
The $349 Nokia 7.1 brings a low price, flagship-style design to the US - Tomte
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/10/the-349-nokia-7-1-brings-a-low-price-flagship-style-design-to-the-us/
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peterbraden
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.

~~~
simlevesque
> 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.

~~~
rpeden
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. :)

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

~~~
markdown
People say that and worse about pineapple on pizza :(

~~~
r00fus
Or anchovies. Yuuurg.

YMMV I suppose.

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aeturnum
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.

~~~
steve19
But no headphone jack

~~~
ralphie02
not sure what you mean. I have a nokia 8 and it has a standard 3.5mm headphone
jack

~~~
steve19
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-...](https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/25/17049950/nokia-8-sirocco-
release-date-pricing-mwc-2018)

~~~
aeturnum
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?

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snaky
> 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.

~~~
nkoren
Any advice on how to buy that in the US?

~~~
bdz
Aliexpress with DHL shipping

[https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Global-Version-Xiaomi-
POCOPH...](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Global-Version-Xiaomi-
POCOPHONE-F1-POCO-F1-6GB-64GB-Snapdragon-845-6-18-Full-Screen-
AI/32915991130.html)

BUT I'm not sure you will get LTE coverage

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

~~~
bdz
Doesn't look good then

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US)

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

~~~
Nokinside
You must ask HMD.

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

~~~
skrebbel
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.

------
acconrad
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...](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/nokia-6-1-review-the-perfect-
phone-for-your-friends-and-family/)

~~~
cbhl
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/](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/](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).

------
jvagner
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.

~~~
Tsubasachan
Nokia 8 Sirocco.

[https://m.gsmarena.com/nokia_8_sirocco-9087.php](https://m.gsmarena.com/nokia_8_sirocco-9087.php)

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

------
rbanffy
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.

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bitL
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.

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thisismyaccoun7
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.

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

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bastijn
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__.

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

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

------
belenos46
Why do these things treat a finger-print reader as a feature? That alone puts
a phone on on my no-buy list.

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multibit
> 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.

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jbob2000
> 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.

~~~
UK-Al05
Doing the same thing cheaper is a perfectly valid design choice

~~~
jbob2000
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.

~~~
Nokinside
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.

