HMD Global recently released the Nokia 6 (2018) in India in
a bid to take on the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro. The phone launched
in India in just one variant, with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
Now, the Finnish company has launched a second variant, with 4GB of RAM and
64GB of internal storage, priced at Rs. 18,999. you can get from Amazon -
We were impressed with the clean and fluid software package,
build quality, performance, and battery life of the Nokia 6 (2018). But the
low-light camera performance and mediocre fingerprint sensor were hard to
ignore. We are eager to examine if the extra gigabyte of RAM has any real-world
effect on performance and if it's worth shelling out an extra 2,000 rupees.
Nokia 6 (2018) 4GB design
It is worth reiterating that the smartphone is built like a
tank and feels incredibly solid in the hand. Build quality was its biggest
priority while designing the second generation Nokia 6 and the end result
speaks for itself.
The layout is the same as the 3GB variant of the phone.
There is a hybrid dual-SIM tray on the left edge, a power button and volume
rocker on the right edge and a 3.5mm headphone socket on the top. The USB-Type
C port is present on the bottom along with a loudspeaker, which is rather
shrill and tinny. The Nokia 6 (2018) is one of the few smartphones below Rs.
20,000 to abandon the age-old micro-USB port.
Nokia 6 (2018) 4GB specifications and display
This variant of the Nokia 6 (2018) comes with 4GB of RAM and
64GB of internal storage. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630
processor clocked at 2.2GHz, the 5.5-inch LCD panel is bright and punchy but
suffers from poor viewing angles.
Nokia 6 (2018) 4GB performance, software, and battery life
The Nokia 6 (2018) runs Android 8.1 Oreo devoid of any
overlays or third-party bloat. It is Android as Google intended it to be. There
are a few non-intrusive value additions, such as 'Ambient Display' which shows
notifications for missed calls, alarms, and notifications without waking the
phone from sleep, and a couple of motion-triggered gestures like mute on pickup
and lift to check phone. You can also swipe the fingerprint sensor to pull down
the notification tray which is quite nifty.
Thanks in part to the clean and fluid software package; we
were quite impressed with the performance of the 3GB RAM variant of the Nokia 6
(2018). Does the extra gigabyte of RAM have any substantial effect on
performance? That's the money question.
We faced no issues with multi-tasking and playing heavy
games in the 3GB variant and the experience was much the same here. That said,
games like Asphalt 8 did exhibit slightly faster loading times and we always
had close to 50 per cent free RAM.
Apart from the multi-core test in Geekbench, which saw an
increase of 15 percent, benchmark results were more or less the same. There was
no discernible difference in battery life either. Just like the 3GB variant of
the Nokia 6 (2018), this one lasted us an entire day of medium to intensive use
with juice left for more. In our HD video loop test, the phone lasted 11 hours
and 30 minutes, just 10 minutes less than the 3GB variant. A fast charger is
bundled in the box which took the Nokia 6 (2018) from an empty tank to 42
percent in 30 minutes.
Nokia 6 (2018) 4GB cameras
On the imaging front, the Nokia 6 (2018) has a single
16-megapixel rear camera with a dual LED flash and an aperture of f/2.0, and a
single 8-megapixel fixed-focus front camera with the same f/2.0 aperture.
While low-light performance is still disappointing and
auto-focus leaves a lot to be desired, the white balance issue has been
mitigated considerably. These improvements are not exclusive to this variant
and have also made their way to the cheaper variant of the Nokia 6 (2018).
The professional mode still works well, and allows you tweak
the ISO, shutter speed, exposure and white balance with a swipe of the thumb. The
resulting shots are nothing to write home about, with the edge detection being
rather poor.
The front camera does a good job in favorable lighting but
struggles when light is inadequate. A front facing LED flash is conspicuous by
its absence and the screen flash does not really help matters much.
"Bothie" mode also makes a return. While the ability to take photos/
videos with the front and rear camera at the same time is pretty nifty, the
quality of both cameras decreases noticeably in this mode.
Video capture maxes out at 4K for the rear camera and 1080p
for the front camera. The resultant videos have a good amount of detail but the
onboard EIS is rather poor.
Verdict
The 4GB RAM variant of the Nokia 6 (2018) is hard to
recommend. The performance gains are incremental at best and are hard to notice
in day-to-day use. Apart from the bump in internal storage, there is no compelling
reason to spend more on the higher-end variant of the Nokia 6 (2018).
If the Nokia 6 (2018)'s stellar build quality, clean
software package, good battery life and solid performance appeal to you, the
variant with 3GB of RAM, which is priced at Rs. 16,999, is the one to buy.
Potential buyers should also take a look at the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
(Review) and Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 (Review), which cost less and offer a
better set of cameras.
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