Connecting People, Again

By: Sujan Tiwari

“We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow we lost” - these were the words of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, while announcing the sale of Nokia phone division to Microsoft in 2013. But maybe not doing anything wrong finally paid off for the globally loved brand, as Nokia is now back in the game. Nokia, the globally renowned telecom and mobile company once dominated the global market but lost to its competitors after the advent of Android OS. Finally, in 2017, Nokia, currently owned by Finnish company HMD Global, launched a new iteration of Nokia’s iconic 3310 feature phone, along with Nokia3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 smartphones based on Android OS. Paramount Electronics, the authorised distributors of Nokia phones for Nepal, has recently introduced in the market the new Android based models, and Nokia 6 is the high-end model in the current line-up.

Design and Display

The new Nokia 6 has a robust and strong design, reminiscent of old Nokia feature phones. The body of the handset is crafted from a single block of aluminium, and feels tough and durable, but also has a premium feel to it. But the tough feeling comes at a price, the handset is quite hefty to hold, and at 7.85mm, it isn’t one of the slimmest phones around. Nokia 6 definitely feels premium in hand, more than any other phones in the market in this price range. It also comes with a fingerprint sensor that is mounted on the home button. Nokia 6 features a 5.5 inch 1080p IPS LCD display with 2.5D Sculpted Corning Gorilla glass. The display is sharp and vivid, and the brightness is enough to be viewed under direct sunlight. Watching videos and playing games is a lot of fun on Nokia 6’s screen. Another strong point of Nokia 6 is its immersive sound with Dolby Atmos. The sound quality is really good and the speakers among the loudest. The bottom-firing speaker and the earpiece that also doubles as a speaker give a nice stereo effect.

Performance

Nokia 6 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 chipset, with 1.4 GHz octa-core CPU and the regular version comes with 3 GB of RAM. Though the CPU is quite dated, it is fast enough for everyday tasks and normal use shouldn’t cause any lagging. As the handset is based on pure Android 7.1 Nougat, the general performance is fluid and satisfying. The Adreno 505 GPU does a fairly good job, and runs titles like Asphalt Extreme and Asphalt 8 with ease on medium settings. On storage front, it has internal memory of 32 GB that can be expanded up to 128 GB through micro SD card.

Camera

Sadly, camera isn’t the strongest feature of Nokia 6. It comes with 16 MP camera on the rear with PDAF with f/2.0 aperture and dual tone flash, and the front has 8 MP camera. The camera software is very basic, and doesn’t offer a lot of tweaking. Both the cameras can record video in 1080p, and can also shoot time-lapse and slow-motion videos. The cameras do a decent job in daylight, but the performance degrades in low light and artificial light. The pictures come out alright, but do not expect too much in the imaging department. It’s nice to see that Nokia, unlike many other manufacturers these days, hasn’t skimped on the sensors. Despite Nokia 6 being a mid-ranger, it comes with all the important sensors like accelerometer, ambient light sensor, compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor and even NFC. The handset comes with a non-removable 3000 mAh battery that easily lasts a day with medium to heavy use. Priced at Rs 25,600, Nokia 6 is a good bargain and a tough contender in the mid-range segment, and is a very welcome move from the company. It is an affordable option with good overall performance and a sleek and sturdy design, and not to mention, the nostalgic Nokia branding.