HMD Global has announced the Nokia 7.1 smartphone in India today. The Nokia 7.1, which was launched in Western markets a couple of months ago has finally made its way to the Indian market. It features identical hardware to the Nokia 6.1 Plus but comes with additional features such as ZEISS optics, HDR display, and more importantly, it's aimed at the offline market. The Finnish company confirmed that Nokia 7.1 would be available for purchase via top mobile retailers in India and alternatively it can be purchased via Nokia.com/phones. The price of the smartphone has been set as Rs 19,999 and it takes on the Poco F1, Vivo V11 and other smartphones in the offline space.
Nokia 7.1: Specifications and Features
The Nokia 7.1 offers decent specifications for a mid-range handset. It has a 5.84-inch Full HD+ notched display on the front which carries a resolution of 1080x2280 pixels and 19:9 aspect ratio. HMD is touting this display as PureDisplay because it's HDR compatible. The display has a pixel density of 432 PPI and it's protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Under the hood, the Nokia 7.1 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset, clubbed with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It comes in a single variant and is priced at Rs 19,999. The phone also has a hybrid card slot for storage expansion up to 400GB.
This dual-SIM smartphone is part of HMD's Android One programme and it also received Android 9 Pie update recently. It's unknown at the moment whether the Nokia 7.1 will run Android 9 Pie out of the box in India or not. As for the cameras, the Nokia 7.1 has ZEISS optics; It has a primary 12MP shooter on the back with f/1.8 aperture, 1.28um and dual-pixel PDAF, and the primary shooter works in tandem with a 5MP depth sensor. On the front, the phone has an 8MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture. It also has Electronic Image Stabilisation support.
Connectivity options on the Nokia 7.1 include Dual 4G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and USB Type-C port. This phone is armed with a 3060mAh battery and also offers Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support.
Nokia 7.1: Pricing, Availability and Offers
In India, HMD Global has launched the Nokia 7.1 in two colour options- Gloss Midnight Blue and Gloss Steel. It can be purchased via top retail stores in the country starting December 7 at Rs 19,999.
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has teamed up with HMD Global and offering up to 1TB of 4G data for prepaid users starting at Rs 199. Airtel postpaid customers can enjoy additional data of 120GB with three months of Netflix subscription starting at Rs 499. Lastly, consumers purchasing the Nokia 7.1 using HDFC Bank Credit and Debit card on EMI transactions done through Pinelabs terminals in offline stores will receive a 10% cashback.
Nokia 7.1: Competitors in India
Priced at Rs 19,999, the Nokia 7.1 takes on the Xiaomi Poco F1 which is also available for purchase via offline stores. The Poco F1, priced at Rs 20,999, comes with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Besides that, it features the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. But the Poco F1 lags behind the Nokia 7.1 in the design and display aspects.
