HMD Global, and the Nokia brand they are responsible for, are certainly doing some interesting things these days. Recently, while debuting the Nokia 7.1 locally, the company explained its approach to the mobile market.

Patrick Henchie, the head of product an operations for sub-Saharan Africa for HMD Global, pointed out that traditionally Nokia devices have been known for their design and craftsmanship, and the company’s primary aim is to provide users with a device that will last.

With this year seeing a number of heavy hitting flagships being released, from the likes of Apple, Samsung and Huawei, there can be little doubt that competition is fierce to win over users’ hearts, minds and wallets and be their choice of mobile brand. He continued that Nokia’s approach is to offer a device that is well made and works well in everyday life.

Both the Nokia 7.1 and the Nokia Plus, which we have on hand at the moment, certainly live up to this ambition. The devices feel premium in hand, sturdy with sleek lines and a modern aesthetic.

Henchie enthused that the 7.1 in particular has been designed with the intention of offering flagship features in a device that has a value category price. “According to our research, what people want in a device is that it is aesthetically appealing, and feels good in their hand. As well, a great photographic experience is top of the list, as is a display that can be used in a variety of environment,” he explained.  

With this in mind, he elaborated that the Nokia 7.1 sports dual Zeiss cameras - a 12 megapixel and a 5 megapixel one, with the latter assisting in blurring out the background for a Bokeh effect. As well, in a particular nod to the content creators out there, users can carry out live streaming directly from both the back and front cameras, presumably to overlay commentary on a subject that you are filming. As well, fast autofocus is intended to enable users to react more quickly to moving subjects.

Answering the desire for a top-notch display, Henchie noted that the Nokia 7.1 is the first of its devices to boast Pure Display on its 5.84 screen, which offers richer, more saturated colours, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) content. Additionally, the device is capable of upscaling standard dynamic range content to HDR as well.Powering the Nokia 7.1 is a Snapdragon 636, along with 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of storage. To its credit, it does have a headphone jack and accommodate a microSD card. As well, it sports a 3060 mAh battery,

While it wasn’t onboard out the box, Android Pie will be coming to the device, and Henchie promised that Nokia phones moving forward will continue to offer a “pure Android experience” without bloatware or unrequested apps being preinstalled.