Second day in with my new Nokia 6.1 Plus, the physical feel is already nostalgic. I probably miss the size of smartphones when they were still 5.5″ and below. Although the Nokia 6.1 Plus is at 5.8″, bear in mind it has less bezels than the older generations. I for one, do not mind chins (because, tougher).

I bought this phone for RM679 ($USD 156) and the phone is intended as a work phone because I dislike using dual-sim cards. There are few reasons why I dislike using dual-sim cards;

1. Not all mobile networks are equal. In different areas throughout Malaysia, the network coverage from each telco is different. That means, one may work harder to find coverage over the other constantly. Hard work = faster battery drain.
2. Dual sim trays are usually hybrid slots these days meaning you can put 2 sim cards or 1 sim card + 1 SD card. In my usage scenario, I need 1 sim + 1 SD card.
3. It’s always nicer to have physical separation over app-controlled separation. Managing two sims and storage at software level is doable but messy. Maybe it’s some kind of OCD for me? At this moment, it’s nice to have two phones and put away one phone on weekends.
4. Non-related to disliking dual-sim cards, I need one backup phone just in case 😛
5. Actually, I just love buying phones. At the moment I have 1 Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Exynos, 1 Nokia 2720 Flip and now a Nokia 6.1 Plus (in China it’s called the Nokia X6).

Primary Specs

• Released: Q2, 2018
• Camera: 16MP camera front and back. Unfortunately not the famous Zeiss optics Nokia usually use. I mean, it’s cheap.
• RAM: 4GB
• Storage: 64GB storage with SD card slot. Maximum 512GB sized memory card.
• CPU: Snapdragon 636 (14nm)
• GPU: Adreno 509
• Charging: Type C port. Fast charging. Quick Charge 3.0.
• More technical specs here.
• Official homepage.

Reasons to Buy

1. Mid-range is good for work. I don’t know about your work requirements but I do a lot of text to PDF scanning to do.
2. 16MP is decent for general photography if you require it. In fact, it records in 4K too (not that you need it now).
3. Super cheap although you can find cheaper ones from Realme, I think I’m trying to avoid the Google ban on Huawei (or potentially China in general). Also, I love Nokia. I hope they rise back soon.
4. 4GB is not big these days but if you put heavy gaming aside (I use the word heavy carefully here), it will be fine.
5. Nice to hold, great size, premium finish.

Enough talk, let’s check out some awesome pics. Note: If the pic features the phone itself, the pic is taken with Note 9. Also, there’s 1 potato image in it (my Nokia 2720 Flip, lol). Click each pic for full size.

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What Else?

There is no need for heavy setup, it’s almost perfectly good to go after you sign in with your Google account. Try these tips after you fully update your system:

1. Full system update: Settings > System > Advanced > System update (may require multiple downloads, installs and restarts to finish every latest patch). The patches do not download all at once.
2. Fix sloppy animations: Enable Developer Mode first by going to Settings > About phone > tap Build number 5 times to activate Dev Mode. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Developer options > look for Window animation scale, Transition animation scale and Animator duration scale. Set all to .5x for faster and smother animations.
3. Faster notification area display: Go to Settings > System > Gestures > turn on Swipe fingerprint for notifications.
4. If you hate the notch: Settings > Display > turn on Full bezel.
5. More screen: Settings > System > Gestures > System navigation > Gesture navigation.

Hope you enjoyed that. I enjoyed writing this as much as owning the phone.