Nokia 5.1 vs Nokia 6.1 | Which budget phone is best?

We compare the Nokia 5.1 and Nokia 6.1, two budget smartphones released by the manufacturer in 2018. The Nokia 5.1 is the cheaper mobile at £189, while the Nokia 6.1 costs a little more at £229 here in the UK - yet while these Android One phones both boast 5.5-inch displays, they sport very different specs in many regards.

The Nokia 5.1 runs on a Mediatek Helio 18 chipset, backed by just 2 or 3GB of RAM, while the 6.1 model offers a Snapdragon 630 with an extra gig of memory. You get a Zeiss-branded 16MP camera with the Nokia 6.1, while the cheaper 5.1 handset drops the Zeiss label and some of the camera features. You can't shoot 4K video on the Nokia 5.1 either, unlike the Nokia 6.1.

So which cheap Nokia phone is best? The small difference in price suggests that you should go for the Nokia 6.1, which is more capable and also boasts more storage space. That said, the Nokia 5.1 offers a slimmer, more compact design, albeit one with less frills.

Check out my Nokia 5.1 unboxing and more over on Recombu.