Nokia 6 2nd-Generation is Official; Arrives With Improved Design, Snapdragon 630, OZO Audio

The original Nokia 6 that was launched by HMD Global in China in January 2017 had marked the return of the Nokia brand in the mobile phone industry. Today, the Finnish firm has unleashed the Nokia 6 2nd-generation smartphone with improved specs and design.

Design and Display

The Nokia 6 2nd generation has a strong build that is made out of 6000-series aluminum unibody with diamond cut beveled edges. The rear panel of the smartphone has been redesigned as it features a camera module that is similar to the one available on the Nokia 5. The fingerprint scanner is placed on the frontside of the original Nokia 6. However, the 2nd Gen Nokia 6 has a rear-mounted fingerprint reader.

Since it measures 148.8 x 75.8 x 8.15mm, it is slightly shorter and thicker than the original Nokia 6. It comes in color choices like black and silver. HMD Global has reduced the bezels surrounding the display of the 2nd Gen Nokia 6. This has allowed the company to feature the same 5.5-inch IPS LCD display in a slightly compact compared to the predecessor phone. The display supports an aspect ratio of 16:9 and screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It sits well protected under 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Performance and Variants

One of its major setbacks of the original Nokia 6 is that it includes a modest Snapdragon 430 chipset. After the Nokia 7, the Nokia 6 2nd Gen is the second smartphone from the company to be powered by Snapdragon 630 chipset that features a 2.2 GHz octa-core processor.

The chipset is supported by 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM. The smartphone is fueled by a 3,000mAh battery. that can be charged to 50 percent in just 30 minutes through fast charging. It will be available in the market in 32 GB and 64 GB storage models. The hybrid dual SIM slot can be used to add a microSD card on the phone.

Camera and Other Features

The Nokia 6 2nd Gen features the same camera sensors found on the predecessor phone. At the rear is the dual-LED enabled 16-megapixel camera and an 8-megapixel 84-degree wide-angle selfie snapper is fitted on the front panel. The Bothie mode that is available on the Nokia 8 and Nokia 7 is also available on the new Nokia 6.

The Nokia 6 (2018) is preloaded with Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The Finnish firm has promised to release the Android Oreo update for it soon. The OZO audio recording that makes use of dual spatial microphones present on the phone can capture 360-degree surround sound. The connectivity features available on the smartphone include USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth 5.0, Cat. 4 LTE modem and Wi-Fi. The original Nokia 6 supports NFC, but the official listing of the Nokia 6 2nd Gen does not mention whether it carries support for NFC.

Pricing and Availability

The 32 GB and 64 GB models of the Nokia 6 2nd Gen are respectively priced at 1,499 Yuan (~$231) and 1,699 Yuan (~$262). In China, it will be exclusively available through Suning. It is up for reservations on the Chinese retailer site and it will be hitting the shelves on Jan. 10.