Nokia 6: Everything You Wanted To Know About Nokia’s First Android Smartphone

After making technology and smartphone enthusiasts wait for over a year, Nokia has finally announced the launch of its first Android powered handset. The new smartphone from Nokia is called the Nokia 6 and is set to go on sale in China starting “early 2017” as per a press release from HMD Global, the independent Finnish firm that has been entrusted the responsibility of manufacturing Nokia branded smartphones and feature phones. Nokia chose the overcrowded Chinese smartphones market – the largest in the world with over 552 million smartphone users – as an entry point to the world of smartphones it once used to dominate. For the first Android-powered Nokia smartphone, the Nokia 6 did not have a very high profile launch. In fact, apart from a tell-tale press release on the HMD Global website and a Chinese-language product page, there was no buzz from the company when it announced the Nokia 6. The social media pages of Nokia also maintained silence even as Nokia fans across the world rejoiced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqi1dCFjPD0

Announcing the launch of the handset, Arto Nummela, CEO, HMD Global said the following.

“Just a short while ago we announced the launch of HMD Global. From the outset, we have stated that we intend to move with speed to establish a position as a player in the smartphone category and create products that truly meet consumer needs. The Nokia 6 is a result of listening to our consumers who desire a beautifully crafted handset with exceptional durability, entertainment, and display features. Our ambition is to deliver a premium product, which meets consumer needs at every price point, in every market. We start today, with our premium, high-quality Nokia 6; built to deliver a fantastic core user experience for Chinese consumers. We look forward to unveiling further products in the first half of this year.”

Let us check out what the new Nokia 6 has to offer.

Nokia 6 Specifications

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• Storage: 64GB Onboard with microSD card slot
• Display: 5.5-inch, Full HD, In-Cell LCD, Gorilla Glass 3, 2.5D Curved panel
• Camera: 16-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, 8-megapixel front camera
• Networks: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz CDMA: CDMA 2000 / EVDO Rev. A (BC0) TD-SCDMA: Band 34,39 FDD LTE: Band 1, 3, 5 TDD LTE: Band 38,39,40,41
• Network speed: LTE Cat. 4, 150 Mbps DL / 50 Mbps UL
• Battery: 3,000 mAh
• Connectivity and sensors: Micro USB (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm ADJ headphone interface Light sensor, proximity sensor, accelerometer (gravity sensor), electronic compass, gyroscope, front fingerprint sensor, Hall sensor

Let us now talk about the Nokia 6 in detail.

The Nokia 6, according to HMD Global, packs in a great, industrial design and is made of premium materials. In fact, the company claims that it is a painstaking effort to create every single Nokia 6. According to the press release, it takes 55 minutes to machine a single Nokia 6 from a solid block of 6000 series aluminum. It then receives two separate anodizing processes, taking over 10 hours to complete after which it is polished five times.

The Nokia 6 gets a 5.5-inch, full HD, hybrid in-cell display that claims great color reproduction. The display is slightly curved at its edges. Under the hood, the handset makes its upper low-end pedigree very apparent – thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset. The handset, however, does get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage capacity which puts it amongst decently spec’d mid- to high-end handsets. The Nokia 6 supports 4G LTE networks as well. The handset also gets a very competent speaker setup and features twin amplifiers that claim to give higher voice and deeper bass. Nokia has tied up with Dolby Laboratories, and the Nokia 6 is equipped with Dolby Atmos for superior audio. Of course, we will need to test the handset once we get it in hand before we can comment on the audio performance. As for software, right from day one, the Nokia 6 runs the latest version of Android 7.0 Nougat.

Nokia 6: Camera

Nokia has had a history of making some amazing camera phones. In recent times, the company was credited with producing highly acclaimed camera-centric handsets like the Nokia PureView and the Nokia Lumia 1020 – both of which were not based on the Android platform. While not exactly a high-end handset where the company could showcase its expertise at imaging, the Nokia 6 does seem to have a decent camera set up. The handset gets a 16-megapixel shooter at the rear with support for phase detection autofocus. At the front, the handset gets an 8-megapixel shooter. Both the cameras boast 5/2.0 aperture and claims to come with a great camera UI. Again, unless we see the first pictures taken from the handset, it would be difficult to talk about the performance of the camera on the Nokia 6.

While Nokia hasn’t revealed an exact launch date, HMD Global has hinted at an “early 2017” official launch for the Nokia 6. The handset would be sold in China exclusively through e-commerce website JD.com. It has been priced at 1699 CNY which translates to around $245.

Now that Nokia is officially back into the game, do you think the company has what it takes to challenge the likes of Samsung and Apple?

[Featured Image by HMD Global]