The original Nokia 6 was heavily criticized for being powered by an underpowered processor. Despite of being a mid-range handset, it had Snapdragon 430 SoC. So, considering this, the company finally launched new Nokia 6 (2018) with an advanced Snapdragon 630 SoC. And it makes the newcomer a tough rival for several mid-range handsets including Mi A1, Moto G5s Plus and Redmi Note 5 Pro.
In this article, we are putting the new Nokia 6 against one of the best mid-range smartphones – the Mi A1 in a detailed gaming and performance comparison. I am very excited as the Nokia 6 has already impressed me during early days of use.
Before I dig deeper, have a look on the technical specifications:
| Nokia 6 | Mi A1 | |
| Processor | 2.2GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 | 2.0 GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 |
| RAM & OS | 4GB RAM & Android 8.0 | 4GB RAM & Android 7.1.2 |
| Graphics | Qualcomm Adreno 508 | Qualcomm Adreno 506 |
| Battery | Li-lon 3,000 mAh | Li-lon 3,080 mAh |
BENCHMARK SCORES
We usually use two benchmarking applications – 3D Mark and GeekBench. While the GeekBench demonstrate overall performance, 3D Mark is known for testing core gaming and graphics testing.
Starting with GeekBench, both the Nokia 6 and Mi A1 scored almost same. Meaning, their overall performance is going to be more or less similar. But soon as I switched to 3D Mark, Nokia 6 left me astonished. It seems that HMD Global has taken those critics very seriously and worked hard on the optimization in order to improve performance.
As you can see above, the Nokia 6’s score is almost of double of what Mi A1 has scored. So, theoretically, we can assume that Nokia 6 might perform outstandingly in gaming test.
DAILY OR GENERAL USAGE
Snapdragon 625 or 630, both SoCs are commonly known for very good general performance and can be seen in most of the mid-range handsets.
The Nokia 6 and Mi A1, both smartphones are good for general use. If you are a normal user who does social media, watch videos, listen to songs and play normal games; the duo won’t disappoint you.
Further, as expected, input speed of both handsets is remarkable. Whether you are typing or giving some command, they respond quickly. I didn’t find any lag or stutter during normal usage on either of them.
HEAVY USAGE & MULTI-TASKING
Multi-tasking is an ease on both handsets. I had more than 10 apps open including some heavy gaming apps. And I am happy that Nokia has fixed “restart” problem which we saw on original Nokia 6. Now the newcomer resumes the apps. Same is the case with Xiaomi Mi A1. Switching between them is very easy, however, occasional stutter can be seen on both handsets when switching to any heavy app.
I heavily used both handsets for about one hour. Both were heating but Mi A1 was heating more than the Nokia 6. I saw 26% of battery drop Nokia 6 and 24% battery drop on Mi A1.
GAMING PERFORMANCE
Until now, both handsets have been equally good in every section. So it will be interesting to see how these two are going to perform while heavy gaming. I have installed three heavy games – Asphalt 8: Airborne, Shadow Fight 3 and Gangster Vegas: Mafia Game.
Starting with Asphalt 8, both handsets were struggling to render the frames however it was good to see that game was running smoothly in the starting. After around 10 minutes, Mi A1 started struggling. It was lagging too often. The Nokia 6, on the other hand, took some time while booting the game for the first time but then it was running fine.
For rest two games, same is the case again with Mi A1 however, Shadow Fight 3 was smoother than the Gangster Vegas. On the other hand, Nokia 6 performed outstandingly however, 12% battery drop was measured on Nokia while 30 minutes of gaming. Mi A1, on the other hand, took 11% battery.
Heating is also an issue on Mi A1. It heats faster and more than the Nokia 6 which didn’t start heating before 15 minutes of gaming. The Mi A1 started heating in merely 5 minutes.
CONCLUSION
While both smartphones performed almost same in most of the sections, the new Nokia 6 took a lead in gaming performance. The handset has received a powerful upgrade and very good optimization; making it the winner. The handset doesn’t heat much and consumes average amount of power.
The Mi A1, on the other hand, isn’t a bad choice either. Only issue I found considerable that it heats too much. As far as the performance is concerned, the handset is still better than most of the mid-range smartphones.
So which one of them you will go for? Do let us know in the comments below.