Nokia 6.1 Plus and 5.1 Plus: Better than their competitors?

Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com tells you what you need to know.

Nokia is targeting the Indian market in a big way.

The latest phones in their arsenal are the Nokia 6.1 Plus and 5.1 Plus, which are being sold in China as the Nokia X6 and Nokia X5.

Like Xiaomi, they are following the online strategy; both these phones can only be bought online for now.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus will be available for Rs 15,999 for a 4GB RAM/64 GB ROM variant from August 30 while the Nokia 5.1 Plus will be available from September (date and price yet to be announced).

Will they be worth the price? Let's find out.

Nokia 6.1 Plus

It has the modern 19:9 aspect ratio, full HD 5.8" inches LCD notch display and a protective Corning Gorilla Glass 3 body over a metal frame.

The phone is powered by last year's Qualcomm's Snapdragon 636, a chipset developed for mid-range devices.

It has a 64 bit Octa-core 1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Central Processing Unit for carrying out tasks and the Adreno 509 Graphics Processing Unit for graphics and gaming.

It also has on-device AI processing for carrying out Artificial Intelligence related tasks.

The processing is supported by 4GB RAM as memory, 64 GB ROM and onboard storage.

You can expand the memory up to 400 GB by using a memory card in the hybrid dual SIM slot.

To keep the phone powered, Nokia has used a 3060 mAh battery that supports quick charge.

As far as the cameras are concerned, the phone has a 16 MP Fixed Focus, f2.0/1.0um camera in the front for selfies.

On the rear, as is in most phones these days, there are dual cameras. The primary one is a 16 MP Auto Focus, f2.0/1.0um camera; the second is a 5 MP, Black and White, Fixed Focus f2.4/1.12um camera used for depth sensing while taking portraits with the background blurred.

The cameras are supported by AI for optimal photography settings.

You can connect your headset using the 3.5mm audio jack. A Type-C USB 2.0 cord is used for charging and data transfer.

Let's now compare the Nokia 6.1 Plus with other phones having almost same specifications and price.

As you see, the differences are marginal.

If we are to choose in between these three, then:

In terms of design and a pure Android experience, we would choose the Nokia 6.1 Plus.

For longer battery life and a pure Android experience, we would choose the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1.

For overall performance and Android UI customisation using MIUI 9, we would go for the Redmi Note 5 Pro.

Nokia 5.1 Plus

Though the Nokia 5.1 Plus has been overshadowed by the Nokia 6.1 Plus, here's what you need to know about the phone.

It follows the same modern notch design architecture of the Nokia 6.1 Plus but has a plastic frame and a glass body.

The Nokia 5.1 Plus, which sells as Yuan 999 (Rs 10,197 approximately) in China, seems to be directly positioned against Xiaomi's Redmi Y2.

Powered by Mediatek MT6771 Helio P60, the Nokia 5.1 Plus has an Octa-core processor with on-device AI processing for carrying out Artificial Intelligence related tasks.

It also has a dual camera setup on the rear -- a primary camera as 13 MP, f/2.0 and secondary 5 MP for depth sensing supported by AI.

Here's how it compares with the Redmi Y2.