HIGHLIGHTS
- Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 8.1 come with PureDisplay screens
- PureDisplay offers HDR10 support
- It also aims to offer higher contrast and better colour reproduction
HMD Global has churned out some extraordinary smartphones this year like the Nokia 8 Sirocco and the more affordable Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 5.1 Plus. These phones have excelled in design, and have also offered some sharp edge-t-edge displays. But HMD felt it could offer more on the display front, which is why it launched the Nokia 7.1 with what the company calls PureDisplay. The phone was announced in London a few months ago and it was brought to India last week.
Earlier this week, the company also announced the Nokia 8.1 in Dubai, which also features a PureDisplay screen. This phone is expected to launch in India on December 10 as well. For both these phones, the company has been mentioning the term PureDisplay quite a lot and is expected to use this more often in 2019. This begs the question - what does PureDisplay mean, anyway?
What is PureDisplay?
Earlier this year, HMD was on a bit of an acquiring spree. It first acquired the PureView trademark from Microsoft, and we are still expecting to see this name revive with the Nokia 9 PureView. In August, the company filed a couple of more trademarks that also included PureDisplay. Later in October, HMD announced the Nokia 7.1 in London with a PureDisplay screen.
PureDisplay is what HMD calls its screen technology aimed to offer a more immersive viewing experience thanks to HDR playback support. Both the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 8.1 support HDR10 video playback, which means videos will offer detail, sharpness and improved dynamic range than regular LCD displays.
Nokia 7.1 (left) and Nokia 6.1 Plus (right)
In addition to this, the Nokia phones with PureDisplay also have the ability to upscale SDR content to HDR in real time using a dedicated 16-bit engine. This essentially means, you should be able to experience HDR quality videos even if the content is not in HDR. HMD says that PureDisplay is able to deliver higher contrast ratio (1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio), more clarity and better colour reproduction compared to typical LCD displays in this segment.
HMD feels that consumers spend most of their time watching videos on phones, which is why it introduced the PureDisplay technology. HMD chief Juho Sarvikas said during the launch of the Nokia 7.1 in October that "almost two thirds of videos around the world are viewed on mobile which is why we've introduced our PureDisplay screen technology, to give our fans a premium viewing experience on a smartphone."
Why does it matter with the Nokia 7.1
HMD launched the Nokia 7.1 in India at Rs 19,999, and a lot of consumers felt it is overpriced considering the Nokia 6.1 Plus offers a lot of the same hardware at Rs 15,999. It's true that the Nokia 7.1 is priced a few notches higher and delivers a similar notched design along with a Snapdragon 636 chipset. But HMD tried to give the Nokia 7.1 a little more premium standing because of its PureDisplay screen and Zeiss lens.
So if you keep the Nokia 7.1 next to the Nokia 6.1 Plus, you should theoretically see a more vivid display on the Nokia 7.1 with higher contrast and wider colour pallette. With HDR10 support, you will be able to watch vibrant HDR-supported content on streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube. This also makes the Nokia 7.1 one of the cheapest phones to support HDR playback.
All of this is to say that the few unique features offered with the Nokia 7.1 are not going to be available with the Nokia 6.1 Plus. The Nokia 6.1 Plus is a fan-favorite and still the best value for money Nokia phone alongside the Nokia 5.1 Plus. But the Nokia 7.1 is aiming at consumers who want to enjoy watching high-quality videos and photos on a phone, and PureDisplay is one way to go about it.
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