The new Nokia 7.1 is official, with HMD taking the wraps off its latest Android smartphone complete with Zeiss camera tech and a slick new display. Latest in
The new Nokia 7.1 is official, with HMD taking the wraps off its latest Android smartphone complete with Zeiss camera tech and a slick new display. Latest in the Finnish firm’s reboot of the Nokia smartphone range, the Nokia 7.1 packs dual rear cameras with Zeiss optics.
The main rear camera packs 12-megapixels, with phase-detection autofocus and an f/1.8 lens. It’s paired with a secondary, 5-megapixel camera with an f/2.4 lens. On the front, there’s an 8-megapixel f/2.0 camera.
That’s above a 5.84-inch OLED PureDisplay, with a 19:9 aspect ratio. It’s running at Full HD+ resolution and is covered with Gorilla Glass 3.
More glass is on the back, with a 6000 series aluminum frame with diamond-cut chamfers. Those are contrast colors against the primary finishes: Gloss Midnight Blue and Gloss Steel. At the bottom there’s a USB Type-C port for recharging the 3,060 mAh battery, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
A fingerprint sensor is on the back, and there’s a microSD card slot to augment the 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage. HMD is using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 chipset with 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM, region depending; either way, it runs Android Oreo. HMD says that will be upgraded to Android 9 Pie shortly after launch, and the Nokia 7.1 will be part of Google’s Android One program.
Wireless options include LTE Cat 6, WiFi 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 5.0. Optional will be the Nokia True Wireless Earbuds, a pair of compact AirPods rivals that offer up to 3.5 hours of music playback or 4 hours of talktime in a splash-resistant IPX4-rated design. They recharge in the cylindrical storage case – which also has a battery to extend use up to 16 hours overall – and itself charges via USB Type-C.
While the Nokia 7.1’s specifications may not give a Galaxy S9 or LG V40 ThinQ sleepless nights, on paper at least, HMD is counting on smarter camera tech to give the phone an edge. There’s HDR support, of course, and a background blurring portrait mode that you can adjust before you take the shot. The Pro UI mode offers manual control of things like white balance, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.
At the other extreme, there are various filters and other features. That includes 3D personas and masks, along with the ability to stream them all directly to YouTube or Facebook Live. Existing videos, meanwhile, can be upscaled from SDR to HDR.
The Nokia 7.1 will open for preorders on October 5th in Europe and the UK, where it will be priced from £299. It’ll begin shipping there from October 28th. As for the US, it’ll only be offered in 64 GB form, priced at $349.
