Nokia 6: Classically powerful, sturdy and cheap -- now with Android

Years ago, Nokia ruled the cellphone industry and was highly praised for its no-nonsense take on a handheld. But the company has since made some upgrades in the form of the Nokia 6, which runs on an Android operating system.

READ: Nokia Android phones 2017 news & update: Nokia 6, HMD Global’s first step, to make available more phones in 2017

The Nokia 6 is the first post-Microsoft device released by the Finland-based tech company, which made some interesting decisions in terms of specifications. As GSM Arena has reported, the device has a 5.5 inch touchscreen with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution. Like most smartphones, it has a front-mounted fingerprint sensor and is powered by a Qualcomm processor.

The device is powered by the Snapdragon 630 chipset, which is partnered with an Adreno 505 GPU. The Nokia 6 runs on 4GB of RAM and has a built-in storage of 64GB. However, a microSD slot can expand storage to 256GB. Its rear camera is 16 megapixels while the front camera is still an impressive 8 megapixels. Furthermore, it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat straight out of the box.

What Nokia is still known for these days, however, are battery life and a sturdy skeleton. In these regards, the company hits it out with the Corning Gorilla Glass 3, but falls a little short with its 3000 mAh battery. The battery itself is stable, but the public has seen better numbers in competitors.

As if this criticism was expected, Nokia has already provided an explanation for this intentional choice. According to WCCF Tech, the company reasoned out that it chose the Snapdragon 430 because it uses less power-hungry processing cores. As such, it would put less strain on its battery and thereby provide more use. Stand by time of the Nokia 6 is clocked in at 768 hours on 3G.

READ: Nokia 6 specs, price and release details: New handset is first post-Microsoft smartphone [VIDEO]

The unit is currently priced just below US$250 (AU$340), but is not yet readily available in the market. There is no official release date for the Nokia 6, but it is expected to reach the public within the first quarter of the year.