At first glance, the device is stylish with a matte black case and a copper gold strip finish all around the sides.
https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/image/view/-/4610974/medRes/2007972/-/eohm98/-/ogembo.jpgGopher Ogembo, HMD Global Senior Business Manager for East Africa, during the launch of the Nokia 7 Plus smartphone. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
Ask anyone on the street what HMD is, and I highly doubt anyone would have even the slightest clue to the name. The Finnish company has been responsible for the revival of the new class of Nokia devices.
One of the latest devices from HMD to come into the Kenyan market is the Nokia 7 Plus retailing at about Sh46,000.
At first glance, the device is stylish with a matte black case and a copper gold strip finish all around the sides.
The matte black plastic back is a magnet for fingerprints and oily smudges, which need to be constantly wiped off, taking away points from the muted appeal.
Once you turn on the device, the iconic Nokia tune will start up the device and yes, the default ringtone is the same version that was part of the original Nokia.
The transfer of data from my current device to the Nokia 7 Plus was seamless including the applications, call data, images complete with a wallpaper change once I logged into the device.
The user interface is the usual Android, given the fact that Nokia signed up all its new devices to Android One. This devices run on a pure Android OS receiving the next two dessert updates and three years of security updates.
With most smartphones having a shelf life of a year or two, this means one can have the device for three years without worries of discontinued systems. It is a bit cumbersome to type with one hand even with the slender bezels on the side and the protruding camera at the back also means that typing with the device flat on the table is not.
The back dual zeiss camera has a 12MP main sensor alongside a 13MP telephoto lens, allowing one to take Bokeh effect photos (where the background is blurred).
The live Bokeh also allows you to select what you want in focus or blurred. The front has a 16 mega pixel selfie camera that takes clear images in high resolution
It takes about an hour and a half to fully charge the device which lasts for between 24 and 30 hours on medium to heavy usage.
This means you can have data running all day: Instagram, YouTube, games, Snapchat and be connected to WiFi without having to walk around tethered to a power bank.
The device has a 64 GB storage with a 4G RAM, meaning the processor is fast even when running multiple applications in the background.
The phone supports dual SIM cards, however one has to choose between an expanded memory or having two SIM cards running.
The device is in competition with devices such as the Oppo F7, its predecessor the Nokia 8, LG G6 and Huawei Mate 10 Lite