Nokia 7 Plus — The New Nexus
Since Nokia came back, backed by HMD Global, I was a little skeptical about it’s devices and Android as it’s base operating system. Before this, there was Symbian(if you don’t know about it, you just hurt the feelings of N8), then Windows (Sorry Lumia, it was great you were there) and now Android(Oh, I don’t like where this is going).But now, I kind of understand Nokia’s intent towards smartphones now, and where they are heading now. No, No, they are not heading towards another dissapointment like Arsenal (pun intended), but a memorable resurrection like Liverpool (Again, pun intended). And the phone which made me realize that is Nokia 7 Plus.
At the time I was picking up this phone, I was a bit confused whether I should use it as my primary phone or use it as a sidekick. I chose the former. Well, had to do something. When I booted up this device for the first time, it greeted me with the famed Nokia ringtone. And the I thought, Oh there comes the insecurity. But as I went through setting up my phone, it was similar to that of previous stock Android devices like Nexus and Pixel. It felt familiar and assuring (Down goes the skepticism). Now this is a good start. . But before I go deep into the whole experience, I am going to clear out the hardware and software part.
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE
Nokia 7 Plus comprises of :
- 6 Inches IPS LCD 18:9 display having resolution of 2160*1080.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SOC with Adreno 512 graphics.
- 4 GB RAM, 64 GB Internal Storage.
- 16 MP Front Camera, Dual Zeiss Optics Lens(12 MP Primary Camera, 13 MP Secondary Camera).
- Hybrid Dual SIM with Dual VoLTE support.
- Fingerprint Sensor at back.
- 3800 mAh Battery.
- Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Protection.
- Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box.
There, Happy?
Now comes a difficult part: The User Experience, or should i say, MY User Experience.
MY USER EXPERIENCE
As soon as I finished setting up my phone, I just received an OTA update for monthly security patch. Good Job👍. But as I started using some of the applications, I started to notice a minor lag in the app animation. It might have been because I use some apps in their beta version, but still it was a lag. As I finished updating my phone, that noticable lag in app animation disappeared. Thanks for fixing that, Nokia.
As I used my phone, I was starting to attract more and more towards my phone. Most of my application no longer lags (except some beta ones). The animations are smooth, not fast. Also, every time I pick up my phone, that smooth ceramic finished coating on back made this phone feel different and premium at the same time. It is really satisfying, and somtimes it is so satisfying that you will just hold this phone for sometime and do nothing. This made me immerse more into the experience of this phone with that huge screen. Oh, and coming to the screen part, let’s talk about it.
The huge 6 inch 18:9 screen on this phone does produce some vibrant colors and it does look good even from different viewing angles. It makes media consumption (like when I am reading blogs, articles, watching videos, playing games) more vivid. Overall, the LCD panel is great and I would not cry over it not having an OLED panel. And also, unlike other Android phones, it does not have that ugly notch which doesn’t have a use case in it.
Coming to media consumption, gaming is quite smooth. It holds up frame rates quite well even on some heavy games like PUBG, Real Racing 3, GTA 3(Yes, I am a bit retro player), and on minor games, it runs them as smooth as silk. Nice job from a mid range smartphone.
And now comes the biggest part is why I like the experience even more is that it has almost stock Android experience, with little to no bloatware, along with Android One program, which ensures 2 years of major OS update and 3 years of security updates directly from Google itself. That makes it reassuring and will not outdate it’s software like other Android phones (likes of Sony, Mi, HTC, Vivo, even Motorola now). I am not saying this because I am biased towards stock Android, but because it is true.
And coming to one of the good (and not great part) is the camera. I will say this, I am no professional, but this camera does takes some good photos in good lighting, decent photos in average lighting and somewhat decent in low lighting. So, if you are into point-and-shoot just like I am, you won’t be disappointed. But for crazy camera guys, there is a pro mode as well, which I haven’t tested, nor did I feel need to, because I was getting shots I want from normal mode from both front and back camera as well.
Here are some samples. Now you be the judge.
Oh, and I forgot, IT HAS A HEADPHONE JACK, YAY!!!!!!!! And on the upside, I found the quality of headphone jack is great. YAY!!!!!!!!
In general, I would say that my experience with this phone is top-notch without one(You see what I did there? You did, didn’t you).
VERDICT, FEELING NOSTALGIC
Since the day I am using this phone to the present date, I am feeling nostalgic about using this phone, not because this is Nokia, but I have experience this same experience before in Nexus devices, you know the ones Nexus 4, 5, 5X, 6P.
If you ask why, it’s because they were the top of the line Android experience at that time bearing a good price tag. But for some years, to get that experience, you need to buy Pixel devices which were way expensive than their Nexus predecessors. I was missing out on that experience, and I wanted it so badly. But now, I can say that the Nexus experience I wanted is back, and it is properly back.
This phone makes you realize that you don’t need over the top specifications in smartphones, especially in Android to get great user experience. You just need a hardware and software combination which gives you an experience like butter on pancake gives.
If you are looking to buy a Nexus grade device with the best Android experience, along with the price of a Nexus ($370 or ₹25999/-) look no further. Nokia is here for you.
P.S. Don’t screw up this one Nokia.
