Nokia at MWC 2018 (hands-on)

Introduction

Nokia is starting its second year as a new-look Android maker but it already has a big portfolio to build on and a solid market position to build from. More importantly it has a great relationship with Google which has enabled Nokia to supply its phones with fast, clean as well as up to date and secure software.

2017 brought us a couple of midrange Nokia phones with solid specs at low prices and its first Android flagship in the sensible Nokia 8. 2018 is starting like more of the same - sensible midrangers, but we'll have to wait for Nokia's true 2018 flagship.

Nokia 8 Sirocco Specs

• Body: Gorilla Glass 5, stainless steel frame; 140.93x72.97x7.5mm.
• Screen: 5.5-inch, 16:9, QHD p-OLED
• Rear Camera: Main 12MP, 1.4um, f/1.75 lens; Secondary 12MP 2x Telephoto, 1.0um, f/2.6 lens; Dual-tone LED flash, ZEISS optics
• Front Camera: 5MP (1.4um), f/2.0, 84-degree FOV, Display Flash
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon® 835, octa-core 2.5GHz + 1.8GHz
• Memory: 6GB RAM, 128GB
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo
• Battery: 3260mAh, Quick Charge 4.0, 50% in 30 minutes, Qi Wireless Charging
• Connectivity: Optional dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, USB Type-C
• Misc: Fingerprint reader, IP67 water and dust protection

From its Mobile World Congress 2018 lineup we'd pick the Nokia 8 Sirocco as the top gun of the pack. It may be something of a Nokia 8 rehash, on paper, but make no mistake, this is an honest to goodness flagship in person.

The Nokia 8 Sirocco - the Sirocco bit being a nod to Nokia's stainless steel 8800 Sirocco slider from back in the day - shares the Snapdragon 835 chipset and 6GB of RAM of the Nokia 8, but adds a bigger 5.5-inch p-OLED QHD display, IP67 water proofing, all new dual and front-facing cameras, Wireless Charging and a lovely dual Gorilla Glass 5 body with a stainless steel frame in between. The Nokia 8 Sirocco will be available in April for €749.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on

Nokia 7 Plus Specs

• Body: Aluminum body with ceramic-feel coating; 158.38x75.64x9.55mm.
• Screen: 6.0-inch, 18:9, FHD+ 2160x1080, IPS LCD, laminated, polarized
• Rear Camera: Main 12MP, 1.4um, f/1.75 lens; Secondary 13MP 2x Telephoto, 1.0um, f/2.6 lens; Dual-tone LED flash, ZEISS optics
• Front Camera: 16MP (1.0um), f/2.0
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon® 660, octa-core 2.2GHz + 1.8GHz
• Memory: 4GB RAM, 64GB, microSD slot for up to 256GB expansion
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo
• Battery: 3800mAh, Quick Charge
• Connectivity: Optional dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, USB Type-C
• Misc: Fingerprint reader

Next up is the Nokia 7 Plus - Nokia's first 18:9 smartphone. While it's not technically a flagship, because of its use of a Snapdragon 660, it does have flagship-grade build quality, display and cameras.

The Nokia 7 Plus is machined from a single piece of aluminum and then covered with 6 layers of paint for a grippier finish, which Nokia likens to ceramic. The phone comes in either Black or White with Copper accents. The look and feel is reminiscent of a Google Pixel 2 XL. The Nokia 7 Plus will be available from April at €399.

Nokia 7 Plus hands-on</a>

Nokia 6 (2018) Specs

• Body: Aluminum body with two-toned anodization; 148.8x75.8x8.60mm.
• Screen: 5.5-inch, 16:9, 1920x1080, IPS LCD, laminated
• Rear Camera: 16MP, 1.0um, f/2.0 lens, ZEISS optics, Dual-tone LED flash
• Front Camera: 8MP 1.12um, f/2.0, wide 84-degree FOV
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon® 630, octa-core 2.2GHz
• Memory: 4GB RAM, 64GB, microSD slot for up to 128GB expansion
• OS: Android 8.0 Oreo
• Battery: 3000mAh, Quick Charge - 50% in 30 minutes
• Connectivity: Optional dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, USB Type-C
• Misc: Fingerprint reader

Next up is a phone, we're already familiar with. The Nokia 6 (2018) is already official so we know all about it. It has retained the screen, camera and battery but has a faster Snapdragon 630, which Nokia claims makes the 2018 Nokia 6 60% faster than the 2017 model.

The Nokia 6 (2018) also features two toned anodization and comes in three finishes - Black with Copper accents, White with Iron accents and our favorite - Blue with Gold accents. The Nokia 6 (2018) will be available starting April for €279.

Nokia 6 (2018) hands-on

Nokia 1 Specs

• Body: Plastic body with removable back; 133.6x67.78x9.5mm.
• Screen: 4.5-inch, 16:9, FWVGA 854x480, IPS LCD
• Rear Camera: 5MP, LED flash
• Front Camera: 2MP
• Chipset: MediaTek MT6737M, octa-core 1.1GHz
• Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB, microSD slot for up to 128GB expansion
• OS: Android Oreo (Go Edition)
• Battery: 2150mAh, removable
• Connectivity: Optional dual SIM (4G), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/AGPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Micro USB
• Misc:Only $85

The Nokia 1 is Nokia's first Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone. It will arrive in April for the modest sum of just $85.

For that price you'll get a simple but colorful plastic body, a 5MP camera with LED flash, 4.5-inch IPS LCD, quad-core MediaTek chipset with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage and 4G connectivity.

Being an Android Go Edition smartphone, the Nokia 1 has access to Google Play and the redesigned Google apps for smartphones with less RAM.

Nokia 1 hands-on

Nokia 8110 4G Specs

• Body: Plastic slider feature phone.
• Screen: 2.4-inch, QVGA, curved LCD
• Rear Camera: 2MP
• Chipset: Qualcomm 205, dual-core 1.1GHz
• Memory: 512MB RAM, 4GB built-in storage
• OS:Smart Feature OS
• Battery: 1500mAh
• Connectivity: Single SIM (4G), FM Radio, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS/AGPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Micro USB, 3.5mm headphone jack
• Misc:Slide to answer a call

And finally there's the Nokia 8110 4G, a reimagining of the Nokia 8110 slide phone from 1996. The Nokia 8110 4G is built around the same platform as the Nokia 3310 4G making it cheap and simple and able to make and take calls on a 4G network.

Bonus features - you can accept and end calls using the addictive mechanical slider.

Nokia 8110 hands-on

Nokia 7 Plus hands-on

We've been waiting for Nokia's first 18:9 smartphone for the entirety of 2017 but it seems Nokia decided to take its time and make it right. And that it did.

The Nokia 7 Plus is so much more than the pioneer of a tall aspect ratio screen for HMD's Nokia. The phone is milled from a single piece of Series 6000 aluminum and has then received 6 layers of paint for a matte finish that not only makes the phone less slippery, it hides the antenna lines.

You'll be able to get the Nokia 7 Plus in either Black or White and both models will have Copper highlights and accents around the fingerprint scanner, the Nokia logo, the camera housing as well as the frame and the buttons.

The two buttons on the phone are all on the right side of the phone. You get a volume rocker and a power button. The fingerprint reader is on the back and so is the dual camera and LED flash.

The dual camera system here consists of a 12MP regular camera with large 1.4um pixels and a bright f/1.75 lens and a 2x telephoto 12MP camera with 1.0um pixels and an f/2.6 aperture. The front facing camera is a 16MP unit with a 1.0um pixel pitch and f/2.0 optics. All three lenses are branded with the ZEISS monicker so we should expect top notch quality.

The hardware setup is matched to Nokia's Pro Camera for full control over shooting parameters like shutter speed, ISO, focus, White Balance. Nokia is still pushing its Bothie mode, which captures an image from the front and back cameras at the same time.

Nokia has also equipped the 7 Plus with its 360 spatial audio for surround sound audio capture and reproduction.

The front camera has Smart Pixel technology for better selfies in low light. The promise is that the selfie snapper can capture and combine up to 4 photos for a photo with less noise.

Nokia will roll out 3D Personas, which makes Snapchat-like effects on a face - using face detection and tracking you can have dynamic masks or eyeglasses on your face.

Finally the Nokia 7 Plus can be unlocked with your face, using Android Oreo's built-in Face Scanning and the selfie snapper.

The display on the Nokia 7 Plus is a 6-inch FHD+ (2160x1080) 18:9 IPS LCD. At first some may frown that it's not a p-OLED like the Nokia 8 Sirocco (or the Google Pixel 2 XL) but this is one of Nokia's best displays. It promises 500 nits of brightness and is laminated and polarized for better clarity and contrast.

Specs aside, the display on the Nokia 7 Plus is lovely. Colors pop and whites look genuinely white. There's also no color shifting when you tilt the screen at an angle.

At around 403 pixels per inch the screen is also tack sharp.

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The Nokia 7 Plus feels very nice in the hand. There are no sharp edges or corners to it and the matte finish results in a phone that's not slippery and is soft and velvety in the hand.

Design-wise the Nokia 7 Plus looks very much like a Google Pixel 2 XL from the front but is much more handsome from the sides and back, thanks to its two-toned finish.

We handled the Nokia 7 Plus for a bit and can report that performance was snappy. The Snapdragon 660 is a very capable chipset but stock Android Oreo is zippy as well. The combination of the two leaves the Nokia 7 Plus feeling just as quick as any phone on the market.

HMD will bring the Nokia 7 Plus to market in April for a very reasonable €399.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on

The Nokia 8 Sirocco technically is HMD's flagship at the MWC 2018. The name makes it sound like a more premium version of the Nokia 8 but in reality it's closer to a new phone.

The Sirocco shares the Snapdragon 835 chipset and 6GB of RAM of the Nokia 8 but that's where the similarities end. It has a bigger 5.5-inch screen, which is p-OLED instead of LCD, there's Qi Wireless Charging (there's none on the Nokia 8), IP67 water-proofing (IP54 on the Nokia 8) and an all-new dual camera which has a regular and a 2x telephoto camera, instead of the 13MP color and 13MP black and white snappers on the Nokia 8.

The new camera on the Nokia 8 Sirocco is the same as the one on the Nokia 7 Plus. It's made up of a 12MP regular camera with large 1.4um pixels and a bright f/1.75 lens and a 2x telephoto 12MP camera with 1.0um pixels and an f/2.6 aperture. The front facing camera is a new 5MP shooter with the same 1.4um pixels and a wide 84-degree field of view.

The camera hardware is backed up by Nokia's Pro Camera app.

What's more impressive about the Nokia 8 Sirocco is its build. Nokia went with sculpted Gorilla Glass 5 for the front and back and a special stainless steel frame nestled in-between. Nokia says that stainless steel is 2.5 times stronger than Series 6000 aluminum.

The glass on the Nokia 8 Sirocco has curved sides both on the front and back panel. This makes it feel thinner than it is. When holding the Nokia 8 Sirocco you feel like you're holding some precise tool instead of a phone.

A downside to the thinner frame is that it's sharp and can feel a bit uncomfortable after a long period of time. But hey, it's about quality, and the Nokia 8 Sirocco oozes it.

The display on the Nokia 8 Sirocco hasn't grown taller than the Nokia 8's but has grown a bit bigger - 5.5-inch over 5.3-inch. And the difference is noticeable. Another noticeable change is the use of AMOLED over LCD.

This isn't Samsung's Super AMOLED brand but rather LG's p-OLED branch. It's not quite the best around but it is good. The only thing we can fault the p-OLED panel on is color shift at an angle.

We were hoping to see the Nokia 9 at the Mobile World Congress but we are still glad to have seen the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Perhaps it's the base for the Nokia 9 - wouldn't that be nice, a dual-curved 18:9 screen with a stainless steel frame in-between.

Anyway, back to the Nokia 8 Sirocco, it will become available in April for the price of €749.

Nokia 6 (2018) hands-on

The Nokia 6 (2018) was released back in January so it's not really new. But we had some quality time to play around with it and get a feel for its differences to the Nokia 6.

It feels the same but looks much better. The anodized aluminum body of the Nokia 6 (2018) comes in Black with Copper accents, White with Iron accents or Blue with Gold accents.

Compared to the Nokia 6 from last year, the 2018 model has a fingerprint scanner on the back and a slightly different camera module. The camera specs are the same on both models.

The other difference is the chipset of choice - the Nokia 6 (2018) uses a Snapdragon 630 chipset in the place of last year's 430.

Nokia says that the bump in chipset has resulted in a 60% faster phone this year. From the time we spent with the new Nokia 6 (2018) we can safely say there is a noticeable improvement in performance.

You can get the Nokia 6 (2018) with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of storage, respectively. Both models come with microSD card support for up to 128GB more.

Another noticeable improvement is the fingerprint scanner placement. Last year's scanner was a bit hard to reach under the display - it's much easier to hit the scanning surface when it's dead center on the back of the phone.

The new paintjobs of the Nokia 6 (2018) really liven up the phone from last year's tame black, silver and grey models. We really liked the Blue Nokia 6 (2018) with Gold accents.

HMD will start selling the Nokia 6 (2018) from April at the price of €279. For that money it will face some tough competition from Chinese rivals like Xiaomi.

Nokia 1 hands-on

Nokia finally filled the missing 1 spot in its line of smartphones with its first Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone. The Nokia 1 is a plain plastic phone with modest specs and an even more modest price tag of $85.

The Nokia 1 is powered by a modest MediaTek MT6737M chipset with a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.1GHz. There's a lowly 1GB of RAM and 8GB of built-in storage, which can be expanded through the microSD slot.

Those specs don't sound impressive, but thanks to Android Go Edition, they're all the Nokia 1 needs to push along comfortably. You get full access to the Google Play store but the preinstalled apps are Go Edition, meaning they're developed for lower-powered hardware with just 1GB of RAM. We didn't notice any lag when playing around with the Nokia 1.

The display is a 4.5-incher of 845x480px resolution and it's fine. It's a bit low on contrast but at this price you're getting more than you paid for.

The back is plain looking on the Blue model, although the white accent around the back camera module helps to brighten it up a bit.

The Dark Red Nokia 1 is completely different, though. It's brighter and looks much more fun. It also looks more orange than red, but that's quite fine.

If you want to change the look of the Nokia 1 you can thanks to Nokia Xpress-on covers. Remember those? Nokia is bringing them back for the Nokia 1 and you'll get a choice of more than the Blue and Red.

The Nokia 1 sits comfortably in the hand thanks to three factors - it's made from grippy matte plastic, it's a light and compact device, and it's slightly curved from top to the bottom.

The Nokia 1 packs two cameras - a 5MP unit on the back and a 2MP selfie shooter on the front. Both of them are fixed focus, but at this price we really can't complain.

The Nokia 1 will go on sale in April.

Nokia 8110 4G hands-on

Okay, we finally get to the Nokia 8110 4G - Nokia's latest addition to its self-proclaimed Originals family, which premiered with the reimagined Nokia 3310. It's a curved slider feature phone built on the same platform as the Nokia 3310 4G from last year.

The Nokia 8110 4G has a single 2MP camera on the back, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 4GB of onboard storage and a 1500mAh battery.

The 8110 4G is a reimagining of the Nokia 8119 slider from 22 years ago and like it, it has a slide down keyboard cover.

You can answer and end calls by sliding the cover up and down. We found it quite pleasant and addicting.

The Nokia 8110 4G is curved, which makes it more comfortable for calls. But coupled with the flashy yellow exterior it just looks like a banana, which was Nokia's intention all along, given that the yellow color is called Banana Yellow.

If you're not into the yellow color there is another option - Traditional Black.

The Nokia 8110 4G has all the connectivity options you'll need - LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth as well as GPS and a 3.5mm headphone jack, which you can use to listen to the built-in FM Radio.

The Nokia 8110 4G will be available from May at a price of €79.

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