Nokia 6, 5, and 3 First Impression – Are New Nokia Phones Any Good?

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Now we finally know when, where and for how much you can Android powered Nokia Phones in India. To the feature phones Nokia 150 and 3310, HMD today added three smartphones – Nokia 6, 5, and 3 priced in the range of Rs. 9,499 to Rs. 14,999.

In its bid to leverage its legacy, the brand tried to re-establish the lost connection with the masses, invoking Nostalgia, presenting a human side, and detailing its ‘people first’ approach. This was done by ex-Nokia employees cleverly alluding to their Nokia connection.

As a consumer, you may or may not relate to that marketing talk, but one thing is for sure – HMD Global’s Nokia is off to a solid start and, as a beginner, is lucky to have such momentum in an aggressively competitive Indian market.

Moreover, Nokia’s entry is at an opportune time where the ‘disruptive’ online exclusive wars that involved manufacturers aggressively undercutting each other and competing at razor thin margins are almost over. The offline market has emerged as a king and that’s precisely where Nokia aims to make its mark.

But how good are the new Nokia phones? Let’s try and answer that.

Also Read: Nokia 5 Vs Moto G5 vs Redmi Note 4 comparison

Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 Specifications

Model Nokia 3 Nokia 5 Nokia 6
Display 5-inch, HD(1280 x 720p), Corning Gorilla Glass 5.2-Inch, HD, IPS LCD, 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5.5-inch, Full HD, IPS LCD, 2.5D curved glass display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
Processor 1.4Ghz quad-core Mediatek MT6737 SoC 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, Adreno 505 GPU
RAM 2GB 2GB 3GB
Internal Storage 16GB (expandable) 16GB 32GB, expandable up to 256GB
Software Android 7.0 Nougat Android 7.1.1 Nougat Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Primary Camera 8MP, f/2.0 aperture, Dual LED flash, 1080p Videos 13MP rear camera, f/2.0 aperture,dual LED flash, 1.12 µm pixel size 16MP (main), PDAF, f/2.0 aperture Dual Tone LED Flash
Secondary Camera 8MP, LED Flash 8MP selfie camera, f/2.0 aperture, 1.12 µm pixel size 8MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture
Battery 3000mAh battery 3,000mAh 3000mAh
Others 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, microUSB, 3.5mm Audio Jack, Hybrid SIM slot 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, USB 2.0, USB OTG, 3.5mm, NFC 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, USB OTG, NFC, 3.5mm audio jack
Price Rs. 9,499 Rs. 12,899 Rs. 14,999

Design and Build

One thing the finish manufacturer has paid meticulous attention to design and build (Well, that’s two things actually). Nokia phones have a reputation of being extra-durable, and the new Nokia phones can’t afford to not live up to these expectations.

As an average consumer, it should be hard for you to conceive what these new phones feel like from 2D renders simply because they don’t follow the regular ‘metal unibody design template’ that affordable phones rigidly adhere to.

The Nokia 6 is the most premium of the lot. It’s carved out of a single block of Aluminum, has sharp metallic edges that dig into your palm and seamlessly blend into the front 2.5D glass. It must be noted that such build quality is unprecedented for phones under 20,000 INR.

The Nokia 5 replaces these sharp edges with rounded corners and perhaps is treated to a few lesser finishing processes. This one too is enhanced by a 2.5D glass on the front.

And the Nokia 3 feels like a plastic version of Nokia 5, it has a rubberized matte finish plastic rear, metal side frame and 2.5D glass on the front. The 3 is also missing a fingerprint sensor.

All the three Nokia phones feel refreshingly unique in their respective budgets, and appear quite durable.

Nokia 6, 5 and 3 in pictures

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Also Read: Phone Comparison – Nokia 6 Vs Moto G5 Plus

Optimized stock software

Another major strength of the new Nokia phones is the stock software. Or rather well-optimized stock hardware. All three phones are running Android Nougat and are guaranteed to get future version upgrades and security patches. HMD, however, didn’t mention the time period for which it will be supporting these phones.

The Nokia 6 felt surprisingly snappy for a Snapdragon 430 powered device. The apps opened very fast and multitasking was also quite smooth. But we will have to put the phone through a full review treatment to know if the interface can hold its fluidity under stress and over a period of time.

The same software is present the 3 and 5 as well that have a comparatively weaker hardware to steer it.

Standard Hardware

As for hardware, new Nokia phones house pretty standard specs are undercut by Xiaomi and Lenovo phones by a wide margin in this regard. We suspect that the front and rear cameras aren’t going to lend these phones any competitive edge either.

All phones have a 3000mAh battery and in light of power efficient SoC and light, optimized software, we are inclined to believe that the battery backup could also be decent enough.

First Impression

The first set of Nokia phones have promising design and build and cast a largely promising impression on us. At the same time, it’s only the Nokia 6 that we find irresistibly charming for an under 15K phone. We will, of course, need to put all the three through their paces and scrutinize them in our own space before we are ready with an answer.

Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 Price and Avialablity Detials

Nokia 6 – Amazon Exclusive; Priced at Rs. 14,999, registration starts on July 14( register from here)
Nokia 5 – Offline Only; Priced at Rs. 12,899, pre-booking starts on July 7
Nokia 3 – Offline Only; Priced at Rs. 8,499, goes on sale on June 16 
Deepak SinghDeepak Singh
Deepak has more than 8 years of experience in covering technology for several eminent publications in India. He currently leads an enthusiastic team of young writers at Smartprix and tries to uphold the highest quality standards.

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