Nokia 8.1: Killer phone with Amazing Features

Finding a good phone in 2019 is much more complicated than in the past. Today we will review Nokia 8.1 after it received permanent price cut to ₹15999(4GB+64GB).

Technical Specifications

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 710

RAM & ROM: 4GB+64Gb, 6GB+128GB

OS:Android Pie (Upgradable to Android 10) 

Primary Camera: Dual Main Camera 12 MP+13MP with OIS

Front Camera: 20MP 

Charging:18 Watt fast charging

Battery:3500 mAh

Accesories

18 Watt Charger
Premium Earphones 

UI AND INTERFACE

Nokia 8.1 is an Android One device, which means it comes no bloatware. It comes with stock android. Only apps from Google and two from Nokia(Camera and My Phone) are included with the phone. It comes with Android 9 Pie out of the box and is slated to be one of the first phone to receive Android 10. All Android features are available to use unlike other phones where some features are disabled to promote their own. It comes with Digital Wellbeing, Adaptive Battery, App Slices, Gestures,etc. The UI feels smooth and their is no lag in the device.

DESIGN AND DISPLAY

Nokia 8.1 body is crafted from a single block of Aluminium 6000 series with glass unibody. It comes 18:7:9 6.3 inch full HD+ Puredisplay with a big notch. Puredisplay is a new display technology that is found in select Nokia devices. It enables HDR10 video playback ,convert SDR to HDR in real time using 16-bit engine from Pixelworks. Thanks to this, it offers amazing viewing experience sometimes even beating AMOLED display though its IPS LCD. It has 96% color gamut and 1:1500 contrast ratio for better dynamic contrast ratio. The phone has dinorex NEG glass for screen protection.

It weighs 180g which is nice considering the competition. It has USB-C port at the bottom and 3.5mm headphone jack at the top. Sides of the phone comes with metal frame which makes it look premium. Nokia 8.1 is very thin measuring 8 mm. Fingerprint is situated below the rear camera and is responsive most of the time. Overall you wouldn't be disappointed from the display and design of the phone.

Performance

Nokia 8.1 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 first in 7 series for Qualcomm. It has Adreno 616 as GPU which is enough to handle most games including Asphalt 9, PUBG, Fortnite, etc. Multitasking is done with ease with apps resuming and not going out of RAM.

CAMERA AND BATTERY

It offers a decent camera with dual camera setup. It has both OIS+EIS support making it one of few phones to offer this at this segment. It also OZO surround audio capture which helps in differentiating the source of sounds in the videos. Camera reviews has been mostly positive with some exceptional photos clicked by users been seen in social media. However the default Nokia Camera App takes grainy pictures in low light. Some of it can be solved by using pro mode. Nokia recently released Night mode for its latest smartphones, Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2. So the update may hit Nokia 8.1 units soon. Till then you can use Google Camera which turns photography much superior than the stock app. It even surpasses default camera in many cases. However I wouldn't recommend Gcam for videography as it lacks OZO recording feature.

Nokia 8.1 is powered by 3500 mAh battery which is quite good. Average battery time last around 8-9 hours. Battery management is quite efficient as I observed 4% drain in battery after playing 25 minutes of PUBG. Fast charger(18 Watt) is bundled which takes around 2 hours to get fully charged from 0-100.

Final Thoughts

Nokia 8.1 is undoubtedly one of the good phones in 2019. If you a stock Android lover then you will enjoy this phone. 

Buy Link: Nokia Mobile Shop

Here are some review videos from YouTube.