On the heels of the Moto E5 Plus and the Moto G6 Play, comes another small budget, affordable phone. This time, it’s Nokia, stepping into the game like the powerhouse it is – with the new Nokia 3.1 priced at $249.
With most flagship phones nowadays nearly breaking the $1000 mark, it feels almost surreal that decent quality phones are still being made by top brands, for a quarter of that price. With its anodised aluminium and Gorilla Glass 3 exterior, the Nokie 3.1 exudes the hardware quality and design that you expect from Nokia, including an 18:9 display with a 1440×720 resolution. While you obviously won’t get a flagship level camera from a $249 phone (especially with respect to low-light photography), the Nokia 3.1’s wide-angle front 13MP camera will certainly allow you to fit more in your selfies. At 5.2 inches, it’s also the perfect size for one-handed usage.
The Nokia 3.1 wisely uses Android One software, thereby ensuring that the unnecessary bloatware that accompanies most low budget phones, is kept at bay. This allows the phone’s simple interface to give you to have a more streamlined access to Google Photos and other Google apps (almost like on a Pixel!).
On the flip side, the phone’s battery is only 2990mAh and it will charge with a micro-USB (disappointing news for any phone now that we’re in the third quarter of 2018).
The new Nokia 3.1 will be available for $249 at JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman from 2nd August 2018.