Nokia is back and the first Android handset from the revived manufacturer (or better to say from the HMD Global and Foxconn combo) to be presented was the Nokia 6. The company didn’t go with unveiling a flagship first; it decided to launch a mid to low-end device in order to test the market. Since the phone sold quite well in China, where it was first released, reports now state that the Nokia 6 will be launched worldwide soon. Let’s see how the handset compares to the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime, a model offering similar features for a similar price.
Design
Design-wise, the Nokia 6 looks pretty nice for the price. The front looks modern, with tight side bezels, 2.5D glass, and general looks that remind a lot to the Xiaomi Mi5. On the other hand, we have the Galaxy J7 Prime, a device following Samsung’s design philosophy. Curved edges, a large Home button dominating the front with Samsung logo placed above the screen. The back hosts the main camera and another Samsung logo placed in the middle.
The dimensions are practically the same, with the Nokia 6 (154 x 75.8 x 8.4 mm) being just a bit more taller than the Galaxy J7 Prime (151.7 x 75 x 8 mm).
What’s Inside
The Nokia 6 comes equipped with the not-so-powerful Snapdragon 430 (Octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 505) and 5 GB of RAM. The handset can score around 42,000 points in Antutu, a solid score showing that the device can tackle most modern games and 4GB of RAM guarantees smooth performance while browsing the web, watching YouTube videos, or when switching between open apps. The internal storage is pretty large, with 64GB and a microSD card support (SIM 2 slot) it can be expanded with up to 256GB microSD card.
The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 7870 chipset (Octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53, Mali-T830MP2 GPU) and 3GB of RAM. A bit higher CPU clock gives the device a light advantage in Antutu (46,000 points) over the Nokia 6. The handset comes with two internal storage choices – 16GB and 32GB. The storage can be expanded via a dedicated microSD card slot, and the smaller storage means that you’ll probably need an SD card in order to have enough space for all your apps, videos, photos, and music.
Screen, Camera
The Nokia 6 features a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS screen, offering wide viewing angles and solid colors. The Galaxy J7 Prime has a 5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED screen that’s less power hungry and capable of showing richer colors. Both displays are solid but if you like the colors to be super saturated, the Galaxy J7 Prime is a better choice.
Samsung equipped the Galaxy J7 Prime with a 13MP (f/1.9) main camera with support for touch focus, face detection, autofocus, LED flash, and HDR. The camera is great for a mid-range smartphone and is capable of recording 1080p@30fps videos. The selfie snapper has 8MP (f/1.9) and offers excellent quality for the price.
The Nokia 6 features a 16MP (f/2.0) main camera supporting phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash, touch focus, face detection, and HDR. Dual LED flash will make for better photos in low light, with the camera being capable of recording 1080p@30fps videos. The selfie camera has 8MP (f/2.0) and supports 1080p video recording.
Other Features
Both phones come with a fingerprint sensor, with the Nokia 6 also supporting quick charging. The battery on the Galaxy J7 Prime counts 3300 mAh, it’s larger than the one found on the Nokia 6 (3000 mAh).
The Samsung Galaxy KJ7 Prime comes with Android Marshmallow, while the Nokia 6 packs the new Android Nougat 7.0.
Pricing, Conclusion
The Galaxy J7 Prime (16GB) can be found for around Rs 16,500 (around $250) while the Nokia 6 isn’t available outside China at the moment, but the expected price of the handset is Rs 19,999 ($300).
For $50 more you’ll get a newer Android version, 4 times the internal storage amount, better design (subjective), more RAM and a very similar chipset. Is it worth the price difference? It probably is, especially because it comes with Nougat, it has 64GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM more. But, to get the Nokia 6, you’ll have to wait till the end of March for the phone to becomes available outside China.