Nokia 7.1 Undercuts OnePlus as Bonafide Flagship Killer?

After Motorola really instigated the cellphone revolution in the early 90s, Nokia quickly rose to become the biggest player in the game around the late 90s and into the early 2000s. These days, Nokia isn’t a name you hear very often anymore… but maybe it should be, even if the phones are technically made by HMD Global. And the $350 Nokia 7.1 just might be the budget phone that’s worth your money.

In a commercial environment where the top-tier flagships are going for $1,000 or more, consumers are starving for a phone that costs way less but isn’t way worse. Great phones are getting cheaper, and cheap phones are getting better, but even the OnePlus 6 costs over $500.

So while you may not be terribly interested in something like the $99 Nokia 2 or even the $230 Nokia 6, you might be drawn to the $350 Nokia 7.1. It’s with budget-friendly devices like this that Nokia has quietly ascended into the list of top 10 handset vendors worldwide.

To eke the most out of the limited hardware, the Nokia 7.1 falls under the Android One program. This means you still get Android 8.1 out of the box (Android 9 will get pushed out by the end of November), but it’s more of a no frills, no bloat kind of installation. It’s like the old Google Play Edition phones taken to the next level.

And while the spec sheet won’t take your breath away, it offers great value at this lower price point. There’s a Snapdragon 636, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, 3,060 mAh battery, USB-C, and a traditional 3.5mm headphone jack. The 5.8-inch LCD is FHD+ with HDR 10 support. On the back are dual 12MP/5MP cameras, and on the front is an 8MP selfie cam. You can combine those to take a “bothie.” The build is solid too with aircraft grade aluminum for the frame and hardened glass for the front and back.

Expect the Nokia 7.1 to start shipping on October 28 for $350. It’ll come in your choice of midnight blue or gloss steel.