HMD Global launched the Nokia 7.1 budget Android smartphone in India at an event held earlier this month. The smartphone made its global debut at an event held in London last month. Featuring a notched PureDisplay with HDR10 support, the Nokia 7.1 is positioned between the Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 7 Plus in the company’s lineup. Aside from the POCO F1 (review), one of its main rivals in India is the Android One Xiaomi Mi A2. While both smartphones have quite a few major selling points, here are five main reasons why we think it makes sense to consider the Xiaomi Mi A2 over the new Nokia 7.1.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE SoC
When it comes to performance, the Xiaomi Mi A2 certainly has an edge over the Nokia 7.1. While the Nokia 7.1 is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 14nm octa-core processor as the Nokia 6.1 Plus (review), the Xiaomi Mi A2 runs on a more powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor, clocked at up to 2.2 GHz with an Adreno 512 GPU. Both in terms of real-world performance and benchmarking performance, the Snapdragon 660 is a superior chipset.
20MP AI Selfie Camera
If you are someone who loves to take selfies, the Xiaomi Mi A2 will definitely impress you with its 20MP AI selfie camera. Xiaomi is using a Sony IMX376 sensor on the front with 4-in-1 Super Pixel technology to achieve large 2.0um pixel size. It comes with several AI-driven features like semantic segmentation, Beautify 4.0, and bokeh enhancement. In comparison, Nokia 7.1 features an unexciting 8MP selfie camera on the front, clubbed with an f/2.0 aperture lens.
More RAM, Onboard Storage
Xiaomi had initially launched the Mi A2 in India in a single memory configuration with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. In October, however, the company launched the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant of the handset in the country. The Nokia 7.1, on the other hand, is available only in a single memory configuration with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Even though the Nokia smartphone offers lower RAM and onboard storage, it costs INR 1,000 more than the 6GB RAM + 128GB storage variant of the Xiaomi Mi A2.
Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 Support
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is one of the few smartphones on sale in India to support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4.0 standard for fast charging. Compared to the older Quick Charge 3.0 standard, the newer Quick Charge 4.0 standard can deliver 20% faster charging speeds along with 30% higher efficiency. However, it should be noted that the Mi A2 does not ship with a Quick Charge 4.0 compatible charger in the box. In order to actually enjoy the faster charging speeds, you will need to spend additional money to get a compatible charger.
12MP + 20MP Dual Rear Cameras
In addition to the 20MP AI selfie camera, Xiaomi Mi A2 offers a better 12MP + 20MP dual-camera setup at the rear. The primary Sony IMX486 primary sensor boasts 1.25um pixel size, while the secondary 20MP sensor uses pixel binning technique to achieve a large 2.0um pixel size. Both the 12MP and 20MP sensors on the back of the phone come with phase-detection autofocus and are clubbed with f/1.75 aperture lenses for superior low-light performance. The Nokia 7.1 sports a 12MP + 5MP dual-camera setup at the rear with Zeiss optics.
