Home » Nokia 3.1 Hands-On, First Impressions

Nokia 3.1 Hands-On, First Impressions

Written By Vaughn Chua
Published • August 31st, 2018
Hands-onMobile
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Last MWC 2018, we got our hands on the Nokia 3, but a few months after, its reboot called the Nokia 3.1 was announced. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the HMD Global’s Android One entry-level smartphone. Let’s begin!

We didn’t expect the Nokia 3.1 to look the way it does. Compared to its sibling, the Nokia 2.1, its form factor is compact and minimalistic. Regardless of its size, it still looks solid and premium thanks to the 2.D curved glass, metal chassis, and polycarbonate back panel with a matte finish. Overall, we like how it gives us a “fresh” feeling at first glance.

Starting at the front is the glass panel with Oleophobic coating. On top is the call speaker in between the 8MP camera and the Nokia logo. The Nokia 3.1 uses on-screen navigations to minimize the bottom bezel but it’s still too thick to our liking.

Look to the left and you’ll find two trays, one for the dedicated microSD card slot and one for the dual-SIM card slots.

On the opposite side are the standard volume rocker and power button combo. We didn’t like how the buttons are slightly buried deep in the device because it made it harder for us to press them.

On top is the lone 3.5mm audio port while the micro USB port, loudspeaker, and main microphone are located at the bottom.

Flip on its back and you’ll find the 13 MP rear camera and LED flash along with the Nokia and Android One logos down below.

Nokia did a great job with the 3.1 as it reminded us of the old Nokia feature phones in terms of size. We didn’t have problems with holding the device as the grip is good and it can also easily fit our pockets. We have a slight issue with the back panel as smudges are hard to remove even with the use of a microfiber cloth. The front panel smudges, however, can be easily removed thanks to the Oleophobic coating in the glass.

The Nokia 3.1 runs on the Android One OS based on Android 8.0 Oreo and is powered by a MediaTek 6750 processor. It also comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage which is plenty for video, file, music, and game storage. We’ll take it for a full spin in the coming days to know if its performance is as good as its design and construction so stay tuned.

Nokia 3.1 specifications:

	Nokia 3.1
Display	5.2-inch 18:9 HD+ IPS display @ 1440 x 720 pixels w/ Oleophobic coating
Glass Protection	2.5D curved glass w/ Corning Gorilla glass
Processor	MediaTek 6750 octa-core
GPU	Mali-T860 MP2
RAM	2GB/3GB RAM
Storage	16GB/32GB internal storage
SD Card slot	expandable up to 128GB via dedicated micro SD card slot
Rear camera	13MP f/2.0 AF rear camera w/ LED flash
Front camera	8MP f/2.0 front camera
SIM	Dual-SIM (nano,nano)
LTE	4G LTE Cat. 4
Wi-Fi	WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.2
NFC	NFC
GPS	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
USB	micro USB
OS	Android One (Android 8.0 Oreo)
Dimensions	146.25 x 68.65 x 8.7mm
Mass	138.3g
Battery	2,990mAh battery
Color	Blue/Copper, Black/Chrome, White/Iron