Nokia 6: Six strong reasons to buy the smartphone

But despite being launched late, is the Nokia 6 latest enough? It may not be, but it aims to be the greatest in the segment. Here are 6 strong reasons that show its mettle.

First Nokia smartphone

Nokia 6 is the first smartphone from Nokia after the brand made a comeback. Well, kind of. It was revealed in China, then in Europe when the company announced other phones – the and the .

Nokia 6 is the flagship product right now and the focus is to offer only the best to consumers to build its market in the budget Android segment. Easier said than done, but the company’s thrust to make it the best available phone in the segment is hard to ignore.

Build like a tank

In a bid to keep the old Nokia alive in every phone they produce, the new Android phones are built sturdy and scream quality. The Nokia 6 is machined out of a single solid block of series 6000 Aluminium, and uses a metal mid-plate sandwiched between the screen and frame for resistance to stress that would bend normal phones. Popular Youtuber JerryRigEverything did the Nokia 6 teardown and feels it could be the ‘most durable and repairable phone of 2017’.

Pure stock Android

Before listing the specs, here is what you need to know about the software on the phone. Nokia 6 is loaded with latest Android 7.1.1, which means you get all the latest features like multi-window, message replies from popups, new battery and data savers and best possible security features.

To top that, it is the stock interface. Which means, the look and feel of the system is unchanged. It is the way Google designed it. It is how you would find it on Google’s top-end phones Pixel and Pixel XL. Well almost.

Nokia has also confirmed that it will be updating Nokia 6 (and probably the Nokia 5 which has the same chipset) to Android O, the next version of the OS.

Investing in components

Nokia might have let down fans by keeping the performance hardware minimal on the Nokia 6. In the similar price range, Moto G5 Plus and Redmi Note 4 have a Snapdragon 625 chipset which is one level up from the Snapdragon 430 used on Nokia 6. But this might not be a real setback.

Stock Android is light and it doesn’t require much of processing power to get things done. With 3GB of RAM, the phone flies in multitasking or heavy browser usage. The graphic prowess is limited and you may not be able to seamlessly use it for gaming. But then, it is also not meant to be a powerhouse at Rs 14,999.

Nokia has also given us a big reason to look beyond the chipset by using advanced hardware components. The phone has a 16MP rear camera with PDAF and 8MP camera at front, that neither of the phones offer. On connectivity front, there is NFC, VoLTE support. The sunlight readable display has Full HD resolution and is topped with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (Xiaomi doesn’t use this for some reason). The phone packs a 3000mAh battery with fast charging support.

Dual Speakers with Dolby Atoms

With most phones concentrating on headphone audio, the speakers are not given much of importance. Except a few companies like HTC and Apple, none are offering dual speakers, which can deliver louder and much better stereo.

Nokia 6 has dual speakers, but it also has Dolby Atmos audio chip for enhanced cinematic sound through headphones. It is a great feature that sadly even phones like OnePlus 3T skip out on.

Most aggressively priced in India

If you check the European and Chinese price of the Nokia 6, they convert out to be INR 16,000. But in India it sells for even less at Rs 14,999. Probably, because it is made in India that the phone is cheaper. Otherwise it would have been tagged higher than Chinese price due to import taxes like it is with Oppo, Vivo or Xiaomi phones. And that could be the reason the phone made it late to the India market.