Smart, speedy and easy on the wallet

A MID-RANGE smartphone with good performance and no sluggishness, the Nokia 8.1 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 octa-core processor running at 2.2 GHZ. It’s equipped with 4 gigabytes of working memory or RAM and 64 GB of internal storage, which is expandable with a microSD card by up to 400GB. It uses the Android 9 operating system without add-out user interface.
Released by HMD Global, the smartphone has a good quality main rear camera that uses Zeiss Optics and a dual camera system for bokeh effects. The main rear camera has 12-megapixel resolution using a sensor with a large pixel of 1.4 microns for capturing precise light conditions, as well as optical image stabilisation.

The second rear camera is 13-megapixels and provides depth data to achieve the bokeh effect. The Nokia 8.1 even comes with Live Bokeh mode that provides a slide bar for you to adjust the level of blurred background. You can see the results of your adjustment in real time.
The camera’s auto mode is called Photo and uses AI to recognise various scenes and adjusts shooting parameters for you automatically.
If you are an advanced photographer, you can use the Pro mode that allows you to adjust various shooting parameters on your own, such as white balance, shutter speed, focus mode and exposure compensation.
I tried shooting with the Photo mode and I found that Nokia 8.1 captured beautiful and clean shots in most lighting environments. The Live Bokeh mode allowed me to achieve the blurred background effect easily and made the subjects of my photos more prominent.
The phone also comes with 20MP front camera for selfie shooting.
Nokia 8.1 comes in a two-tone design with the second colour at the edges to add a unique look. The phone is strong with a metal frame and its back is covered with strong glass that doesn’t get smudged by fingerprints.
Its 6.18-inch Full HD+ edge-to-edge PureDisplay looks beautiful in 18.7:9 ratio. It’s bright too, with 500 nits of brightness and boasts 81-per-cent display-to-body area.
The display supports HDR10 technology so watching movies on Nokia 8.1 is enjoyable. I caught HD movies streamed via TrueID TV and iflix on the phone during the test.

The phone can play High-Resolution Audio music files in FLAC 24bit/192kHz format. I tried using the phone to play Hi-Res files and I found that the large music files played smoothly with good quality sound in details and strong bass. I also tested the phone with Sony’s MDR-1ABT Hi-Res Audio headphones. 
Nokia 8.1 has fast Internet connection, scoring a data connection speed on the Ookla Speedtest app of 64 Mbps for downloads and 38.2 Mbps for uploads.
The smartphone has a fingerprint sensor at its back below the camera’s lens for securely unlocking it. I found the fingerprint worked effectively.
The Nokia 8.1 has a 3,500 mAh battery which supports fast charging. I could survive a day with one charge.
The Nokia 8.1 is available at Shopee for Bt9,900.
 

Key specs: 
Networks: 4G: LTE CAT6, 3G: HSPA, 2G: GSM
OS: Android 9 Pie
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 2.2GHz
Memory: 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM
Storage: 64GB, expandable with microSD by up to 400GB
Display: 6.18inch Full HD+ PureDisplay in 18.7:9 view ratio
Cameras: Main rear: 12MP 1.4micron sensor with Zeiss lens; second rear: 13MP depth camera; Front: 20MP
Wireless connectivity: WiFi 802.11ac; Bluetooth 5.0
Location: GPS/AGPS, GLONASS, Beidou
Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer (Gsensor), Ecompass, Gyroscope, Fingerprint sensor (rear), NFC
Battery: 3,500 mAh, 18W fast charging
Dimensions: 154.8 x 75.76 x 7.97 mm
Weight: 189g
Colour options: Blue/Silver, Steel/Copper, Iron/Steel