Nokia 6 Review

Quick Specifications

In the box

Nokia 6

Charger

USB cable (micro USB 2.0)

Earphones

Design

True to Nokia’s signature durable construction, the 6 comes with an aluminium unibody which exudes a premium touch in a soft slippery body. The edges can be a bit uncomfortable due to their sharp nature that digs into the skin, but it’s nothing a simple case can’t handle.

There is some attention to detail on the body especially on the camera, the outline is raised a bit to protect the glass from scratches. In addition, the antennas are passed along the edges of the phone instead of cutting across the rear panel. Flip to the front and you will find a rather quick fingerprint scanner integrated under the home button. Next to it is two capacitive buttons for navigating back and multitasking.

Display

The LCD comes in full HD resolution. It has decent brightness levels of 484 nits (above the industry average of 400 nits) so sunlight legibility won’t be an issue. The colors are natural and the contrast is good for this price range.

Software

This being the first device that HMD released under the Nokia brand, everyone was curious to see what would be their take on Android. To the surprise of many, they left it untouched, the Android 7.1.1 Nougat remains pure with Google apps being given priority. Only some few system apps have their icons changed to blue. Multi-window is present since it is built into Android Nougat, but there are some gestures that the company added such as “double tap on the power button to launch camera”.

Performance

Looking at the Snapdragon 430 whose antutu score is 47,495, the performance was meant to be midrange and deservedly so considering the device goes for less than $200. Having pure Android helps keep things smooth but lags are experienced in photo-heavy apps such as Instagram and Pinterest.

Multitasking on the 3GB RAM is fluid but some apps are forced to reload again which is something that might change after the promised Oreo update comes in. Gaming on the other hand is smooth on most titles and some heavy ones such as Injustice 2 and Real Racing 3 play as well.

Camera

The interface offers rare features such a watermarking and a compass to help you take straight pictures; HDR and manual mode are present as well.

The selfie camera has autofocus which is extremely rare even in high end flagship phones.

The 16MP camera on the Nokia 6 has great pictures under well-lit conditions. The pictures are well detailed and the colors are vibrant. Low light pictures come out muddy and noisy. HDR is perfect on the Nokia 6; it brightens shadows and boosts contrasts.

The 8MP selfie on the other hand is always in focus no matter the distance between the device and the subject, thanks to the auto focus. The photos have colors that pop and details are well captured.

Battery

The 3000mAh battery life will take you through a typical working day but you will have to refill in the evening. Speaking of, the charging process is slow, the device takes 30 minutes to charge 10% hence overnight charging is the way to go.