nokia – Tech Raman

Nokia 7 Plus Review – A long term review

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 23:50:17 +0000

Nokia 7 Plus box contents Out of the box you get:

Nokia 7 Plus smartphone
In-ear headset
Power adapter (5V-2.5A/9V-2A/12V-1.5A)
USB Type-C Cable
SIM Ejector tool
Clear protective case
User manual and warranty information

Nokia 7 Plus Design

Metal unibody
158.4 x 75.6 x 8 mm
183 grams

The phone is rock solid and is carved out of a 6000 series block of aluminium. The first thing you admire when you hold the 7 Plus is it’s brilliant build quality and there is no second doubt about it. The second thing that catches your eyes is its dual-color accent and the black and copper Smartphone I got here has got quiet a polished suave look. The look is accentuated with copper trims around the phone’s edges, the outline of the display, the camera module, fingerprint sensor and also the Nokia logo. The black and the copper pairs up very well and is subtly striking. The pill shaped camera module has a fair amount of bump and it has the Zeiss branding on it. The LED flash sits next to it, with the fingerprint sensor and the Nokia branding vertically below. There is also Android one mention at the back. The right side has the power button and volume buttons. The left side has the SIM tray, its a hybrid SIM tray. The top houses the audio jack. A mic, USB type-c port, speaker slits and two antenna bands completes the bottom. Antenna bands are cleverly positioned without any distraction. Overall, the Nokia 7 plus has one of the best build quality I have come across recently, there is nothing fragile about this phone. If I have to nitpick , the sides and corners are not very smooth but on a positive note, they offer good grip while holding the phone.

Nokia 7 Plus Display

6.0 inches IPS LCD display
1080 x 2160 pixels
18:9 aspect ratio
403 ppi density
Corning Gorilla Glass 3

The advent of the 2:1 aspect ratio and thin bezels has made 6-inch display manageable on hands, while there is still a noticeable chunk of bezels on top and bottom of the display, Nokia 7 plus can be something I can live with, since I like big screens. Nokia 7 Plus is the company’s first to sport this new display format. The display is vibrant and vivid with a decent sunlight readability and good viewing angles.

Nokia 7 Plus – Androind One – Software

Android One
Guaranteed three years of upgrade

HMD Global was clever enough to realise it doesn’t make any sense inventing a wheel with a UI of its own and hence has completely aligned to the Google’s Android One program. It means – no extra apps, no extra customisation , no extra services but just serves the clean version of Android as Google envisages along with its bouquet of services. Nokia has just added its own Nokia camera app and Nokia care support app in extra. Android One promises two years of next Android versions and three years of security patches update – so you could look forward to Android P and Q, in case you stick to the phone for the next few years.

Nokia 7 Plus Performance

Snapdragon 660
Octa-core (4×2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260)
Adreno 512
4GB RAM
64GB Storage

Nokia 7 Plus is the first phone to launch in India with the Snapdragon 660. The processor is clearly a step up from the SD 625/625 processors and as of now the best in the 600 series family of Snapdragon. It’s a very capable hardware for an upper mid-range Smartphone, atleast till we see the SD 710 later in this year. The Adreno 512 helps in gaming and the hours of PUBG I played am sold out with its gaming capability. In fact the first time I played the game on this device and shot the gaming video, I managed the ‘winner winner chicken dinner’. The phone does warm up a bit while heating but not at an alarming level. https://youtu.be/U1RL99MI0jI The Smartphone also works well on all aspects of the uses you might put it to. The call quality is good and the speaker decent. Battery performance is very good and there was very little idle drain when not in use.

Nokia 7 Plus Camera

12-megapixel main Zeiss camera with 1.4µm f/1.7
13-megapixel Zeiss secondary camera with 1.0µm f/2.6, 2x zoom
16-megapixel front camera with 1.0µm f/2.0

This is the same camera setup in the Nokia’s flagship Noikia 8 Sirocco which promises to be a great on paper. Let’s begin with the camera app, which is Nokia’s own here. The camera app offers panorama, pro mode, live bokeh options plus there is HDR and beauty mode. There is also a dual picture mode or bothie as Nokia calls, where both the front and rear camera comes into action and you get both the images in a single click and also a PIP or picture in picture mode with both the cameras in tandem. The zoom can be reached out to 2x digitally. For videos, there is time lapse and slow motion support. The rear camera can take up to 4K videos while the front camera can shoot up to 1080p. The bothie and PIP works with video also, which comes handy for vlogging. Nokia has also added a live streaming option for Youtube and Facebook baked directly into the app. [gallery link="file" columns="4" ids="13651,13652,13653,13654,13655,13656,13657"] The camera performance is a mixed bag. What I really liked was the bothie feature both in photo and video. You never miss a moment with it both before and behind the camera. That’s not entirely a new introduction by Nokia, we have seen this earlier in some phones but many Smartphone OEM’s have forgotten the importance of it and it should find place in all phones. The camera UI is not bad either. The performance though is a mixed bag as I mentioned earlier. It focuses quick but the sharpness and clarity is a notch below the expectations the hardware setup promises. It probably is due to the limitations in the processing capability. With good lighting conditions, you might get more often a decent picture. The dynamic range is not that impressive. The low lights are better but still suffers from noise. The 16MP front-facing camera can shoot nice, sharp selfies with well balanced exposure and close to source colours. 7 Plus can take up to 4K videos at 30fps from rear camera and up to 1080p from the front camera. The OZO audio, that Nokia showcased in Nokia 8 makes finds place here too, which with the aid of three microphones and their own set of algorithms allows to record 360-degree sound when recording video.

Verdict:

What I Liked about Nokia 7 Plus

Sturdy build quality
Android One with its commitment for next two big upgrades
Clean interface
Camera UI and features – especially the Bothie feature
Overall good performance

What I did not like about Nokia 7 Plus

Camera performance could have been better
High pricing

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Microsoft Lumia 535 Launched at Rs 9199; Dual-SIM with a 5MP front shooter

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 17:02:07 +0000

The Lumia devices got a booster with the official launch of the entry-level Lumia 535 today in India and it also becomes the first of the Lumia devices to sport the Microsoft badging, replacing the Nokia. On the face of it, Lumia 535 seems to have in it to keep the Lumia brand in reckoning. It also fills the vaccum in the Lumia devices of no front camera in the affordable range. So what could turn the fortunes for Microsoft with Lumia especially in country like India where the Lumia devices still manages to evince interest? Lumia 535 features a 5-inch IPS LCD display, a most sought out display size in this part of the world, a dual-camera with a 5-megapixel camera set up both in the front and rear with LED flash and autofocus on the primary camera, a 1.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 200 chipset, 1 GB of RAM and runs on Windows Phone 8.1 OS. The display gets a qHD (960 x 540 resolution) strengthened with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. There is a 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded via microSD card and additionally the users also get a 30GB of One drive cloud storage. There is a 1,905 mAh battery which is removable. As a promotional offer, the Lumia 535 comes preloaded with Jabong, Flipkart, Paytm and Box TV apps, each of them bundled with an exclusive deal. Jabong offers a total of INR 6,000 off on their online purchases over a 3 months period, while Flipkart gives INR 1,500 worth of eBooks, Box TV offers 2 month free subscription. If you are a Vodafone user, you get 500 MB of free mobile data traffic, as well as a total of INR 600 extra charge value from Paytm over a period of 4 moths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVuSyyNQv2o]]>

Microsoft replacing Nokia store with Opera Mobile Store in Nokia Phones

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:31:49 +0000

Its end of the road for Nokia store very soon. Microsoft has opted for Opera Mobile Store to replace Nokia store for their Nokia feature phones, Symbian and Nokia X smartphones. The transition to the Opera Mobile store will begin in the first quarter of 2015 and the users will be automatically redirected from the Nokia store when they access it. Microsoft hopes to complete the process by the first half of 2015 by then the existing Nokia users using the non-Lumia devices will get access to apps, games and content from the vast repository of Opera mobile store. Talking about the partnership with Opera, “We continue to sell and support classic Nokia devices, which remain popular in many parts of the world,” said Rich Bernardo, Vice President, Phones, Microsoft. “We’re delighted to partner with Opera Software and continue to provide a reliable app store experience for consumers and developers alike.” According to Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. “When the current users of the Nokia Store are migrated to Opera Mobile Store, they will continue to get fresh, interesting apps for their Nokia phones,” “The Opera Mobile Store becomes an even more significant player in the app store market, and Nokia mobile phone users get a first-class app store for years to come.” Opera is poised to become third largest app store in terms of download with the addition of new Nokia users next only to iTunes and Play Store. Opera has around 300,000 apps and games and it supports more than 7,500 different devices, from feature phones to the most advanced smartphones. It should be noted that in August, 2014 Microsoft chose Opera browser as the default browser for Nokia-branded phones, including Series 30+, Series 40, Asha and Nokia X handsets.]]>

Microsoft replacing Nokia store with Opera Mobile Store in Nokia Phones

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 08:31:49 +0000

Lumia 630 Review [Hands-On]

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 14 May 2014 00:52:31 +0000

After bagging Nokia into its kitty, Microsoft is launching the first Lumia device under its watch in India and it also becomes the first Lumia device to arrive with Windows Phone 8.1 OS. There is also another first, Lumia 630 also is the first dual-SIM device in Lumia series. I always feel only in Lumia the vibrant, colorful panels looks very attractive and Lumia 630 is no different coming in bright orange, bright green and bright yellow rear panels alongside the usual white and black colours. The green is my pick of the lot. It looks really cool! Lumia 630 falls under the budget-phone bracket and is priced a tad higher than the Lumia 525 but well below the Lumia 625. (don’t get confused by the numbering) The 4.5in IPS display has a 854×480 resolution, a slight improvement on the rest of the budget-Lumia screen’s 800×400-pixels. Still a bit underwhelming pixel count but nevertheless the display packs a color punch and looks pretty good enough. Nokia’s ClearBlack technology boosts the display. Further there is also Corning Glass 3 screen protection. What lies under the shell? A 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core chipset powers the Lumia 630 but surprisingly they have opted for 512MB of RAM only. It must be noted that unlike the Android, WP is quiet an efficient OS but when Lumia 525 came with a 1GB of RAM, it should have found a place here too. Still, the quad-core processor proved to be a good leveling force and the device didn’t feel lagging at the brief period I toyed with. I am sure it will handle most of the regular stuffs people do at this segment barring some resource-crunching games. The device uses a polycarbonate body yet there is nothing of the cheap plasticy feel like most Android devices of this segment contents with. The rectangle block has slight corners on the edges and the Lumia 630 looks cute and feels good on hand. I quiet liked the matte finish of the chassis. No wonder even as the market share shrunk for various other reason, people still rate Nokia high on their device’s build quality. Hope the reputation and the effort continues under Microsoft too. The power button and volume rocker are found on the right while the left is stripped clean off any buttons and ports. On top and bottom as expectedly are the audio jack and USB port respectively. [gallery link="file" columns="4" ids="7142,7143,7144,7145"] The chassis almost look like an unibody but in real terms, it can be peeled out. The inside looks neat with slot for the dual SIM and memory card. Talking about the external memory card. It can be accommodate up to 128GB. Windows Phone 8.1 brings forth lots of new features and possibilities and Lumia 630 gets some of the benefits. One noticeable difference is the lack of hardware navigation keys and Lumia 630 uses on-screen capacitive keys. The device also gets in-phone search. Another introduction is the ability to customize live tiles on the home screen with our own background image. The image seeps down into various tiles as you scroll down. The parallax effect of the background image makes it more interesting and visually appealing. So good bye, the boring block color we have seen on Windows Phone 8 running devices. Go to Start + Theme setting for changing the background. Also earlier we could only have three coloumns of apps in larger Lumia devices but with the new software update, it is possible to have a third coloumn on Lumia 630. Yet another refreshing update is the Notifications + Action centre. Like with Android devices, swipe from top for the Action centre.It gives quick access to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Camera, brightness. Also you can see the notifications as well as control the notifications settings to allow/restrict notifications from certain apps. Lumia 630 comes with Microsoft’s new Word Flow keyboard. It is unarguably the best native smartphone keyboard around. This keyboard was officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest smartphone keyboard in the world. An interesting titbit the record was set by an Indian, Gaurav Sharma. You can swipe your finger for accurate text entry and it has great auto-correct features plus there is also a good dose of emoticons to get playful. Now to the camera. A 5-megapixel shooter is mounted on the rear sans a LED flash. The device lacks a front-shooter. There are quiet a dollops of features and also apps like Nokia Cinemagraph, Nokia Glam Me, Bing Vision are tied up to camera setting. First impression: verdict Lumia 630 is cute with a good build quality for a budget-smartphone, the WP 8.1 brings a host of new features that makes the smartphone better at usability. The brief time I toyed with the device, it looks like success of Lumia 520 might continue with this phone too. We will wait for our review device and give a detailed report but I am positive with the brief encounter. ]]>

Lumia 630 launched in India; comes in Dual-SIM and Single SIM variants

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 12 May 2014 12:52:13 +0000

Microsoft today launched the Nokia Lumia 630, the first device to run on Windows Phone 8.1 in India. While the Dual-SIM variant comes at a best buy price of Rs 11,500; the single SIM variant would be Rs 1000 cheaper. Lumia 630 device also becomes the first smartphone in the Lumia series to come with dual-SIM option, which has many takers in this part of the world. First unveiled at the Build 2014 conference last month, the 630 has a 4.5-inch LCD screen with ClearBlack display and armed with quad-core processing power. A quick run into the specs. the Lumia 630 features a 4.5-inch ClearBlack FWVGA display (854×480 pixels resolution) and strengthened by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Powered by 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 quad-core chipset and paired with surprisingly just a 512MB of RAM. Though the Nokia officials were quick to point that the Windows Phone devices could muster enough fire power with this RAM aided by a quad-core processor for regular consumer needs the segment focuses on. An 8GB of internal storage can be pushed ahead up to whooping 128GB via a microSD card slot. A 5-megapixel rear camera is what in store on camera department. Sorry selfies, no front camera in this one. The rear camera also lacks a flash. There is a 1,830 mAh battery that the company claims should give 13.1 hours of talktime and 25 days on standby mode. Lumia 630 flaunts an impressive chassis made on polycarbonate body and the swappable backpanel can be replaced by an array of colorful panels. The Dual-SIM gets smarter with lot of features to manage and streamline both the SIMs better and Lumia 630 brings new features like SensorCore low-power motion sensor with Bing Health and Fitness apps and also includes Microsoft Office, Nokia Camera, free Nokia MixRadio streaming, and HERE maps and also comes pre-installed with Whatsapp, WeChat and many more. The Dual-SIM Lumia 630 will hit the stores beginning May 14th and the single SIM variant will be available from the last week of May. ]]>

Nokia XL Review [Hands-On]

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 06 May 2014 11:07:31 +0000

Back in February this year at World Mobile Congress, Nokia put to rest all the rumors to rest and officially announced its foray into the Android world by launching the Nokia X series. Not one but 3 devices was showcased and but Nokia added a twist to the tale with its own forked version of Android which is way different than what Android users knew. Nokia X is a customized platform built on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). It’s very unlike your regular Android and has the look and feel of Asha and Windows OS. In March, Nokia X was launched in India and now Nokia is all set to launch Nokia XL and X+ here. During a showcase event, I had a brief time with Nokia XL and here is a hands-on review of the bigger phone of the Nokia X series.

Nokia XL design and build

On a first glance, you might mistake Nokia XL to a low-end Lumia device. Almost a Lumia 625 look-alike, the device is made of plastic and comes in colorful panels. With a 5-inch display the Nokia XL dwarfs the 4-inch X and X+ and is clearly aimed at the budget buyers who also want a bigger screen. In Europe, Nokia XL is priced at 109 Euro, so for a l0w-cost device its expected to have watered down specs. So the 5-inch IPS display comes with a modest 800×480 pixel resolution. To XL’s credit the display manages to be decent enough inspite of the 187 ppi pixel density. Though not very sharp, it is passable at this price segment. Nokia has a reputation for good build phones and it is evident with XL too. It build and feel of the device is better than most of the low-cost Android devices. It feels sturdy and good on hands. In fact, you might even mistake the device to have a unibody though the back panel can be removed. We will talk about it a bit later. At 10.9 mm it cannot boast of a slim figurine but it does not feel awkward holding it either and weighs 109 grams. The phone comes in eye-candy colors and I always feel only Nokia gets the color used better on their devices. Let’s talk of the colors and ports. There power and volume buttons are on the right and are color-matched with the body. A minute attention to design language like this is commendable for a low-cost device. The power/lock key is placed just below the volume rocker on the right side. The USB port is on the bottom and the audio jack on the top of the device, there is also a speaker grille on the lower bottom half of the rear and the camera is centered on upper half of the rear with a LED flash above it. [gallery link="file" columns="4" ids="7049,7050,7051,7052"] As I mentioned earlier, the body of Nokia XL could be mistaken for a unibody but it does come with a removable back panel. Even the inside has an attention to neatness. Along side the battery compartment, there are a dual SIM-inserts and a microSD card compartment all placed side by side neatly. The 2000mAh battery is good for 13 hours of 3G talktime, or 26 days on standby as per the company.

Nokia XL – hardware specs

In terms of specs the Nokia XL comes with a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 5MP rear camera and a 2MP front shooter. I would have liked a 1GB RAM. There is also a microSD card slot to pump the storage up to 32GB. The Nokia XL also has dual-SIM support.

Nokia XL Software

This is the most interesting part. We are talking about Android phone but looks and feel anything Android as known. As I mentioned earlier, Nokia X platform is a forked version of Android heavily tweaked and re-imagined without any trace of Google apps and with heavy Windows OS influence and loaded with Microsoft and Nokia apps. The current OS version is called Nokia X software platform 1.0.1 and is based on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS. Stripping the Google identity, the OS is tightly integrated with Mircosoft’s services. There is also no Google Play Store and instead Nokia has its own curated Nokia X store. Nokia claims it is very easy to port Android apps to Nokia X store and it would take just 4 hours to do it. In case, a particular app you are searching is not available on Nokia X store, the search result would lead to Nokia acknowledged third-party app stores which hosts the particular apps. With an additional extra step, you can download the app and get it running on your device. One can also sideload APK files. Swiping from right to left on the lockscreen takes you to the Homescreen on Nokia XL. You are greeted to a series of tiles similar to Windows phone.You can move around the tiles by holding and dragging, change the tile size or even change the color of tiles if you like to color-match particular genres of apps. All the apps are positioned on one vertical-scrolling row. A swipe sideways on the Homescreen leads you to the Fastlane which is essentially an intelligent log that simplifies the way the phone is used and personalized. Its a running feed that logs all the latest activities on the device. So the apps you used, message notifications, call log, social interaction all are right there and right here including even the music controls you made. If you think its an hyper-flow of information, you can control and streamline what you would like to see on the lane. Further Fastlane is touted to be adapt to your usage as you keep using the device. Carving its own identity and replacing many of the Google apps, we have Here Maps, Here Drive, free Mix Radio music streaming and Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage. Skype is also tightly integrated.

Nokia XL Camera

The less-than-ideal condition meant I could not take sample shots, so await our detailed review very soon. A 5-megapixel front with 1/4-inch sensor and flash and 2-megapixel rear camera should be satisfying the segment. There is no dedicated shutter button. The software is loaded with many features like colour effects, face detection and controls for exposure, ISO, brightness, white balance, contrast and saturation.

Early Verdict:

Nokia XL is aimed at emerging markets like India and a 5-inch big display and expected competitive pricing means there might be good takers for the phone. Nokia X platform though at earlier stage is very interesting experiment and combined with Fastlane gives a good navigation and UX. Plus, the build quality is a key differentiator in the segment swarmed with plasticky-feel phones.]]>

Nokia Android Phones are official; releases Nokia X, X+ and XL

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 10:17:43 +0000

The X family is only based on Android and uses a forked version of Android rather than the truest sense of Android most users know. It takes a backdoor Android entry similar to Amazon’s Kindle. To begin with, it doesn’t have Google Play certification and notable absence would be Google Play Store and would bypass Google services for Android experience. In stead, the apps would be curated on Nokia’s own App store which will have an exclusive section for X family. The UI looks very similar to the Windows Phone OS. May be the idea here is to make the entry-level segment get used to the Lumia language whenever they switch to it. Nokia says it is very easy for developers to port their existing Android apps and only three APIs have been changed, so if a developer isn’t making use of these, no changes are needed at all. It is also possible to download apps from third-party app-stores as well as side load an APK directly from the computer to the device. As expected, the devices would be baked with many Microsoft services as well as Nokia’s exclusive apps like Mix Radio and Here Maps.

Nokia X devices specifications and pricing

The first of the device and the one in rumor-mill for long time is Nokia x which is very similar to the Lumia 520 device. It features a 4-inch WVGA (800×480 pisxels) display and is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor paired with 512MB of RAM. Other specs include 4GB of storage with microSD support, 5-megapixel camera and a 1,500mAh battery. Nokia X would be the first device to hit the market immediately. Nokia says it would be available for 89 Euros. Nokia X+ and XL would rollout in the second quarter and would be priced at 99 Euros and 109 Euros respectively. Nokia X+ shares the same specs as of Nokia X but with only a beefed up internal storage. Nokia XL is the biggest device of the trio, sporting a bigger display – 5-inch WVGA (800×480 pixels) display — and gets better cameras– 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera. All the three devices are dual-SIM smartphones .As an introductory offer, Microsoft is offering buyers one month free calls Skype, and 1GB of OneDrive storage.

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Nokia Normandy or Nokia X, the rumoured Android phone listed on a retailer site

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 06:32:04 +0000

Now a leading Vietnamese retailer, The Gioididong.com has listed the Smartphone along with specs but without giving away any launch date or pricing. It has started giving weight to the talks that the device might be unveiled around World Mobile Congress in February. According to the listing, the dual-SIM Nokia X Android phone will sport a 4-inch display with a 480×854 pixel resolution and powered by a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon 200 processor with 512MB of RAM. The specs speaks of a budget Android phone that might sit along with the company’s Asha range of Smartphones. Other specs as per the listing includes a 4GB of internal storage with an expandable memory slot up to 32GB of RAM. The device also is rumoured to come with a 5-megapixel rear camera. To give more substantial reference to the Android, the listing mentions reference to various Google services like Play, Gmail, YouTube and Google Calendar tucked in the device. With Microsoft taking over the Finnish giant, it would be interesting to see if an Android phone from Nokia becomes a reality. Inspite of all the rumors and this news, I am still skeptical. For more updates on the mysterious Nokia X, stay tuned to the website. Update: When last checked after writing the article, seems like Gioididong.com has hidden the listing now.]]>

Nokia Lumia 1320 phablet launched in India for Rs 23,999

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 18:29:23 +0000