The Nokia 6.2 swings in and replaces one of our favourite Nokia phones, updating the Nokia 6, which has dragged its heels a little in the design department over the past couple of years. 

The big change here is that the new Nokia 6 launches alongside the new Nokia 7.2 with very much the same design, although there are differences in the hardware and position of these two devices. 

Our quick take

The Nokia 6.2 sits in a competitive place. Starting at around €199, you get a great display and compelling array of cameras with just enough power to keep things ticking along nicely.

Of course we've only spent limited time with this phone so far, but we have high hopes for it. The biggest question, however, is whether the Nokia 7.2 is going to cast a long shadow over this cheaper handset.

The Nokia 6.2 will be available from €199 for the 3/32GB model and will be available in October 2019.

Nokia 6.2 initial

FORAGAINST

Premium design

  • 159.88 x 75.11 x 8.25mm, 180g
  • Aluminium core with Gorilla Glass front and back

Nokia Mobile, since its rebirth under the umbrella of HMD Global, has always focused on design, offering a range of devices with a quality of build that you don't always find in the mid-range or affordable positioning.

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That's always been true of the Nokia 6, but the 2018 model, with thick bezels above and below the display, never looked quite as up to date as the Nokia 7 models - which expanded to an 18:9 display and then a notched display in the 7.1

That's been swept aside with a waterdrop notch on the Nokia 6.2, a slight chin at the bottom of the phone, but a much increased screen to body ratio overall.

The aluminium core is coated in a polymer composite to get additional strength with glass front and back for a premium finish. It doesn't have the same luxuriant finish as the Nokia 7.2 - which has shimmer and depth to its back - but it's a solid result overall. There's no waterproofing, but at this level that's to be expected.

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The eagle-eyed will notice an additional button on the body, in place to launch Google Assistant as Nokia continues that close relationship with Android. 

Great display

  • 6.3-inch PureDisplay, Full HD+
  • HDR compatible
  • 500 nits 

The Nokia 6.2 also finds itself with a nice, big display. At 6.3-inches, this PureDisplay is the same as the screen you'll find in the Nokia 7.2, meaning you're getting a lot of inches for a little less money. 

Nokia says it's a smart display too: it's an LCD, but it aims to be adaptive, shifting the colour tone to suit the environment, while the 500 nit brightness should be enough to cut through most of the glare. It's also HDR compliant, supporting HDR content from Amazon Video.

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But it's also going to upscale your content to make it look better. If you're playing SDR content it will attempt to upscale to HDR in real time, hopefully making everything look better. While it sticks to Full HD+ - typical for this positioning - our first impressions are of a vibrant and detailed display. It looks great. 

We haven't had enough time to fully assess its skills, but we're off to a great start. What's also great is that the Nokia 6.2 is offering this display, very much like the next phone up Nokia's range - so if display is important, this could be the phone for you. 

Hardware specs

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, 3/4GB RAM
  • 32/64/128GB storage + microSD
  • 3500mAh battery 

As a mid-range phone, the Snapdragon 636 isn't out of place. It's a fractionally lower than that 660 of the Nokia 7.2, while the RAM options come in at 3 or 4GB, which is still pretty decent.

There will also be storage options running from 32GB up to 128GB, with microSD for expansion up to 512GB. Of course, the storage you choose will have an impact on the price - and we're expecting a number of parings of different RAM and storage, although it's not clear what you'll be paying where just yet.

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We've not really spent enough time with the Nokia 6.2 to fully gauge its performance, but this is an increment step forward over the Nokia 6.1 and that phone ran smoothly, with ample power for daily tasks. Sure, you won't get the speed of a flagship, but you ca still play the latest games and enjoy content on that screen with no problem. 

There's a 3500mAh battery which is pretty big, but currently we have no idea how that battery will last in more aggressive use.

The cameras 

  • 16MP, f/1.8 main camera, secondary 5MP depth camera
  • 8MP ultra wide-angle f/2.2 camera
  • 8MP front camera 

The cameras sit in that roundel on the rear of the phone, just as they do on the Nokia 7.2. There are three lenses and a flash - just like the Nokia 7.2 - but also a number of differences. 

The Nokia 6.2 doesn't get the Zeiss glass that the 7.2 does, but it's a same overall combination of main, wide and depth sensor to boost the bokeh experience. 

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The main camera drops to 16-megapixels, while the wide-angle is the same at 8-megapixels. We like wide-angle cameras as they give you a different perspective and with a tap of a button you're straight over to a different view. We can't assess the quality just yet, but it's a great option on an affordable smartphone.

Onto the bokeh experience and this is one of the elements that HMD Global is really talking up. The secondary sensor is there to gather more data and enhance the portrait experience, although all the portrait features are available on both the front and rear cameras - the front just a single sensor. Go figure. 

When we say "portrait features" there are a range of options for the effects you can apply. On the Nokia 7.2 these come with Zeiss branding, but here on the 6.2 they are slightly different, but you can still change the effect of the background. Nokia isn't alone in offering this - Samsung does much the same. 

First impressions are pretty good, we took a couple of test shots and the effects seem to work pretty well, but we can't judge the full performance until we have a sample in for a full review.

Interestingly, Nokia is saying that you'll be able to use many of these functions in HDR conditions and in low light - again, something we need to fully test. 

What we will say though is that there's a lot crammed into this camera. While we love having camera options, there's always the risk that too many will simply confuse users who just want to point and shoot.

Android One software 

As with Nokia's other phones, the Nokia 6.2 runs Android One. This is a pure version of Android, free from bloatware and other distractions, so it's very much like the Pixel experience.

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It's an experience that we like, because unlike budget brands like RedMi or Honor, you don't have to skip around duplicated apps or services - it's clean and lean. But the real benefit is that Nokia has demonstrated that it can provide updates to its phones quickly - it's not only been the fastest to update to Android Pie, but it also delivered security updates on a timely basis. 

With Android 10 just launching, we wouldn't be surprised if the Nokia 6.2 was one of the first devices to step up to the new Android experience.

To recap

The Nokia 6.2 sits in a competitive place. You get a great display and compelling array of cameras with just enough power to keep things ticking along nicely.