It seems that the Indian smartphone industry is going through a phase of rapid price cuts where many prominent brands are slashing the prices of their phones. Following the price cut of two HMD Global phones, the Nokia 6.1 Plus and the Nokia 7.1, now the Nokia 3.1 Plus is in line for a price slash. To recall, the Nokia 3.1 Plus was launched in the market with the go-to price-tag of Rs 11,499, and now the phone seems to be getting a price cut of around Rs 1,500. When HMD Global introduced the phone, many people had thought that the Nokia 5.1 Plus offered a much better bang for the buck given that it was retailing for Rs 10,999. That is the reason why HMD Global has slashed the price of the Nokia 3.1 Plus, and now it retails with a new price tag of Rs 9,999.
There is no doubt that the new pricing for the Nokia 3.1 Plus makes much more sense. Nokia PowerUser spotted the new pricing of the device in retail stores. However, the new price tag of Rs 9,999 has not yet been updated on HMD’s online store. Whereas, Amazon and Flipkart both have updated their listings of the Nokia 3.1 Plus to reflect the new pricing. It is also worth noting that now the users who want to buy an Android One device under the Rs 10,000 price tag can consider the Nokia 3.1 Plus as an option.
Nokia 3.1 Plus: Specifications and Features
The Nokia 3.1 Plus sports a 6-inch HD+ display on an 18:9 aspect ratio screen. Under the hood, the phone packs the octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 chipset paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Users also have the option of expanding the storage to 400GB via microSD card.
On the camera and imaging front, the Nokia 3.1 Plus sports a dual rear camera setup which consists of a 13MP primary sensor with f/2.0 aperture and a 5MP secondary sensor with LED flash support. On the front for selfies, the Nokia 3.1 Plus gets an 8MP selfie snapper with f/2.2 aperture. Speaking of software, the phone boots Android 8.1 Oreo, and is likely to receive the Android 9 Pie update considering that HMD Global has already updated eight of its devices from the portfolio to the latest version. When it comes to power, the Nokia 3.1 Plus houses a 3,500mAh battery which will easily last a day for the users.
Verdict
With the recent price cut, HMD Global has corrected the only thing which felt previously wrong with the Nokia 3.1 Plus. The phone features impressive design and aesthetics, and there are no two thoughts about it. The battery life is yet another feather on the cap for this device, as it lasts two days in a row on quite a lot of occasions. Because the Nokia 3.1 Plus is an offering under Rs 10,000, there is little doubt left that this phone is a worthy buy for someone looking to buy a stock Android budget phone.
However, we have the Redmi 6 Pro as well at the same price of Rs 9,999, and it's also available via offline stores. The Redmi 6 Pro packs metal body, compact display, better dual rear cameras and a 4000mAh battery. The Nokia 3.1 Plus loses out on various aspects to the Redmi 6 Pro, but it offers Dual 4G and Android One certification for faster software updates, which we don't get to see on many smartphones under Rs 10,000.
