I bought Nokia 6.1 Plus last year on 29th September. It costs me INR 16,999 from the Official Nokia Website. There are various Smartphones laying around in my house but somehow it become my primary phone. There are two reasons behind it first one is that I am a fan of Nokia brand since my Childhood. My connection with Nokia Started with Nokia 7210 Supernova then Nokia 5233 then Nokia N8 then Nokia 6 and now Nokia 6.1 Plus. These solid tanks are an integral part of my life since i was sixteen. Now the second reason is that i couldn’t find any special difference in some better and new smartphones. So Nokia 6.1 Plus stayed with me for a year and just yesterday i deposited it in service center for repairing. Why? I will let you know in the Nokia 6.1 Plus Review. Now You just stay with me till the end of this article.
Nokia 6.1 Plus
Nokia 6.1 Plus with 4GB RAM was launched in Last week of August 2018. Later a 6GB variant also got launched. Nokia 6.1 Plus is available via Amazon.in check the link below. The Nokia 6.1 is a feature-packed smartphone from HMD Globel/Nokia with a great design and timely software updates for the perfect Android experience. It is also a power-packed phone it has Snapdragon 636 SoC, 4GB/ 6GB, 64GB onboard storage, Dual (16MP + 5MP) back camera, 16MP front(selfie) camera and much more to explore.
Nokia 6.1 Plus has one Problem with charging port, It also has hanging problem when it runs on Oreo but now with Android pie, the problem is solved completely. The good news for Nokia 6.1 Plus buyers is that Android 10 will be available for Nokia 6.1 Plus Soon.
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Nokia 6.1 Plus Full Specifications
| DISPLAY | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 1080×2280 pixels | |||||
| Aspect ratio | 19:9 | |||||
| Display Type | IPS LCD | |||||
| Screen Size | 5.8 inches (14.73 cm) | |||||
| Pixel Density | 432 pixels per inch (ppi) | |||||
| Touchscreen type | Capacitive | |||||
| Color Reproduction | 16M Colors | |||||
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 | |||||
| Screen to body percentage | 81.5 % | |||||
| STORAGE | ||||||
| RAM | 4GB/ 6GB | |||||
| Internal | 64GB | |||||
| Expandable | microSD Upto 400GB (Hybrid Slot) | |||||
| Prosessor | ||||||
| Chipset | Qualcomm SDM636 Snapdragon 636 | |||||
| CPU | 1.8 GHz, Kryo 260 | |||||
| Graphics | Adreno 509 | |||||
| Architecture | 64 bit | |||||
| No of Cores | 8 (Octa Core) | |||||
| GENERAL | ||||||
| Launch Date | 30 August 2018 | |||||
| Dimensions | 5.8×2.8×0.3 inches (147.2 x 71 x 8 mm) | |||||
| Water Resistant | No | |||||
| Weight | 151 grams (5.33 oz) | |||||
| Colors | Black, Blue, White | |||||
| SOFTWARE | ||||||
| Operating System | Android v8.1 (Oreo) with Android One, Now Updated to Android 9 | |||||
| CAMERA | ||||||
| Rear | Dual (16MP + 5MP) | |||||
| Selfie | 16MP | |||||
| Rear Camera Features | Dual LED Flash, Hybrid Zoom (Digital), AF, HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography and AI Assistance , Selfie Bokeh, Live Bokeh | |||||
| Selfie Camera Features | Front Display Flash | |||||
| Physical Aperture | Rear (f/2.0) + (f/2.4), Front (f/2.0) | |||||
| Other Features | Exposure compensation, ISO control, Panorama, HDR, Spot Color, Color and Mono, Slow-motion Video | |||||
| Video | 1080p@30fps (gyro-EIS) | |||||
| BATTERY | ||||||
| Removable Battery | No | |||||
| Type | Li-Ion | |||||
| Wireless Charging | No | |||||
| Capacity | 3060 mAh | |||||
| Fast Charging | Yes, Quick Charge 3.0 | |||||
| CONNECTIVITY | ||||||
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |||||
| Bluetooth | v5.0 with A2DP, LE | |||||
| Wi-Fi | Yes, with dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot | |||||
| Network | 4G VoLTE, 4G | |||||
| USB | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go | |||||
| Voice Over LTE (VoLTE) | Yes | |||||
| SIM Configuration | Dual, Nano-SIM (Hybrid Slot) | |||||
| NFC Chipset | No | |||||
| Infrared | No | |||||
| SENSORS | ||||||
| Accelerometer | Yes | |||||
| Gyroscope | Yes | |||||
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes, Rear-mounted | |||||
| Other Sensors | Ambient Light, Proximity, Compass | |||||
| SOUND | ||||||
| Speaker | Yes | |||||
| Audio Jack | 3.5mm | |||||
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Now After a quick introduction and full specifications, let’s move to the Nokia 6.1 Plus Review.
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review after One Year of daily use
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review: Design
HMD Global, the company brought Nokia back into the smartphone game last year, launched the Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 5.1 Plus as their notch phones when it was in trend. The Phone is very light weighted but feels solid same time. The Nokia 6.1 Plus features aluminium frame for rigidity and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 over the 5.8 inch display at front and glass at back. The Sandwiched combination looks pretty out of the box. Even my mom loved it when she looked it for first time, Which i found unusual and may be it is first time ever. I received the Blue color variants which i feel more suitable for whole work-space setup (You can check my insta feed @iamskyuvraj for the Workspase pictures, i uploaded recently.).
Yes of-course there is a notched display up front with sizeable borders, and the Nokia logo on the chin but even with all the odds the phone has an eye catching design. The tall aspect ratio and curved edges also does some favor. Look and design wise this Compact phone looks amazing and pocket-able. The accents around the rear camera setup, fingerprint reader, power button, and volume buttons adds some new flair to the simple design.
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review: Performance and UI
I Provided Full specification just before starting Nokia 6.1 Plus review so I am not going into deep detail here. The Nokia 6.1 Plus is powered by Snapdragon 636 processor, the same is also a part of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro, Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1, and some other mid range phones. It also features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage that can be expanded using a microSD card (up to 400 GB). 6GB variant was launched later and there were no news about it and it was available for the same price, so i feel cheated that time. By the way the Combination of processor, CPU and RAM is good for daily use and also for gaming experience but the phone starts hanging at the time of multitasking. Sometime I have to press Volume Up + Power button to Force Restart it. But i get rid of this problem after updating it to Android Pie. After updating it to Android Pie It delivers pretty good performance even with some very heavy games. I normally runs 5 to 6 apps at same time so i observed that, with every updates it is getting better.
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While gaming for long time i also observe the heating problem at the middle of the phone, so hanging and heating lets it down. The Stock Android gives a fine User Experience. Thinks are easy to explore. It doesn’t comes with bloatwares but Apps by Google are not different. I hated the Stock Apps most so replaced with better-ones like replaced Files with Cx File Explorer, Photos by Simple Gallery, Launcher with Nova Launcher, and Google Play Music with Musicolet. everything was fine but Captured images/ videos can’t be accessed from the camera app. I am still finding a way. After updating to Android Pie and removing some Google bloatware the Nokia 6.1 Plus is lovable.
After exploring the Android 10 New features i found that there are some features already available in Android Pie, Like the dark mode. It is not upto that level but in settings> display you will get Device Theme Option. Which will give you three options light, dark and Automatic. So Yes, Nokia 6.1 Plus has Dark Mode. Now the settings also allow us to hide notch, so it is a cool option. So Performance wise it is not the best but overall experience is good.
Nokia 6.1 Plus Camera Review
The Nokia 6.1 Plus has a dual camera dual LED setup at the back. The dual Camera setup houses a 16-MP primary camera with an aperture of f/2.0, and a 5-megapixel monochrome secondary camera with an aperture of f/2.4. The camera setup with the Camera app has number of features such as as a live bokeh mode, HDR, AR stickers, dual-sight mode, Motion stabilization, 4k videos, Slow Motion Videos, Time-lapse Videos etc.
On the front, the Nokia 6.1 Plus has a 16-megapixel fixed-focus camera with an aperture of f/2.0. The AI does a fine job but not the perfect, Edge detection was poor, and most of the options just overexposed the background. AR stickers are implemented well and can be used with both the front and the rear camera.
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In a normal day light Front and rear cameras do nice job. Images and videos had a good clarity and the the sensor’s dynamic range was above average. 4k videos are also better then expected, the recorder sound from the inbuilt mic are on the point, loud and clear. Colours however appeared slightly washed out in some videos but still they are amazing. The camera performed quite well in Indoor condition also. In low light condition it lots its charm. It is not a good choice for low light photography.
You can check image samples in my previous post Akaso v50 Pro Reviewand Saregama Carvaan Go Review. All the pictures for these two articles are shot by Nokia 6.1 Plus Camera. Video Sample from front camera can be seen here, and from Back Camera here. Please remember these clips are compressed and resized to a lower resolution before uploading to Youtube.
Nokia 6.1 Plus: Connectivity and Battery
I never faced any connectivity issue with Nokia 6.1 Plus. There are a sim tray at the left side of phone which makes you choose between a second Nano-SIM and a microSD card. It support nano sim, calls were clear and 4G connectivity was consistently perfect. Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth, hotspot, everything is working fine. No Problem with anything.
Nokia 6.1 + has a non removable 3060 mAh battery which is really not a best option. It should be near 3800mAh, but now we can’t do any thing in this matter. The Fast charging is really a god send feature. In just an hour the battery percentage reaches above 50% from 0. But still 3060mAh is not enough for this phone.
So this is my Nokia 6.1 Plus Review after One Year of regular use. The Smartphone is solid and works perfectly but it has some serious Problem, which are engraved below.
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Nokia 6.1 Plus Review : Problems i faced in this One year of use
As i earlier mentioned It was the UI hangs a bit while it was running android Oreo, But i never faced the same issue in last 2-3 months. It gets heat up while playing heavy games for so Long, but i think it happens with all the mid range smartphones.
Now it has a serious Issue, The Charging Port. I am very gentle with these ports for years, but even after all the care it bricked/ damaged. I researched about this and i found that the same issue is reported by almost 70% of Nokia 6.1 Plus UserS. My Smartphone’s warranty is ending on 2nd October so i went to the nearest service center and they repaired it in maximum 3 hours. I also asked that what will be cost for the same if it got out of warranty they said almost INR 1700. They are very active and professional and they also assured me that the same problem will not comeback again. But after reading others opinion, i doubt.
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All the workers are very gentle and polite, and trust me i went to almost 20 service centers in past and as per my experience i found them most active . 3 Hours for changing the charging port. Lenovo took almost a week 2 years back while i was using Lenovo Vibe K5, Spice on the other hand, 3 days for repairing the same and they also replaced the cameras of my smartphone with some bad ones.
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review: Pros and Cons
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review : Pros
- Thanks to Stock Android, It is Easy to understand, easy to use.
- True 4K Resolution Videos.
- Solid, Compact and slim design.
- Good Camera performance in Day light.
- Overall Performance is also good.
- One of the best display, Bright and clear.
- Earphone is really forgiving and amazing,
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Nokia 6.1 Plus Review : Cons
- Charging Port has some serious issue. It will cost 1700 Rs. After Warranty.
- Limited Battery Life.
- Camera is good but low light images are below the standard.
- Speakers are not good.
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review : Important Links
| Title | Link |
|---|---|
| Official Website | Check Here |
| Buy Nokia 6.1 Plus | 6GB/ 64GB |
| Product Used and Reviewed By | Sourabh Kumar |
Nokia 6.1 Plus Review : Conclusion
Nokia 6.1 Plus is a lovable Smartphone, It has the Power, it has the look and it has a slim figure. There is a major problem in this smartphone the Charging Port. It gets damaged regularly. There are also some reviews about this problem, that the problem never gets solved even after replacing the Port for third time in a year. I faced it once and thank god my phone is in warranty but what after it? we have to pay 1700 INR every time? I also accept that this problem is reported for this Smartphone Only. So may be i am really unlucky that i bought it earlier.
Nokia is my favorite brand of smartphones, I love all of their smartphones (earphone also) and they are integral part of my life. But they have to make these smartphone solid not just from Outside, from inside also, Like a tank. If you want to buy this smartphone you can, but if you want a better option go with other model.
Thank You, that’s it for today. It is My Personal experience about Nokia 6.1 Plus i hope You like it. If you like Nokia 6.1 Plus Review after one year of Use Share it with your friends and share your views with us using the comment section. Thank You and have a nice day.
