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Verdict
The Nokia 3.1 is the kind of phone you might make if you sketch up a design spec, send it to a Chinese contract manufacturer and fill shop shelves right from the production line. It looks good enough, and while the specs won’t impress anyone, they seem fair for the price.
It just doesn’t stack up in reality. The Nokia 3.1’s performance is poor in almost every respect bar gaming. And now 16GB of storage barely seems enough to let you install WhatsApp, its prospects as a gaming phone are a bust.
Who's this for?
The Nokia 3.1 is for SIM-free buyers, serial phone smashers and those who’d much rather pay a few dollars or pounds a month for a phone contract rather than 50.
Should you buy it?
Even if you find the Nokia 3.1 at well under its original price, we can’t recommend the phone unless HMD Global makes big improvements to its performance. It is simply too much of a chore to use, with the kind of lag we expect from $50/£50 phones, not $150/£150 ones.
The following three phones are much better alternatives:
Moto G7 Play
The Moto G7 Play is a little more expensive than the Nokia 3.1 in some spots, but it is a far better phone. Double the storage, almost double the CPU power and fast charging make it more than twice as capable as the 3.1.
Even if you’ll just use your phone for messaging and taking the odd picture, the Moto is a far better bet.
- Read our full Moto G7 Play review
Vodafone Smart X9
Proof of how much you get for your money when buying a network-locked phone, the Smart X9 has ridiculous specs and is actually slightly cheaper than the Nokia 3.1.
It has a Full HD screen, a much more powerful Qualcomm chipset and the same 16MP camera sensor as the OnePlus 6. Many of you won’t want a locked phone, but this one embarrasses the Nokia 3.1.
Honor 9 Lite
Consider looking at the Honor 9 Lite before it disappears off shelves completely. At the time of writing you can buy it online at the same price as the Nokia 3.1. For that you get four times the storage, far better performance, a more reliable camera and a glass - rather than plastic - back. This is, you guessed it, a much better phone than the Nokia 3.1.
- Read our full Honor 9 Lite review
First reviewed: February 2019
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