It was just a matter of time since the smartphone world picked up its space and now the market is filled with a plethora of smartphones ranging from entry-level segment to flagship level. If you roll back to three years ago, it was a fool's errand to get a smartphone with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage under Rs. 10,000. Nevertheless, the time has changed, and we have several smartphones today under sub Rs. 10,000 price bracket which not only offers heavy specs but also offers great value for money.
The Finnish company, Nokia marked its comeback last month with the introduction of Nokia 6, a mid-range smartphone. On the flip side, we have the Chinese smartphone vendor and the budget segment king, Xiaomi with their Redmi Note 4, which is also a heavy specced phone that offers insane value for money.
Here's how the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Nokia 6 goes against each other.
1) Design and Display
In terms of design, both the Nokia 6 and Redmi Note 4 boats of unibody metal design. While the Note 4 comes with the same candy bar form factor, the Nokia 6 is a rectangular slab of metal. HMD Global, the parent company of Nokia, claims that it will take 55 minutes to build a single Nokia 6. And the phone is constructed from 6000 series aluminium, which was the same material used to build Apple iPhone 6 series. Also, the phone looks incredibly good and far better than the Note 4. That said, the design aspect with no further ado goes to the Nokia 6.
Regarding display, both the Nokia 6 and Redmi Note 4 comes with a 5.5-inch display with Full HD resolution and 2.5D curved glass on top. Nokia has added a protective layer in the form of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology, whereas Xiaomi did not mention any protective layer on the Note 4, which is another letdown for the phone.
2) Hardware and Memory
This is where the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 gets the upper hand as it is powered by the octa-core 2.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC, coupled with 2GB/3GB/4GB of RAM. On the other hand, the Nokia 6 comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC, coupled with 4GB of RAM. The storage on the Note 4 starts at 16GB and goes up to 64GB, whereas the Nokia 6 comes in a single storage version of 64GB. Both the phones have support for microSD card slot.
3) Camera
Things get tad interested in the camera department. The Nokia 6 features a 16MP rear camera with support for Phase Detection Autofocus technology (PDAF), and a dual tone LED light. The Redmi Note 4 has a 13MP camera at the rear that also has support for PDAF, and a single tone LED flash. Both the phones lack support for Optical Image Stabilisation.
While the megapixel count doesn't tell the entire story, I used the Redmi Note 4 for around two months and was certainly impressed with its camera performance. Of course, the phone don't capture insane photos as seen on premium flagship ones but gets the job done for the asking price.
4) Connectivity and Software
One of the major attraction at Nokia's MWC 2017 launch was the software section. All the Nokia phones will be powered by Android Nougat, and they ship with 'Pure Android' with absolutely zero bloatware and also comes with Google Assistant built-in. The Xiaomi Note 4 runs heavily customised Android Marshmallow based MIUI 8 but comes with tons of features such as dual apps, second space, themes, etc., which most of the people loves to have on their phones these days.
Connectivity-wise, the Nokia 6 and Redmi Note 4 features similar set of options including the 4G LTE, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, micro USB port, USB OTG, and a GPS chip for navigation.
5) Battery
Another segment that belongs to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4. The Note 4 is packed with a 4100mAh battery that easily lasts for two days with heavy usage, thanks to the Snapdragon 625 battery efficient SoC. The Nokia 6 comes with a smaller 3000mAh battery, which can last for a single day with one full charge. Both the phones come with fast charging capabilities.
6) Conclusion
Specifications wise, the Nokia 6 falls behind the Note 4 by a huge margin. However, the Nokia 6 has great design, good camera. The major advantage of the Nokia 6 is the presence of pure Android, and the company is promising to deliver timely software updates. The Redmi Note 4 is the new budget king with incredible pricing, but one has to struggle a lot to get the device, thanks to the frustrating flash sales. Also, Nokia needs to keep the pricing as low as possible to stay in the contention.
