The $349 Nokia 7.1 brings a low price, flagship-style design to the US | Hacker News Reader

The $349 Nokia 7.1 brings a low price, flagship-style design to the US

arstechnica.com

53 pointsTomte67 comments

What is this 'flagship design' nonsense. The notch is a horrible idea, iphone or not. Glass everywhere makes it less grippable.

And now we see the complete lack of originality in the phone industry as the manufacturers compete to clone the iphone design.

The pixel was pathetic, with it's pandering lack of headphone jack. And now we see Nokia continue the race to the bottom of cloned design phones.

I always buy a case for my phone since I consider it a kind of physical insurance.

I must say, most manufacturers sure don't act like they want to beat Apple, they seem to just want to be up to date with Apple's most contentious and unpopular design decisions (probably because they're the easiest to copy shamelessly). At best, they are providing fodder for the next time Apple goes to court to argue that competitors are ripping off the designs.

The Razer Phone is actually interesting for not going the shameless copying of trivial design elements route. In my opinion their symmetrical, reasonably-sized device is very attractive. The one major complaint I have about the Razer Phone is their choice to go with a 1440p display, which more or less forced them to ship the device with the display downclocked to 90Hz (from 120Hz) by default, probably for power issues with scanout; I feel they could've sidestepped this issue by just shipping a 1080p display instead, which they could run at 120Hz with lower scanout bandwidth than 1440p at 90Hz. The display runs most things at 1080p anyway, and 1080p displays are already very high resolution in that form factor.

If they shipped it with a 1080p display at 120Hz, they wouldn't have thrown away the immediate responsiveness advantage they should've won with the other hardware work.

Glass everywhere makes it nice and easy to slide out of your pocket.

Was that a problem before?

No, because when you had Nokia 3310 you can just throw it at the wall, pick up and continue the conversation.

Don't you need to call someone to fix the broken wall?

You could do that with your Nokia 3310 after picking it up.

> The notch is a horrible idea

I never got this. Why is it worse than bezel ? How does it affect usability / performance of the phone ? I have a notch on my phone and it's notch is the last thing I care about.

Some people really hate screens that aren't symmetrical. Or they just think that the notch is ugly, or distracting. And I think those are all fine reasons to consider the notch a horrible idea.

I don't mind the notch myself. I don't think it hurts the performance or usability if a phone.

I try to keep things like this in perspective. I feel that mushrooms totally destroy the performance and usability of a pizza. And yet many people love mushrooms on their pizza, and think I'm a complete weirdo for feeling the way I do.

So whenever I don't get why people dislike something, I try to think of things I strongly dislike that lots of people seem to enjoy. Then it all makes a little more sense. :)

Sure but would you say mushrooms on pizza “is a horrible idea”?

People say that and worse about pineapple on pizza :(

Or anchovies. Yuuurg.

YMMV I suppose.

A notch gives you an odd, asymmetrical screen.

Virtually all digital graphics are based on a rectangular viewing area, whether apps, websites, videos, etc.

Honest question: What would you think you went to a movie theater and the entire time there was notch removed from the corner of the movie?

On any phone with no notch, there is a bezel. This part is not a screen and I don't look at it. If I look at a video on my phone I have no issue watching the video. The video is rectangular and the notch is not visible. Sure I can zoom and set the video full screen and see the notch, I just don't do it. I used to have a phone with a 18:9 screen ratio, I had the same choice: view the rectangular video or use the full screen and lose some information.

I really don't get it.

> the notch is not visible.

Excellent! That is how it should be. +1

It's like a car where the front left wheel is easily removable. The car is made to have four wheels. Driving without that wheel is undesirable. Why even spend the extra effort/expense on the removable wheel feature?

I used to hate notched displays but then I saw the argument that it's really stretching the screen into the bezel rather than cutting away at screen space and it makes a lot more sense. Sure, it doesn't make sense for all phones and I'd rather a bezel on a cheaper phone if it reduced cost, however, on a high end phone I think it kinda makes sense. It can give you more screen space by allowing you to have your clock and status indicators in what would otherwise be the bezel, then it makes sense.

I do prefer smaller phones too. And unlockable. All Nokias are locked down. Which is a pitty now that Treble ROMs are starting to surface.

For about $50 more, you can get a Nokia 8, which I really like. It's splash proof, has a snapdragon 835 and I've found it to be really solid all around.

It also has a "traditional" screen if that's something you want.

But no headphone jack

not sure what you mean. I have a nokia 8 and it has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack

I assumed he was talking about the latest version of the Nokia 8, the Nokia 8 Sirocco which has no headphone jack

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/25/17049950/nokia-8-sirocco-...

Oh, no, I specifically did not buy the Sirocco because it does not have a headphone jack. They're different phones - they still make the 8. The Sirocco is also another $100-150 over the plain 8?

> Snapdragon 636 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a 3060mAh battery. The display is a 5.8-inch, 2280×1080 LCD

Xiaomi Pocophone F1 - Snapdragon 845, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a 4000mAh battery. The display is a 6.18-inch, 2246x1080 IPS, $300-310.

The F1 is also not (officially) coming to the US

Any advice on how to buy that in the US?

Aliexpress with DHL shipping

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Global-Version-Xiaomi-POCOPH...

BUT I'm not sure you will get LTE coverage

Different operators use different LTE bands. F1 has FDD-LTE B1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, TDD-LTE B38, 40, 41.

Doesn't look good then

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US

Buy it from any Amazon in Europe:

https://www.amazon.de/Xiaomi-Pocophone-64GB-Dual-SIM-Black/d...

I can buy from amazon.com and pay extra for shipping from the US to Germany. It probably works the same the other way around.

As others have stated LTE may not work in the US though - without flashing a different modem at least (if that's even possible with that phone).

$450 (387 Eur) is about $150 more than Aliexpress price.

Hmm. The price is 319.99 Euros for me. Amazon's dynamic pricing at it again.

That might still be slightly more expensive than the AliExpress price, but at least you'll have better consumer protection.

I bought one on eBay from a US-Based seller with a lot of feedback. It's working well in California but not getting LTE in most places. I hardly ever notice.

Nokia - please make modern versions of your past industrial designs. Current phones are too thin and too fragile.

You must ask HMD.

Nokia is not making or designing these phones. They just license the brand and patents.

HMD is a bit as if Foxconn acquihired half the original nokia mobile division, though. Lots of people who worked on those old Nokia phones now work at HMD.

They seem more excited about the 6.1[1] than the 7.1...anyone have experience with it?

I'm really disappointed with the Pixel line and have no interest in spending nearly $1000 on a phone so the 6.1 sounds like a nice compromise but wanted to see if anyone had any opinions first.

[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/nokia-6-1-review-the...

I'm very pleased with it for mild news reading, email, youtube, netflix, podcasts, music, and a few simple apps. The good: Great speaker, nice design, feels sturdy, always up to date with Android one, and no vendor crapware. The average: Performance, screen & camera, but more than passable at the price point. A full charge is fairly quick (2-3 hours) and lasts me 2 days with medium use.

I bought the 6.1 the week it went out to replace an old Alcatel smartphone.

IMHO, it's a good value per dollar/euro. It feels fast and updates every month with security updates. I heard the phone is not Treble compatible, but Android 9 is planned on it already by Nokia/HMD.

Compared to an old Alcatel phone, the battery is awesome. If you don't use the phone, it can probably last for 4 or 5 days, maybe more. Otherwise, 2 days of normal usage.

I had bad luck with the 6.1. Constant Wi-Fi disconnections.

They claimed to have solved it with the august update but many still experience the problem and no response from HMD.

See this forum thread (there are more on the same topic):

https://community.phones.nokia.com/support/discussions/topic...

I have a Nokia 6.1 and it has been fine. Some jank when I'm heavily multitasking (say, Pokemon Go and Facebook Messenger at the same time). (I also own an iPhone XS, and have owned the Pixel and Pixel 2, and various Moto G devices.) You may want to look at the Wirecutter review for more color: https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-budget-android-phone/

The Nokia 6.1 feels very similar to top-of-the-line Androids from a few years ago. Basically https://xkcd.com/606/, except for phones instead of video games.

I think my biggest pain point with budget phones is that they get "too slow" for the latest apps fairly quickly, as app developers stop targeting apps with these specs. They work fine for about a year, and then beyond that you basically have to get a new one. Whereas if you buy the latest $800-$1000 iPhone, you can expect to get a solid two or three years out of it (so you can resell or use it as a hand-me-down).

What's the best non-Apple phone to upgrade to from an iPhone 7 these days, that isn't in the same price point?

I break my phones too often to want to pay for premium (with/out insurance), I don't want to do FaceID, I don't like notches but it's not my biggest gripe, and I do like cameras, but I take the photos I care the most about with a DSLR.

A year old Samsung Galaxy.

Nokia 8 Sirocco.

https://m.gsmarena.com/nokia_8_sirocco-9087.php

Near stock Android, good update support and 8Gb RAM memory.

Pixel 2 should get a decent price drop in a week or so when the pixel 3 comes out.

I just got myself a 7 and I couldn't be happier. It's cheap, pretty, more than good enough (the camera software on my Moto G3 was better :-( ).

All that, but what really convinced me was the Android One software. The assurance software will be updated and there won't be any crapware talking up space is awesome.

How to avoid notch? Make front (depth) cameras ejecting from the top end if needed. Make truly borderless screen with that. Notch is a silly compromise nobody needs.

Specs seem almost identical to my Moto Z Play I paid $150 less for over a year ago.

Seems mid priced but not a bargain.

Do not care much for design because I use a case anyway. There are better reasons to consider this phone.

First thought that came to mind was: _sarcastic mind voice on_ "huh, didn't apple even patent the notch? They are screwing up left and right now". _sarcastic mind voice off_.

For those of ya looking for a good no-nonsense phone at a good price, get the motorola G5 or G6. Good stuff.

Those phones would be nice if Motorola wasn't notorious for not delivering firmware updates.

Why do these things treat a finger-print reader as a feature? That alone puts a phone on on my no-buy list.

> Gorilla Glass 3, 3060mAh battery, not waterproof

I'm glad it at least it has the headphone jack, but I'd like my phone to last a while too.

> So now you get the downside of a fragile glass back without any kind of benefit like wireless charging. Just leaving the back metal would have been better.

The entire phone is a knock-off, they've cargo-cult'd the main features from the iPhone X. There's no purpose to any of these designs.

The whole point of the notch was to put a large screen into a small phone. If your screen is going to be small anyways, then what's the point of the notch!?

Edit: I'm just salty I paid $1500 for a phone that I can soon get for $350.

who cares its a decent phone at a great price point?

People have a irrational fear of notches on the internet. In real life I never saw anyone caring about it but on the internet people get defensive/aggresive when they see one.

so weird... it must be where one lives too, people where i live would love this phone

Doing the same thing cheaper is a perfectly valid design choice

I so agree with this.

Would you drive a Chinese car that looked like a German car?

When you straight copy a design, it signals that you don't give a shit about what you're doing. Safety? Security? Quality? Fuck it.

Doing the same quality cheaper is better.

When it comes to signalling with phones, it's losing signalling value at accelerating pace. It's starting to be a bulk screen you carry in your pocket.

Funny, people used to say exactly this about Japanese cars. We all know how that turned out.

Top 10 Chinese knockoff cars vs. the original designs

https://driving.ca/lexus/auto-news/entertainment/top-10-chin...

I thought you might think this is funny.

The screen almost completely covers the phone, except the notch and a small bezel on the bottom. That's the point.

iPhone XS resolution: 5.8 inches at 2436 x 1125 pixels.

Nokia 7.1 resolution: 5.8-inch at 2280 x 1080 pixels.

The notch gives them nothing here, in fact it eats up pixels they could have used to make the resolution better. At least the iphone screen is dense enough to say "eh, we don't need those pixels".

What do you think the notch is for? From your comment it sounds like you think it's just for show. How does it eat pixels? The alternative would be to have a smaller screen. Also the difference in resolution is so minor it doesn't matter.

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