Nokia 8.1 First Impressions: Just a Good Looking Mid-Range Phone?

HMD Global’s latest Nokia phone is one of the first to come with Snapdragon 710 processor.

Nokia 8.1 comes with a 3500mAh battery. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Nokia 8.1 has just been launched in India, and for a price tag of Rs 26,999 the latest Nokia device has a tough fight on its hands. HMD Global, the maker of Nokia Android phones, has seen its brand value increase in the country over the past 12 months, banking mostly on its overall product worth.

The Nokia 8.1 is no different in that regard and manages to impress us with its overall design appeal and features packed in. But the question is, can this mid-range phone, priced upwards of Rs 25,000 manage to surpass and outperform the likes of the Poco F1?

We’ve been using the phone for few days now and here are our first impressions of the Nokia 8.1, which is seen as the successor to the Nokia 7 Plus from earlier this year.

There’s no doubt in our mind that the Nokia 8.1 has all the trademarks of a signature Nokia phone. Classy design, complimented by sturdy body construction and packing in the latest hardware features for the price point.

Nokia 8.1 gets a 6.1-inch Full HD+ screen with 2280x1080 pixels resolution. The screen is bright, and one can easily go through the content on the device. It is also another phone in 2018 to get the much talked about notch on the front, which manages to house the front camera as well as the microphone unit. The chin size at the bottom, in order to accommodate the Nokia logo, is much bigger than what we would have liked.

There’s very little to complain about how the Nokia 8.1 looks and feels in the hand, which is another tick on HMD Global’s list of good-looking products this year.

Moving forward, this is also one of the first to come with a Snapdragon 710 processor in the market. You get the option of 4GB RAM with 64GB storage, which is further expandable via a microSD card.

This is yet another dependable processor from the house of Qualcomm, which manages to handle multi-tasking with ease and playing PUBG on medium settings doesn’t make it go bonkers.

If there’s one complaint that we’ve had with Nokia’s mid-range phones is the camera quality. It’s not bad but the quality doesn’t match up to its competition. Things are slowly improving though, first with the Nokia 7.1 launched for Rs 19,999 and now the Nokia 8.1 sees a marked improvement as well.

This device also gets dual rear cameras 12 and 13 megapixel with f/1.8 and the other sensor handling the depth-sensing duties.

What also helps the primary camera with Zeiss Optics lens, sees the inclusion of optical image stabilization (OIS) as well as electronic image stabilization (EIS). This will ensure that pictures clicked in most conditions, including low light will deliver quality results.

Sturdy body design and glass construction on the Nokia 8.1 (Photo: The Quint)

Nokia 8.1 is also probably the first of the devices from Nokia to come with Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. Other Nokia phones have got the latest flavour via an update already. Very few brands can claim to be offering Android 9.0 out of the box (looking at you, Samsung) and HMD Global deserves the credit.

Then you’ve got a 3500mAh battery loaded inside the phone, which the company claims will last up to 2 days on a single charge. It’s still early days for us, but the screen on time tests are showing impressive numbers and that’s worth pointing out.

All in all, Nokia 8.1 is a solid mid-range phone, but it all comes down to what the buyer is looking for. At this price point, there are plenty of options available, but if you need a reliable device with the latest Android version and decent service support, then the Nokia 8.1 has to be on your list.