Mid-range Nokia 7.1 scores timely Android 10 update
The Nokia 7.1 is arguably one of the best and most competitive smartphones released stateside under the revived brand that once dominated the world's mobile device landscape, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise that HMD Global is turning its attention to this mid-range model after bringing stable Android 10 updates to the slightly higher-end Nokia 8.1 and the Nokia 9 PureView flagship.
Exclusive Nokia brand licensee HMD merely needed a month to replace the Android 8.1 Oreo software running on the Snapdragon 636-powered handset at the time of its commercial debut with the newer Android 9.0 Pie version, and now the Nokia 7.1 is officially joining the likes of the Sony Xperia 1 and Xperia 5, as well as the Asus ZenFone 6 and ZenFone 5Z, OnePlus 7, 7 Pro, 6, and 6T, and even Samsung's entire Galaxy S10 family (in certain markets) on the Android 10 bandwagon.
Android 10 should pair nicely with the very respectable hardware of the Nokia 7.1, maximizing the autonomy of a decent 3,060mAh battery with a system-wide dark theme, enhancing the overall performance of the aforementioned SD636 SoC, improving the speed and intuitiveness of the gesture navigation, and much, much more. As always, the update will be offered over-the-air in waves, rolling out gradually around the world, which means you shouldn't be very concerned if it doesn't arrive on your specific device right away.
Nokia 7.1 scores another perfect 10! Upgrade to Android 10 starts today. #nokiamobile#Android10pic.twitter.com/2WyefgCZ9B
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) December 10, 2019
That probably means this marks the end of the software support road for a mid-end phone currently available for as little as $209 unlocked in the US, at least as far as major OS upgrades are concerned. Interestingly, the newer, prettier, and faster Nokia 7.2 is still stuck with the outdated Pie flavor of the world's most popular mobile software platform. It remains to be seen if the 7.2 will be brought up to date before the 6.1, 6.1 Plus, and 7 Plus make the jump sometime in January 2020.
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