Just in time for the big holiday shopping season, Nokia's making a return to the United States with its latest smartphone — the Nokia 7.1. The Nokia 7.1 is a mid-range handset running Android One that offers a wide array of specs, features, and more at an extremely competitive price.
Is this a phone that deserves a spot on your shortlist this year? Here's what you need to know.
Check out our hands-on coverage
We need to spend a bit more time with the Nokia 7.1 before we give it our full and final review, but in the meantime, do check out Nirave's initial hands-on impressions.
The Nokia 7.1 is already looking great thanks to a well-constructed design, promising cameras, and a gorgeous display.
Get the full scoop here 👇
Nokia 7.1 hands-on: A $350 success story
Get familiar with all the specs
To meet such a competitive price, Nokia couldn't outfit the 7.1 with the latest and greatest specifications around. Some corners had to be cut, but even so, we're still looking at a pretty respectable spec sheet.
Some of the highlights here include a Snapdragon 636 processor, 4GB RAM, 32 or 64GB of expandable storage, dual rear cameras, and a 3,060 mAh battery.
Nokia 7.1 specifications: 5.84-inch display, HDR upscaling, Android One
It's running Android One
All of Nokia's phones going forward are powered by either Android Go or Android One, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise that the Nokia 7.1 falls into the latter program. However, even if it isn't surprising, it's still darn exciting.
Android One means that the Nokia 7.1 has an extremely clean software experience that looks very close to what you'd find on a Google Pixel phone. There are a few custom software tweaks, such as Nokia's own camera app, but this is still a stock Android experience through and through.
The Nokia 7.1 is currently based on Android Oreo, but we should hopefully see an update to Android 9 Pie in the not too distant future.
The display is impressive for this price
Smartphones in the $300 - $400 price range usually don't have the best displays, but this is one area in which the Nokia 7.1 doesn't disappoint.
On the front of the phone is a large 5.84-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 2160 x 1090. The aspect ratio is tall and narrow at 19:9, and since this is 2018, there is a notch at the top.
That's all fine and dandy on its own, but Nokia kicks things up a notch (pun definitely intended) by integrating full HDR10 support and real-time SDR to HDR upscaling throughout the entire UI to give you an extremely rich and vibrant screen no matter what you're looking at.
Here's when and where you can buy it
If you're interested in picking up the Nokia 7.1 for yourself, pre-orders go live at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H starting Friday, October 5 with shipments scheduled to go out on October 28. In addition to online sales, the Nokia 7.1 will also be available in-stores at Best Buy locations beginning November 4.
The Nokia 7.1 costs $349, and to keep it protected after the fact, Nokia's also selling an official clear case and flip cover that'll run you $10 and $20, respectively.
