> 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. :)
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.
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.
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.
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 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).
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.
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?
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_.
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.
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.
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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[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 113 ms ] threadThe 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.
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.
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.
https://driving.ca/lexus/auto-news/entertainment/top-10-chin...
I thought you might think this is funny.
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".
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.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Global-Version-Xiaomi-POCOPH...
BUT I'm not sure you will get LTE coverage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US
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).
That might still be slightly more expensive than the AliExpress price, but at least you'll have better consumer protection.
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.
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.
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.
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. :)
YMMV I suppose.
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?
I really don't get it.
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?
Nokia is not making or designing these phones. They just license the brand and patents.
I'm glad it at least it has the headphone jack, but I'd like my phone to last a while too.
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...
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.
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...
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).
It also has a "traditional" screen if that's something you want.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/25/17049950/nokia-8-sirocco-...
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.
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.
https://m.gsmarena.com/nokia_8_sirocco-9087.php
Near stock Android, good update support and 8Gb RAM memory.
Seems mid priced but not a bargain.