As someone who spends a lot of time with smartphones, I often get asked, “Hey Ron, what Android phone should I buy?” The high-end answer is usually easy: buy a Pixel phone. But not everyone is willing to shell out $650+ for a smartphone, especially the types of casual users that ask for advice. Beyond the flagship smartphones, things get more difficult within the Android ecosystem. Motorola under Google used to be great at building a non-flagship phone, but since the company was sold to Lenovo (which gutted the update program), it has been tough to find a decent phone that isn’t super expensive.
Enter HMD’s Nokia phones, an entire lineup of cheap smartphones ranging from $100 to $400. HMD recently launched the second generation of its lineup, with phones like the Nokia 2.1, 3.1, and 5.1. We recently spent time with the highest end phone in this series that happens to be one of the few HMD devices for sale in the US: the Nokia 6.1. And for $269, you get a pretty spectacular-sounding package of a Snapdragon 630, a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, stock Android 8.1, fast updates, and a metal body.
Nokia’s Android phones seem well underway to become the default choice for people who want a good Android phone with fast updates at a decent price.
I really hope that Nokia brings with it the required landscape change in the android world. I have been burnt by HTC and have since only purchases Nexus devices until the pixels became over priced. Now I am on the essential and absolutely love it. It’s always great when I get updates faster than my pixel peers.
OnePlus, Essential, Nokia…. These are all giving update assurances. How long is it until the bigger players are forced by market pressures? I am unsure.
It’s just a shame iOS is so terrible. My brain just doesn’t work within their usability narrative. Windows phone was equally atrocious.
I’m hoping by the time I’m ready to get a new phone (currently have a Note 8) that the Librem phones are out.
I’m done with Android, and I can’t be bothered with switching to Apple.
The only thing I’ll probably miss is that I like my Gear S2. But I haven’t bought a newer watch because I know I want to move away from Android.
too bad they are incredibly slow to push for hardware updates.
for example, I still cannot buy nokia 6.1 64GB/4ram
For the same price I can get xiaomi a2 with next generation snapdragon, also with android one.
Xiami A1 is android one, with the same processor of nokia 6.1 and about ~70^a'not cheaper…
The A2 looks okay, but doesn’t seem to be available in my part of the world yet…
humm non-available in amazon.es amazon.de or any other europe-acessible store :-\
are you really surprised?
Edited 2018-07-18 13:49 UTC
Wasn’t there an problem with Nokia kernel sources not released on time? Or is if fixed?
and very closed bootloaders lol
Forgot Nokia Phone. I’ve a Nokia 3 : Freeze all the time. Updates not on regular bases.
Same issues in my familly with Nokia 5 & Nokia 6.
These phones are first Android Nokia phones … and the last.
Nokia Client Service was contacted : No answer !
Poor quality. Nokia was a great company with great products … but it’s was on the last century … We are in a new century : Forgot Nokia Phones !
Any Finns with insight as to how HMD, i.e. the big company across the street from Nokia, managed to acquire the Nokia brand for phones? I know there are a bunch of ex Nokia people there now, but it just seems all so sketchy from the outside…
It is all here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMD_Global
Thanks, but I obviously read that… I meant the kind of stuff not in the wikipedia article.
Good timing on this article. I just had my Lumia 1520 destroyed by a nasty drop. Screen cracked, SIM not working anymore, battery not charging anymore.
I completely agree that the 6.1 seems to be just about the perfect device for most users. I will personally pay a bit more (Euro 320) for a 7 Plus that has a bigger screen, battery, CPU/GPU, Storage, better camera etc.
…Goodbye Windows Phone/Mobile, you have served me well. Time for Android (let’s see if this one will last me 5 years as well)
7 plus isn’t “a little more”. is 100 more or +30%…
I have been using a Nokia 6.1 for about a month now. I am very happy with the phone. 5.5″, 16:9 screen is the perfect size/format for me. I wish it was AMOLED, but the image quality is good. The SD630 is plenty fast for a non-gamer. The thing feels like a tank (in a good way). Very solid. Updated out of the box to 8.1, then got the June security update. My previous phone was from Samsung and updates were rare or non-existent. The weakest thing about the Nokia 6.1 is the camera. It is not terrible, but it could be a lot better. I am hoping a software update will improve it. If Nokia/HMD keep this up they will probably keep me as a return customer.
That sounds great.
Can you confirm that all Nokia 6.1 devices allow the user to unlock the bootloader?
The bootloader can be unlocked but right now you have to find places online that will sell you an unlock code. Usually costs about $5.
Metal feels unpleasantly cold to the touch for me when quickly picking up a phone from a period of inactivity… I find it slightly weird that Nokia/HMD, based in colder climate, would go that way; I miss polycarbonate body of N9 and early Lumias.
Not related – but due to the annoying archive thing… a reply to sonething on another thread:
C64 game whilst loading … it was a Mastertronic thing apparently, and was on the budget re-release of Ghostbusters. It was called “Invade-a-load” and was a custom fast loader that allowed a simple Space Invaders clone to be played whilst the game loaded in the background. Pretty neat.
Nice.
(let’s also link for others to the original thread: 
http://www.osnews.com/thread?659448 ) Like I said, I didn’t encounter such loaders on C64, but for me it was mostly pirate tapes in the format of fast loader cartridges (offering only fairly standard hypnotising stripes and modem sounds while loading 
); only later in life of C64 original games even became available at my place (and I bought a few), but for some reason they were all of standard C64 “slow” loader type… I first encountered the concept (Tekken 1 boot game) while being an exchange student on a trip to Germany in 1998 
…so quite after first such loaders (and I fell in love with PlayStattion, got mine half a year later 
)
Related to yours: at least now I have Space Invaders for the Game Boy …but I suck at it.
Edited 2018-07-20 20:05 UTC