Nokia 3.1 A smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

At the beginning of June, Nokia presented an improved Nokia 3.1 A smartphone based on the new Android 9 Pie, which delighted its fans and expanded the segment of state employees. The model does not differ much from its predecessor, which was released in October 2018, but the world of technology does not stand still, and developers are improving their phones according to new requirements and improvements. So this smartphone received an updated kit for the realities of 2019.

Description of new items

This budget device has a large 5.45-inch HD screen, an 8-core Snapdragon 429 processor, albeit not the latest version, but it has a good performance rating.

For phones with average prices of $ 100, this model has got pretty good specs, smoothed operation and a new operating system. A separate advantage over other "inexpensive" smartphones is the presence of Google Assistant.

HMD Global previously reported that it released this phone specifically for US consumers, and is now available on walmart for $ 89. It went on sale from June 10 when it appears on the global market, and how much it will cost has not yet been disclosed.

Specifications

CPU

The phone received in this version the Qualcomm SDM429 Snapdragon 429 processor, which has 8 cores, with a frequency of 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53. The Adreno 504 adapter is responsible for the graphics side.

Such an engine will improve the work, unlike last year, but to play on the most resource-intensive games, you will have to set the minimum settings. This phone is not announced as a gaming phone, so the latest processor versions were not expected in this model.

But the presence in it of the entire set of sensors, including a gyroscopic sensor, makes it possible to use AR applications with augmented reality.

To enjoy modern games at the maximum, it is better to choose older versions and more powerful devices. This device is definitely not suitable for active games.

Elegant case design

The famous brand, as a design performance for its line of smartphones, tried and did not disappoint its many fans.

The body is made in a classic style of polycarbonate, the corners are rounded, the frame is made of metal, which gives the smartphone elegance and sophistication.

With dimensions of 152.7 x 71.9 x 9.4 mm, the phone came out with only 156 grams, pleasing the user, the lower weight will create a more pleasant feeling in the hand.

The Nokia 3.1 A captivates with its beautiful curves and shiny aluminum edges, but it doesn't boast a bezel-less design. The edges of the display have fairly wide bezels, although the glass with the protective effect of Corning Gorilla Glass is very tight and the cut is smooth.

The plastic back cover has a nice texture to the touch, but leaves fingerprints, which is noticeable against a black background and spoils the look of the stylish phone.

Above the screen in the center there is a speaker for a conversation, on the right is the company logo, on the left, traditionally there is a front camera.

An incomprehensible design decision is the location of the touch buttons "home", "minimized applications", "back" located above the lower black stripe. Therefore, this black rectangle remains unused and it is completely incomprehensible what it was made for.

The button responsible for locking is located on the right side of the top, next to the volume control button. Reaching with your thumb is quite convenient.

On the left side there are two slots - for a SIM card, nanoSIM size, and for a microSD card. To save space, many developers are replacing memory cards, so this will be a good advantage for Nokia 3.1 A.

On the bottom panel there is a speaker with a hole for a microphone, as well as a connector for charging and data transfer in microUSB format.

And the upper part of the side case is used for a 3.5 mm headset connector.

The back cover is decorated with the Nokia logo, which shimmers in relief in the light. It also houses the main camera and flash, which protrude slightly. An additional microphone is also provided above them.

Screen

The updated smartphone received a larger "tall" 5.45-inch display with an HD screen resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels, the density per inch is 295 pixels. An IPS-matrix is ​​installed for the screen, which allows to improve the color rendition and is distinguished by a good viewing angle, its contrast ratio and adjustable brightness.

Also, an oleophobic coating was applied to Corning Gorilla Glass, significantly improving the strength and quality of the coating.

The screen backlight has an automatic brightness option or can be adjusted manually, the minimum display backlight will allow you to comfortably read books in the dark, and with maximum backlight in the sun you can see the images on the screen.

Cameras

The main camera of Nokia 3.1 A has an 8-megapixel sensor, complemented by autofocus, and also has an f / 2.0 aperture lens and LED flash. With a small value of megapixels, the camera allows you to take good photos while driving, and in good lighting it will give wonderful pictures. This camera will not allow you to take pictures at night and get great pictures, you can take pictures for domestic use, but the clarity and sharpness will suffer.

Indoors, the image quality will suffer, but for amateur photography, quite decent photos will turn out without problems. The presence of autofocus will allow you to choose which part of the photo to make clearer, and where to "cover up" the background, which allows you to focus on a certain area of ​​the picture. But keep in mind that the autofocus operation slows down the shooting process a little, so you should not rush.

Video on the main camera can be shot in Full HD-quality of 1920 x 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second.

The front camera has a 5 megapixel lens and its focus is fixed and the aperture is f / 2.0. The video will already be HD-resolution with 1280x720 pixels and a frequency of 30 frames per second.

The camera application interface does not have any special flaws or complications; when you turn on the main camera screen, you can immediately activate HDR mode, turn on or off the flash, change the main or front camera, select the video mode, or go to additional settings. When photo mode is on, it is easy to adjust the brightness of the image using the viewfinder.

You can independently adjust the evaluation method and exposure level, black and white balance, focus.To quickly launch the camera, hold down the shutdown and volume control buttons, and to take a photo - just press the volume control button instead of the usual button on the screen. Examples of photos are given below.

Sound parameters

The sound quality of the speaker deserves special respect. In many budget smartphones, listening to music via speakers is impossible without unnecessary background sounds. And for this phone, even at high volume, sound purity is quite good, you need to activate a special amplifier dedicated to the speaker.

The default player is Play Music. The phone is also equipped with a built-in FM tuner, when you plug in a headset, you can listen to your favorite radio stations.

Communications

From wireless connections, the phone is equipped with Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n and Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE. The presence of the latter characteristic can be attributed to the advantages of the novelty.

Also, the phone has a 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible USB connector, and GPS and GLONASS can be used to determine location and navigation, there is also support for A-GPS technology.

The model does not use Dual SIM, as is usual for many other smartphones, the second slot is designed only for expanding memory, and not for the second SIM-card.

Battery

Although 2990 mAh seems to be small for modern smartphones, but the manufacturers were able to organize the system of the smartphone so that this capacity will last 2 days without excessive use. The Nokia 3.1 A is equipped with a fast charging function using a 10 W charger. You can get a full battery in half an hour, which is a huge plus and convenience in using the smartphone every day.

In the settings, you can enable or disable the energy saving option, as well as use the automatic activation of this function when a certain level of battery charge is reached, respectively, by 5% or 15%, the transition to the energy-saving mode is activated.

Advantages and disadvantages

• beautiful design, high quality materials;
• Wi-Fi 11 b / g / n and Bluetooth 5.0;
• a separate slot for expanding memory using microSD cards;
• operating system Android 9.0;
• average price in its segment;
• availability of fast charging.

• weak processor for active modern games;
• no unlocking with a fingerprint scanner;
• presence of 1 sim card;
• weak rear camera for 2019 reality.

conclusions

Which company is better and how to choose among the many offers - these questions will always face consumers before buying a new phone. And more than one review will not give an exhaustive answer which one is better to buy. The package bundle and interface Nokia 3.1 And among the budget market distinguish it from other competitors.

Now Nokia also pleases its customers with reliable and popular models, improving the functionality and interface with each new model. After all, many people know Nokia devices before the Android era, and few people did without them in the 2010s and earlier. Finally, elegant and competing phones in its price segment began to appear from this brand, and now Nokia is again included in the rating of the best manufacturers according to the buyer's choice criteria.

Everyone decides which smartphone to choose for daily use, but as a budget phone, Nokia 3.1 A deserves to be in the rating of high-quality inexpensive and popular models.