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Nokia 6 hands-on review

Nokia 6 hands-on review: HMD Global is the company now pulling the strings behind Nokia’s mobile endeavours and it kicked off its tenure with the Nokia 6, the brand’s first Android smartphone that, following an initial launch in China, is now heading to more markets across the world. Here’s our hands-on review.

Nokia 6: Specs at a glance

Screen size 5.5-inches
Screen resolution Full HD (1920×1080)
Weight 160 grams
OS Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Front camera 8-megapixels
Rear camera 16-megapixels w/ PDAF + dual-tone LED flash
Processor 1.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430
Memory 3GB RAM (4GB RAM on Arte Black)
Storage 32GB (64GB RAM on Arte Black). Expandable via microSD up to 128GB
Battery 3000mAh w/ Quick Charge 3.0

Nokia 6: Hands-on review

For all intents and purposes, the Nokia 6 is the flagship smartphone of the company’s current portfolio, even though it’s more like a mid-ranger based on the hardware under the hood. Like its smaller sibling, the Nokia 5, it features an attractive aluminium unibody, however, in this instance, it leverages more aggressive, bolder styling compared to the 5, characterised by flat sides and a diamond-cut chamfer along its edges. Its shape feels wholly reminiscent of the Lumia 930, one of the last great Windows Phone-based Nokias, and it offers a level of fit and finish as good as any other premium smartphone.

It’s the largest of the new Nokia family, dictated by the sharpest panel in the lineup – a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS LCD that looks to offer the strongest media chops overall from a visual standpoint, bolstered by Dolby Atmos audio, a feature not found on the Nokia 3 or 5.

Beneath the display, there’s a fingerprint sensor-laden home button, which offers security and convenience, set between backlit capacitive navigation keys, whilst above you’ll find the same 8-megapixel front-facing camera with 1.12µm pixels utilised by both of the other Android-powered Nokia phones up top, all set into 2.5D pillowed Gorilla Glass 5, another premium design element that feels great under finger.

Nokia 6 hands-on review: Back

With regards to what’s on the screen, Nokia has opted for a near stock take on the latest iteration of Android Nougat, version 7.1.1. As such, users can expect timely software updates and a wonderfully clean user experience, with all the traits Nougat is known for: native split-screen multitasking, a swipe-up apps drawer and Doze on-the-go, for better battery longevity.

Speaking of battery, the Nokia 6 comes with the same sized 3000mAh battery as the Nokia 5, which we suspect won’t last quite as long as a result of that higher resolution display. You also get the same shiny new mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor running the show, although an extra gigabyte of RAM should ensure consistently fluid performance alongside granting the Nokia 6 fast-charging by way of Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology.

As the Nokia 6 is designed as a media device first and foremost, there’s also 32GB of internal storage (double that of the rest of the range, despite still being a tad restrictive) and microSD expandability, whilst the rear camera has also been bumped up to a 16-megapixel snapper with phase detection autofocus and a dual-tone LED flash. It’s fast to fire up, but we’ll test it out as an actual snapper come full review time.

The Nokia 6 is launching outside of its debut market of China sometime in the next quarter in four colourways for €229, whilst an Arte Black special edition Nokia 6 will clock in at €299, but bring with it twice the internal storage and yet another gig of RAM.

Read next: Nokia 6 vs Nokia 5 vs Nokia 3: What’s the difference?

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