Nokia 6.1: Resurrection of an Old Name

While Apple’s iOS phone operating system is only available on their proprietary phones, Android is an open-source platform. As such, the Android OS is rife with competition. Some of the fiercest competition this year is coming for the Galaxy line of smartphones from Samsung. On the one hand, Google’s own Pixel smartphones are gunning for the throne. Even Motorola, once a maker of budget-friendly phones, is aiming to be the greatest high-end Android these days. One phone, however, is aiming to bring great power at a great value. And that phone is the Nokia 6.1, coming in at an impressive $269.

The Specs

The Nokia 6.1 is a technically impressive smartphone considering its cost. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 630 and sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display. It’s working with 3GB of RAM, and it rocks 32GB of internal storage. The rear camera has 16 megapixels, and the phone even sports a 3.5mm headphone jack. Like most modern smartphones, it charges with a USB-C port, which is nice.

Design

All of that is housed in a solid-feeling metal casing, giving the phone heft and making it feel durable. The flash is somewhat far from the rear camera, and the phone has a good bit of character. The design feels premium, if somewhat minimal. One would expect a phone in this price range to be bland and faceless, but the 6.1 is no such thing. It simply feels like a modernization of Nokia’s older design principals. That said, the design isn’t perfect: the rear fingerprint scanner is somewhat small. However, that’s a small gripe, as the phone otherwise carries that legendary Nokia durability.

Nokia 6.1 Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a good, clean Android phone with a lot of design purity, this is it. No frills, no gimmicks and no heavily-rebranded Android OS cloud this phone. The experience is minimal, the presentation is tasteful, and the price is right. If this phone is any indication of the types of things we’ll see from the new Nokia, then we can’t wait to see what they make next.