Nokia 7 Plus or Xiaomi Pocophone F1?

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  Jenus on 23/10/2018 - 15:12

  I've been weighing between a Nokia and a Pocophone F1, but looking to buy end of the year.

  On OS: I really like the idea of Android One. And I don't like Miui that much. If everything was the same I'd go with the phone with Android One. That being said, there is a whole lot more support for the Pocophone F1 at this moment. If you fancy tinkering and adding your own custom firmware, Pocophone will be well supported by the community for years to come. Head over to XDA to have a look.

  Camera: Not sure if this a important to you but the sensor on Pocophone is apparently better. The camera app itself is crap, you have to download the Pixel Google Camera port from XDA and then the quality really shoots up.

  Durability: HMD Nokia phones have great durability. In fact, JerryRigsEverything rates them as one of the sturdiest phones around. But have a look at his video on the Pocophone F1 and you will realise that it's no slouch as well. It survived the bend test and being made out of plastic at the back was able to return to its original shape with no issues.

  Nokia has also recently announced the X7, to be released in the new year as Nokia 8.1. That will run on Snapdragon 710 which is still mid tier but will be slightly better than 660, which is also no slouch.

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  skelty on 24/10/2018 - 08:02

  nokia 7 plus has australian stock if that matters to you

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  1000101BIN on 24/10/2018 - 11:45

  Recently bought a Nokia 7 plus after upgrading from a 2014 flagship so I'll chime in my 2 cents.

  Processor: originally when considering what phone to buy I was very turned off the midrange Snapdragon 660. However, after taking the plunge I can confirm that this is a very good CPU compared to the Snapdragon 801 flagship of 2014. My usage pretty much extends to listening to music, browsing the web, etc. Very light stuff but it handles it very well and no issues there. I don't play games so I can't really speak of the performance on that. In comparison to poco with SD845, I wouldn't expect much difference except in the long run for my use case. If you're a heavy user or play more games that might be beneficial to you, however I personally don't think I'd get much out of an 845. Same thing with 4GB ram, works perfectly fine for me.

  Camera: I didn't really have much expectations out of this camera considering the price but yeah it's not very good. This is in comparison to samples of flagships from S9 and pixel but still, the camera here is definitely one of the weakest aspects of this phone.

  Android one: I'd say this is personal preference. One thing I do like is the lack of bloatware and how clean stock is, but I would suggest flashing stock Android on an older phone or trying in store to see how it feels. There's no downside of Android one though compared to miui with its controversies and Chinese government stuff.

  NFC: I never used this on my older phone but after trying Google pay contactless payments, I don't think I could live without it. It is really just a convenience feature however and if you're content with sticking with card (as I was) then there's no real issue.

  B28: I am also in the Melbourne metro on amaysim, commuting from the city and the suburbs. My old phone did not have band 28 and would consistently drop mobile signals to E/3G/H+, however after having band 28 on Nokia 7 plus, my signal is pretty much always 4G with full bars. Once again, the lack of band 28 didn't prevent my from using my phone but with B28 and strong signal wherever is a nice feature to have.

  Overall, I am very satisfied with my nokia 7 plus with the exception of camera quality. It's up to you whether the SD845 is worth giving up B28, NFC and Android one.

  • 

    skidexa on 24/10/2018 - 18:15

    How much did you pay for Nokia 7 plus?

    • 

      1000101BIN on 24/10/2018 - 20:01

      Around $435 after 10% eBay code and 5% eBay gift card.

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  redrum22 on 24/10/2018 - 13:00

  Thanks All. I've bitten off on the Gearbest deal for the Poco F1. I'll try to post an update on my thoughts once I've used it for a week or so.

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  redrum22 on 31/10/2018 - 20:22

  +4

  Figured I'd post an update…

  I've been using the Pocophone for the last 2 days in Melbourne greater metro, and my number 1 concern when I pulled the trigger on it was the lack of band 28 support. Seemed to be a very debated topic. I'm a bit shocked, and pleasantly surprised, how good my experience has been. My previous phone was a Nexus 5, and I'd usually have a couple of dead spots along the train line between South Morang and the city. Network might drop down to 1 or 2 bars in a couple of usual spots, or even drop out on some occasions. Taking the train on the loop under the city was also hit and miss with low signal and possible drop out.

  After 2 days of use with the Poco, I've never seen this thing even drop a bar on 4G, let alone change from 4G. This includes trains under the city, elevators in office buildings, inside a double brick house in the burbs. I'll still be interested to see what happens when I drive a ways outside of Melbourne, but so far, some of the reports on band 28 seem completely overblown. Or maybe this device is just a beast. Loving it.