HMD has availed another Plus phone in the Kenyan market. The Nokia 3.1 Plus, which is technically the larger sibling of the 3.1 we reviewed a couple of months ago, can now be purchased from local store shelves at KES 17,500.
The device ships with a MediaTek chipset just like the 3.1, but of a different model altogether (P22). The model available locally is the 3/32 GB version that will offer sufficient media room at the price. Also, since this is a Plus phone, it is equipped with a dual-camera setup at the rear at 13 MP for the main sensor and 5MP that comes in handy when taking fake blurred shots.
The screen stretches to 6 inches at 720 resolution (larger than the 6.1 Plus and 7.1). It also has a large cell at 3500 mAh and with the combination of the aforementioned 12 nm silicon and undemanding screen, we can tell the handheld will pull admirable numbers in terms of battery performance.
The 3.1 Plus adds to a fair number of Nokia phones with a Plus moniker in the Kenyan market: Nokia 5.1 Plus, 6.1 Plus and the slightly older 7 Plus that is still an excellent value by today’s standards.
Also, we are not sure how long HMD will continue to confuse us with a worrying naming scheme that keeps changing every cycle. There is no clear path as to what model succeeds the previous version, and in a case where those numbers are discernable, the manufacturer communicates something that stirs the confusion further. Don’t believe us? How about the fact that the Nokia 8.1 is a successor to the 7 Plus, and not the flagship Nokia 8 from 2017?
That aside, the 3.1 Plus ships with Android 8.1 Oreo under the Android One umbrella but as you may have suspected, it can be updated to Android 9 Pie, making it one of the few sub-20K phones that rocks the latest version of Google’s mobile OS.
