Nokia 6.1 Plus vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: can the Finnish brand topple the budget favourite?

“The 6.1 Plus comes as the global variant of the Nokia X6”

In May this year, Nokia embraced the notch display with the launch of its Nokia X6 (first impressions) smartphone in China. Amidst the talks of the global launch of the smartphone, the brand has finally gone ahead and released the smartphone as the Nokia 6.1 Plus in Hong Kong. Amidst the rumours of the 6.1 Plus to be launched in India soon, it’s natural to wonder how it stacks up against one of the most popular smartphones in the mid-range — the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro (review). Let’s find out in this comparison. 

Design and display

The Nokia 6.1 Plus and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro are as different as chalk and cheese, when it comes to the design. The 6.1 Plus comes with a premium-looking glass-sandwich design with the trending notch display on the fascia. The Note 5 Pro on the other hand, sticks to the quintessential metal unibody design with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Moreover, the Nokia 6.1 Plus is lighter than the Redmi Note 5 Pro as it tips the scale at 153g as compared to 181g weight of the latter. 

Coming to the display, both the 6.1 Plus and Redmi Note 5 Pro feature full HD+ panels but with the aspect ratios of 19:9 and 18:9, respectively. In terms of the size, while the Nokia handset sports a 5.8-inch screen, Xiaomi’s offering ships with a slightly larger 5.99-inch panel. This also makes the Nokia smartphone sharper as its display flaunts a pixel density of 435ppi as compared to the Note 5 Pro’s pixel density of 403ppi. Both smartphones get a protective Corning Gorilla Glass 3 layer for providing scratch-resistance.

Hardware and software

When it comes to the performance, both the Redmi Note 5 Pro and Nokia 6.1 Plus are at par with each other. The smartphones come powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 chipset. Both handsets ship with 4-gigs of RAM. The storage on both devices stands at 64GB, though the Note 5 Pro is also available in a higher-end variant with 6GB RAM. 

Coming to the software, the Xiaomi handset boots Android 7.1 Nougat based MIUI 9 out of the box. The Nokia 6.1 Plus on the other hand, is an Android One smartphone and offers stock Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. The smartphone will also be among the first few to get the next two major updates as soon as Google rolls them out. The bloatware-free software with the promise of faster updates and an identical spec sheet gives the Nokia offering a slight edge over Xiaomi’s device.

Camera and battery

When it comes to the imaging department, both smartphones flaunt dual-camera modules and powerful selfie cameras. The Nokia 6.1 Plus sports a 16-megapixel + 5-megapixel setup accompanied by an LED flash on the rear panel. In comparison, the Redmi Note 5 Pro gets a 12-megapixel shooter backed by a 5-megapixel secondary camera. However, the dual cameras on the Redmi Note 5 Pro are assisted by a dual-tone LED flash, which offers more illumination in low light. Further, the Redmi Note 5 Pro gets a 20MP selfie shooter, while the Nokia 6.1 Plus comes with a 16MP front camera. 

For power requirements, the Redmi Note 5 Pro relies on a beefy 4,000mAh cell. In comparison, the 6.1 Plus comes with a smaller 3,060mAh battery. However, Nokia’s offering gets an edge with support for Quick Charge 3.0 and next-gen Type-C port for charging, as compared to the Redmi Note 5 Pro, which ships with Quick Charge 2.0.

Closing thoughts

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro already enjoys a reputation of being one of the most value-for-money handsets in the mid-range segment. However, the Nokia 6.1 Plus presents itself as a solid contender with a modern design, stock Android and similar spec sheet. Moreover, the 6.1 Plus is expected to be priced similarly to the Redmi Note 5 Pro. Which one would be your pick among these two? Let us know in the comment box below.

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