It was a great time being a part of HMD Global's announcement of the Nokia phones at Mobile World Congress. Today those phones come to India and here is our first look of them
HMD Global today announced the availability of four Nokia branded smartphones in India. The Nokia 1, an upgraded Nokia 6, the Nokia 7 Plus and the Nokia 8 Sirocco were announced just a month ago by the company at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, making today’s announcement the fastest launch of Nokia phones in India following a global announcement. We were present at the MWC launch of the Nokia phones, so we have for you a quick look in videos for all that they announced.
Nokia 1
The Nokia 1 is the cheapest smartphone in HMD Global’s portfolio and is aimed to cater to the 1.3 million people who are currently using feature phones. It is powered by a MediaTek MT6737M quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM. There’s 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded to 128GB using a microSD card. Perhaps the best thing about the Nokia 1 is the fact that not only is it a dual SIM phone that supports 4G LTE, but it also runs Android Oreo (Go Edition). Having used the device, it feels like a significant step up from any feature phone. The display may not be fancy, but it is definitely a nicer way of consuming video content than a regular feature phone. HMD Global’s Nokia 1 is a cute little smartphone with replaceable cover shells. The Nokia 1 offers solid value for money, especially in its price segment.
Nokia 6
Last year’s Nokia 6 was a runaway hit, with retailers having a hard time maintaining inventory in China. The phone in India was received to equally rabid fanfare, although some did express disappointment on the choice of processor used and the lack of a USB-C port. Nokia has heard the feedback and launched the ‘new’ Nokia 6 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC (some say this could have been better), but that’s not the only improvement. We finally have Zeiss return to its partnership with the Finnish phone maker, with the Nokia 6’s Zeiss branded optics. The design of the phone is bold and holding it feels like you’re holding something extremely sturdy and durable. The design of the phone has also been tweaked with more refined edged and a dual-anodized finish. The Nokia 6 not only feels as bold as its predecessor, but also looks the part.
Nokia 7 Plus
Nokia has finally forayed into the dual camera trend with the Nokia 7 Plus. Zeiss optics are seen here as well, on both the wide and telephoto lenses for the primary camera. The front facing camera has Zeiss lenses too, because Nokia understands the importance of selfies. However, dual cameras isn’t the only trend you’ll notice on the Nokia 7 Plus. This smartphone has a massive 6-inch display with FHD+ resolution, but with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It will come in two stunning colours that have been finished in a way so that they feel like ceramic. Of all the phones we saw at MWC, the Nokia 7 Plus definitely felt the nicest against the skin.
Nokia 8 Sirocco
The crown jewel of Nokia’s portfolio from its MWC announcements, the Nokia 8 Sirocco has also been made official in India. Honestly, given how premium the smartphone is, we had a feeling that HMD Global might shy away from launching this phone in India, but we are glad that is not the case. The Nokia 8 Sirocco is all glass, with a curved OLED display. It’s a flat, bold smartphone with a broad profile, but it will stand out from the crowd. Unlike the Nokia 6 and the Nokia 7 Plus, the Nokia 8 Sirocco is built from a single block of stainless steel, sandwiched between Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back. Again, we get a dual camera setup with all lenses carrying the Zeiss branding.
The Nokia portfolio is strong for this year, catering to a rather wide gamut of price ranges. How well they sell will depend on how the devices perform in reviews and of course, their availability. Last year, the phones were released into the market significantly later than their originally announced dates, and even then, inventory was hard to come by. Hopefully, this is one area that the company would have sorted out for the coming year. If you'd like a more detailed look at each of the phones, you can head over to our image galleries here
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Swapnil Mathur
Swapnil was Digit's resident camera nerd, (un)official product photographer and the Reviews Editor. Swapnil has moved-on to newer challenges. For any communication related to his stories, please mail us using the email id given here. View Full Profile
