Meet the Nokia 7 Plus
It’s going to be an exciting year for Nokia. The legendary Finnish company is launching five new phones in 2018, and they’re promising something for everyone.
The first of the new Nokias we’re going to take a look at is the 7 Plus. It may not be the flagship of the family (that’ll be the Nokia 8 Sirocco), but it’s not too far off. If you’re looking for top specs and a premium design at an affordable price, this could be a smart choice.
Design and display
Spend a little time with the Nokia 7 Plus and you’ll begin to appreciate the craftsmanship that’s gone into it. The body has been milled from a single piece of aluminium, and it feels solidly built. The back has been coated with six layers of ‘ceramic feel’ paint, which gives it an attractive matte finish and a great grip.
The colour choices are black or white, each with copper highlights. It’s a really distinct look, and we like it a lot.
The 6-inch Full HD + display has the tall 18:9 aspect ratio common on the latest premium phones, and it looks fantastic - bright, colourful and sharp. The bezels are slim but make no mistake - it’s a big phone, and we occasionally found ourselves using two hands to type. It’s still comfortable to use with one hand though. That grippy back really does make a difference.
Camera
On the rear of the Nokia 7 Plus, you’ll find the same dual-lens Zeiss camera as the flagship Nokia 8 Sirocco.
That means there's a 12MP main sensor alongside a 13MP telephoto lens, allowing you to take professional looking Bokeh effect photos with blurred backgrounds. There’s actually a Live Bokeh mode onscreen, allowing you to adjust the level of background focus before taking your shot.
Round the front, the 16MP camera actually has more resolution than either of the rear cameras. Nokia says it’s great for taking selfies in low-light situations.
And then there’s ‘bothies’ - Nokia’s clever camera feature that lets you take photos (or videos) with the front and rear camera at the same time…
Further reading: How to use Nokia’s bothie camera
Android One
Nokia has signed up all its new phones to Android One. This gives you the stock version of Android, as Google intended it - a clean and fuss-free interface without any annoying pre-installed apps getting in the way. Android One also guarantees regular software and security updates, handled by Google itself.
Under the hood
With a Snapdragon 660 chipset (designed to give flagship-class performance to mid-range phones) and 4GB RAM under the hood, the Nokia 7 Plus packs plenty of power to keep everything running smoothly. According to Nokia, the 3,800mAh battery is capable of lasting two days before it needs recharged. We haven’t had the chance to try that out yet, but if it’s true we’ll be suitably impressed.
Our verdict
As we said earlier, the Nokia 7 Plus isn’t a flagship phone. But we’d happily describe it as a premium phone at a mid-range price. It’s got a fantastic display, a quality camera set-up, fuss-free software, and lots more going for it. You can order it from Carphone Warehouse right now.