pie
• Colors: Gloss Midnight Blue, Gloss Steel
• Price: €299
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Nokia 7.1 comes in a classic white box with the picture of hands framed by the device. Interestingly, the box of Nokia 5.1 Plus looks quite the same (also does the device?), except the notch of 7.1 is clearly shown on the front and back photo on the box. Inside you’ll find Nokia 7.1 covered with a plastic foil, and next to the device a box that contains 18W charger, 1m long USB-C/USB cable, and plain and simple Nokia WH-108 earphones. The SIM door key is below the device, and it has a longer pin since the ejecting mechanism is a bit different. You won’t be able to use an old key provided with some previous Nokia phones to open it. Manuals are translated on many languages (depending on the region) and are placed below the cradle where 7.1 sits.

I must say, I like the design of Nokia 7.1. HMD changed the design of its phones in 2018 and started using glass a lot on its midrange lineup. This is a bit risky move since glass can be easily shattered and is a fingerprint magnet. Unfortunately, I did a few drop tests from meter height and luckily glass didn’t shatter, what was a relief.

The design is both classic Scandinavian with a touch of Fabula story that Nokia started with its Lumia series. You won’t find many things interrupting the lines of a device, just a few cuts in the glass for the earpiece, fingerprint reader and one protrusion where the dual camera is placed. The front and the back are pretty much the same with aluminum body sticking out in between. The front of the device is hiding 5.8-inch screen which is blended nicely, since the polarization filter makes it almost as black as relatively thin bezels. On the top of the screen, there is a notch where the 8 MP wide-angle front-facing camera, earpiece, and proximity and ambient light sensors are placed. The notch is not wide, which is good since that part of the screen can be turned into a virtual bezel where most of your notifications will be shown. There wasn’t any place for the Nokia logo, so it is now placed centrally at the bottom part of the front surface, or at the chin. The Gorilla glass 3, which is protecting the front of the phone, is just mildly curved into the precisely cut aluminum frame. On the right side, there are volume control buttons and a power/lock button which are firm and with a nicely defined click. By double pressing the power button, you start the camera app by default, and by clicking on volume down you take photos which is a nice replacement for dedicated camera button Nokia phones used to have. The left side of the aluminum frame only holds the SIM/MicroSD card doors that open with a provided key that has a bit elongated pin. You won’t be able to open the SIM drawer with an old key since the mechanism is positioned differently, but you’ll be able to use the new key to open SIM doors of older (or other) Nokia smartphones.

On top, you’ll find two antenna stripes. The left one is perforated with one of three microphones and the left one is perforated with 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the bottom, there is the same arrangement of antennas with a microphone hole at the left and two opening of the single speaker on the right of centrally placed USB Type C jack. At the back, you’ll find an elevated camera module that holds 5 MP depth-sensing camera, Zeiss logo, 12 MP main camera, and dual LED flash. One thing I didn’t like about the camera module is that both cameras were not centered, but were a little bit off to the right. The camera module is accented with a metal ring that surrounds the Gorilla Glass 3 which is going to protect the cameras from scratches. The glass at the back is not Gorilla 3, and after two weeks the edges will be full of micro scratches which are not that easily seen. Below the camera module is the fingerprint reader which is working nicely, but it could be faster. Silverish Nokia logo is placed in the middle of the device, and it looks nice under the glass. Android One logo at the bottom is of the same color as Nokia logo, while the text below is a bit lighter and tells you the origin of the device, HMD’s HQ address, and FCC number. Nokia 7.1 is the first model that came with a new address of HMD’s headquarters.

Ergonomics, build quality

Nokia 7.1 has a quite nice feeling in hand. It is solid as a Nokia 6.1 but then again gentle and warm as Nokia 5.1 Plus. It’s mildly curved edges add softness when you are holding it, and aluminum frame gives the firmness of cold metal. Even though the phone is covered with glass, it is quite resilient to the falls on hard surfaces. Unfortunately, I did a few drop tests when I would leave the phone on any kind of fabric and the phone would slip quickly on the floor. That being mentioned, maybe the biggest flaw of its design is the phone is slippery as hell. It is quite hard to maneuver with it, but you’ll get used to it after a week. I would like to see silicon protective case in the retail box since I guarantee you that you’ll drop the phone at least two times before getting used to handling it, and because the back glass gets scratches easily.

I did damage the aluminum frame in two places, but there are no dents and scratches are minor. Most importantly, the screen didn’t break because of a smartly placed plastic ring that is surrounding the front and back glass and acts as a buffer zone between glass and aluminum frame. I would prefer if HMD could find some other material to cover the back since this device is a super magnet for fingerprints, and you’ll be cleaning it every time you get it in your hand. I was able to control the device by just using my thumb. That also means that you will have to stretch it from time to time, but the scrolling through notifications over fingerprint scanned does come in handy.

Display

The display of Nokia 7.1 is one of its selling points. HMD used something similar to an old display technology previously seen on Nokia Lumia smartphones, actually on Lumia 1520, which was called Assertive Display. HMD branded it now as PureDisplay. This technology enables the 7.1’s screen to dynamically adapt to ambient light condition, and to display HDR photos and videos by doing the real-time SDR to HDR conversion to make your photos and videos crisper and with vivid colors. The LCD screen has FullHD+ resolution or 1080×2280 pixels that gives the density of approximately 432 PPI. It is 5.84” large in diagonal, and it takes almost 80% of the front surface. The screen is polarized by a special filter which is responsible for the great visibility under the bright light. I had no trouble reading the display under bright sunlight, and it can be dim enough when surfing before you go to sleep. The good thing is that you can use nightlight feature to lower the blue light that LCD emits and help yourself fall asleep sooner. Also, the screen was supersensitive since I could control it with wool (fabric) gloves on my hands.