Nokia 8.1 announced: X7 for the West

05 December 2018

HMD unveiled the Nokia 8.1 – which under the new naming scheme is the successor to the Nokia 7 plus. But this is not a new device, it’s just the Nokia X7 arriving in the Western market.

The news-worthy bit from today’s event is pricing and availability. The Nokia 8.1 will be available globally in mid-December at a price of €400.

The Middle East is among the first launch markets. Pre-orders in the UAE start tomorrow (at AED 1,500), the phone will be available on shelves on December 15. It will reach the rest of the Middle East on December 20.

Since the phone is only just venturing out to the West, allow us a quick introduction. It has a 6.18” PureDisplay IPS LCD with 1080p+ resolution. The notch in the screen houses the 20MP selfie camera.

On the back is a dual camera – 12+13MP. The main module uses the 12MP sensor (1/2.55”, 1.4µm pixels) and it sports Zeiss optics (with Optical Image Stabilization). The 13MP module is just a depth sensor.

The Nokia 8.1 is powered by a Snapdragon 710 chipset with 4GB of RAM. There’s 64GB of eMMC storage, expandable via microSD. This is an Android One phone currently running Pie, but it will receive OS updates for 2 years and security updates for 3 years.

The frame of the phone is made out of anodized aluminum with a two-tone finish, available in Blue / Silver, Steel / Copper and Iron / Steel. The battery has 3,500mAh capacity and it supports 18W fast charging.

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