Nokia 7.1 hands-on review

Camera

The camera solutions on the Nokia 7.1 are a variation of what you get in the Nokia X6 (the Nokia 7.1's doppelganger in China).

The rear-mounted dual camera consists of a 12MP main snapper with a bright f/1.8 lens and large 1.28µm pixels mated to a secondary 5MP f/2.4 1.12µm depth sensing camera that enables Live Bokeh (or portrait mode in simple terms).

Compare that to the 16 MP f/2.0 + 5 MP f/2.4 dual snapper on the Nokia X6 and you can see the 7.1 is a more capable shooter in lower light, at least on paper.

Nokia 7.1 camera samples

On the selfie side things sit a bit differently. The Nokia 7.1 has an 8MP f/2.0 shooter that's up from the 5MP of the Nokia 7 but down from the 16MP f/2.0 front camera of the Nokia X6.

The Nokia 7.1 selfie camera's party trick is its 84-degree wide angle field of view. The selfie snapper can also produce portrait selfies.

Selfie from the Nokia 7.1

Software-wise Nokia has equipped the 7.1 with its full range of camera options, including Pro mode, the new Live Bokeh mode, which allows the adjustment of background blur in real time, and of course Bothies.

The Nokia 7.1 can capture bothies - meaning it can shoot from its front and rear cameras simultaneously - in both video and stills. It can even live-stream bothies.

And with the Nokia 7.1 you can change the ratio of the bothie between 1/1, 1/3 and 2/3. Another new feature is the ability to shoot each side of the bothie one at a time - so you can be in both bothie shots.

Live Bokeh, aka Portrait Mode • Camera app

Finally, the camera on the Nokia 7.1 boasts new masks and stickers.

As for video recording, this phone would only record video up to 1080p@30fps. At least, the videos benefit from EIS as stabilization and 360-degree spatial audio (formerly known as Nokia Ozo).

We'll give the new cameras on the Nokia 7.1 a proper run once we get our hands on a retail-ready device.

Software

The Nokia 7.1 is the latest addition to Nokia's line of Android One devices. As such it means the Nokia 7.1 will get Android 9 Pie as soon as next month and will receive platform updates for two years and security updates for three.

Android One also ensures prompt updates and no excessive bloatware.

We tested the Nokia 7.1 with Android 8.1 Oreo and found it zippy enough for a flagship. That's what you get with the combination of a Snapdragon 636 and 4GB of RAM (we'd expect the 3GB model to be as snappy, though perhaps a bit slower in task management).

Nokia 7.1 is running Android 8.1

Since this is an Android One device you'd be first in line to play with Android Pie's new gesture-based system, once that rolls around through a software update in November.

Benchmarks

To some, used to Huawei, Samsung or Xiaomi's take on Android, stock 8.1 Oreo might seem a bit too simple at first. But it's smoother and runs into far fewer hiccups during usage.

Being an Android One phoneр the Nokia 7.1 feels as smooth as a more expensive Google Pixel 2 and will likely get every new update almost as soon as that phone, which is impressive.

Here are a few benchmarks we were able to run on the Nokia 7 Plus.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  5908
• Nokia 7 plus
  5893
• Oppo Realme 1
  5741
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  5574
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  4929
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
  4918
• Nokia 7.1
  4911
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  4144

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  1890
• Nokia 7 plus
  1634
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  1595
• Oppo Realme 1
  1511
• Nokia 7.1
  1344
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  1331
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
  1329
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  839

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  170218
• Nokia 7 plus
  140820
• Oppo Realme 1
  138524
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  136583
• Nokia 7.1
  117175
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  115571
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
  115195
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  86374

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  23
• Nokia 7 plus
  15
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  14
• Oppo Realme 1
  12
• Nokia 7.1
  10
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  10
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
  10
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  9.5

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi 8 SE
  22
• Nokia 7 plus
  14
• Huawei Mate 20 Lite
  13
• Oppo Realme 1
  12
• Nokia 7.1
  9.7
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
  9.7
• Nokia 6.1 Plus
  9.6
• Sony Xperia XA2 Plus
  9.1