The way HMD has been releasing phones month after month, one cannot help but feel a new Nokia phone is just waiting to come to India this month. And recent rumours all point to the launch of the Nokia 7.1. The company first announced this phone last month for the European market. Considering how HMD has brought almost all of its devices to India, it would be very surprising to leave this one out.

In a lot of ways, the Nokia 7.1 looks and feels similar to the Nokia 6.1 Plus. That’s actually not a bad thing considering the popularity of the Nokia 6.1 Plus around the world and especially in India. It has sold incredibly well in the country and we expect a similar response from the Nokia 7.1 as well, if it indeed does make it here. Here’s a look at some of the best features about the Nokia 7.1 that make it worth waiting for.

— One of the reasons the Nokia 6.1 Plus is doing so well is because of its design. The all-glass body with silver accents gives it a premium look. And its edge-to-edge display keeps it grounded in the current trend. The Nokia 7.1 gets all of these as it comes with a similar design. In fact, it is a little more polished than the Nokia 6.1 Plus. Apart from the Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the front and back, the Nokia 7.1 gets a dual-anodised Series 6000 aluminium frame with diamond cut edges. You also get copper or silver accents (depending on the colour option) all around the frame, buttons, rear cameras and fingerprint sensor.

— One of the features that I am personally looking forward to seeing is the new PureDisplay screen. The Nokia 7.1 is the first Nokia phone to incorporate this new technology which is said to offer better contrast and sharper colours along with HDR support. With HDR10 support, the Nokia 7.1 offers a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio with great detail and vibrant colours. Notably, the device will also upscale SDR content into HDR content. What all of this essentially means is that we can expect a more vivid and sharper display compared to the one on the Nokia 6.1 Plus. Whether or not the display really brings something new to the table remains to be seen.

— Now, as great as some of the recent Nokia phones have been, there is one specific area where they have felt a bit lacking. The cameras on the Nokia 6.1 Plus or the Nokia 5.1 Plus have not been terrific. They manage to capture decent outdoor images, but they lack a certain kind of punch. The Nokia 7.1 may just fill that gap as it gets Zeiss optics much like the Nokia 7 Plus. The 12MP + 5MP configuration gets two phase detection support for faster autofocus. The cameras will also support HDR photography for crisper and sharper images and EIS will also help with stabalisation while recording videos. The rear camera supports bokeh effect, Pro Mode and Bothie.

— Nokia smartphones this year have been some of the best for offering a pure Android experience. Of course, that’s because every Nokia phone from Nokia 3 and above are now part of the Android One program. So is the Nokia 7.1, which means the device comes with stock, bloatware-free Android Oreo out-of-the-box with a promise of regular security updates for three years and two major software updates. This will most likely offer a similar experience as the Nokia 6.1 Plus. Additionally, the phone will also be updated to Android 9 Pie very soon.

— The Nokia 6.1 Plus has a very competitive pricing in India and we expect the Nokia 7.1 to have to come with a competitive price tag as well. While both the phones share a lot of the same specs, the PureDisplay screen technology and Zeiss-branded lenses will likely force HMD to price the device a little higher than Rs 15,999. Anything under Rs 20,000 would surely be in favour of the Nokia 7.1, especially if it can impress with those extra features. There is a large gap between Rs 18,000 to Rs 30,000 that HMD will want to fill up and the Nokia 7.1 and possibly the rumoured Nokia 8.1 may just be the phones that will slot in here.