Nokia 6 hitting the U.S. in early July for $229 on Amazon

The new Nokia 6, which we first saw back at MWC in Barcelona, is making its way to the U.S. in "early July" with an expectedly low price of $229. It comes stateside roughly six months after a launch in China and a bit more than a month after a launch elsewhere in the world.

Though the Nokia 6 is the top-end model the company offers — sitting above the 3 and 5 — it's very much a mid- to low-end phone. The 5.5-inch LCD comes in at 1920x1080 resolution and has Gorilla Glass, which is nice, but other areas have been cut back. You'll get a Snapdragon 430 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, plus a 3000mAh battery. The rear camera is a 16MP unit with 1-micron pixels and an f/2.0 lens.

As for networks, the Nokia 6 is set up for use on GSM/LTE carriers — so that means Verizon and Sprint are a no-go here. T-Mobile and its prepaid affiliates are fully supported, but a word of caution that LTE Band 29 and 30 are not included so AT&T is only partially supported. Do your research.

The Nokia 6 will be on sale at Amazon, putting it in front of plenty of people who cross-shop for inexpensive unlocked phones. It will have stiff competition from the likes of the Moto G5 Plus, which comes in at the same $229 price and can leverage a history of the Moto G name. HMD Global is certainly counting on the nostalgia of the Nokia name to pick up some sales in this competitive space.

Press release:

Nokia 6 arrives in the United States

The highly anticipated Nokia 6 smartphone will be available on Amazon

MIAMI, 26 June 2017 – HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, is making its highly anticipated U.S. debut, bringing the Nokia 6 to U.S. fans in early July 2017 through Amazon.

Combining superior craftsmanship and distinctive design with an immersive audio experience and a 5.5" full HD screen, the new Nokia 6 delivers a truly premium smartphone experience. The unibody of the Nokia 6 is crafted from a single block of 6000-series aluminium and is perfect for those who want a robust phone with outstanding entertainment credentials. The smart audio amplifier with dual speakers offers a deeper bass and outstanding clarity, while Dolby Atmos® sound delivers a powerful moving entertainment experience.

Premium design

Continuing the Nokia phones heritage for designing robust devices with style and finesse, the Nokia 6's premium quality and inherent strength ensures it is built to perform and to help you take on life's challenges. It takes 55 minutes to machine the seamless Nokia 6 aluminium unibody from a solid block of aluminium. It then receives two separate anodising processes, taking over 12 hours to complete, with each phone being polished no less than five times. The end result is an aluminium unibody with the highest level of visual and structural quality.

"It brings us great pleasure to introduce a new generation of U.S. fans to Nokia phones, while offering existing fans the same unparalleled and high quality Nokia phone experience they have come to love over the years," said Maurizio Angelone, Vice President Americas, HMD Global. "The Nokia 6 exemplifies our commitment to best-in-class performance, design, and craftsmanship, and we are proud to offer American consumers a smartphone option that will not require them to sacrifice quality for cost."

Entertainment everywhere

With outstanding color reproduction, the Nokia 6 has a bright, hybrid in-cell 5.5" screen with full HD resolution viewed through sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass. The display stack is laminated enabling excellent sunlight readability without compromising the slim form.

Powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 430 mobile platform and the Qualcomm® Adreno™ 505 graphics processor, the Nokia 6 strikes the perfect balance between performance and power consumption, designed to deliver premium quality entertainment on the go.

"Phones have become an extension of ourselves and are integral to so many aspects of our lives. From capturing memories and keeping us entertained, to keeping in touch and remembering important dates and anniversaries, our smartphones are often at the heart of everything we do," said Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer, HMD Global. "The new Nokia 6 sets a high bar for quality and we've taken no shortcuts to ensure the Nokia 6 rewards you with a premium experience for everyday use. From its bespoke design through to the quality entertainment features, we've designed the Nokia 6 to give you more."

Great imaging experience

We have carefully thought about every aspect of the phone's design, seamlessly integrating the Phase Detection Auto Focus 16MP camera into the body of the Nokia 6. Delivering sharp pictures, Nokia 6 also features a dual tone flash, meaning natural colors and skin tones indoors and out. With the exclusive camera user interface, automatic scene detection makes it easier to take great shots every time. And with an 8MP Autofocus front facing camera, you can take great shots from any angle.

Sale information

The Nokia 6 will initially only be available in Matte Black and Silver on Amazon beginning July 2017 and will retail at $229 MSRP. The phone will also be available in Tempered Blue and Copper later this summer. Notes to Editors:

Technical Specifications for Nokia 6

  • Networks: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA: Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8 LTE: Band 2, 3, 4, 7, 12/17, 28, 38
  • Network speed: LTE Cat. 4, 150Mbps DL/50Mbps UL
  • Dual SIM variant
  • OS: Android Nougat
  • Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 430 mobile platform
  • RAM: 3 GB LPPDDR 3
  • Storage: 32 GB internal user memory[ii] with MicroSD card slot (support up to 128 GB support)
  • Form factor: Touch monoblock with capacitive system keys
  • Display: 5.5" IPS LCD full HD (1920 x 1080, 16:9), sculpted Corning® Gorilla® Glass, 403 ppi pixel density, sunlight readability, 450 nits, laminated
  • Camera: Primary camera: 16MP PDAF, 1.0um, f/2, dual tone flash; Front facing camera: 8MP AF, 1.12um, f/2, FOV 84˚
  • Connectivity & Sensors: Micro USB (USB 2.0), OTG, 3.5mm ADJ Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, E-compass, Gyroscope, Fingerprint Sensor, NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, BT 4.1, ANT+, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS+BDS, FM/RDS.
  • Battery: Integrated 3000 mAh battery
  • Audio: Dual Speakers with Smart Amplifier (TFA9891) with Dolby Atmos®
  • Dimensions: 154 x 75.8 x 7.85 mm (camera bump: 8.4mm)
Andrew Martonik

Andrew was an Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central between 2012 and 2020.

29 Comments
  • Here's to hoping that Canada will get it too eventually
  • I'm waiting for the flagship
  • Yeah this is just the appetizer in my opinion. Really curious to see what they camera wise with the flagship.
  • Dam g5 plus just kills this
  • Also made from an singke block of Aluminium? That's superior quality my friend not cheap moto **** :-) "The unibody of the Nokia 6 is crafted from a single block of 6000-series aluminium and is perfect for those who want a robust phone with outstanding entertainment credentials. The smart audio amplifier with dual speakers offers a deeper bass and outstanding clarity, while Dolby Atmos® sound delivers a powerful moving entertainment experience." CNC machine needs 2 hours for one frame . Go NOKIA ! In since 5 a share and pays lovely dividends, too!
  • That's all good, but spec wise Moto g5 kills it , wished Nokia made a version that went head to head with Moto z play. But I'm not into this nostalgic hype about Nokia coming back.
  • Higher end phone will be available later this year.
  • It does, but Moto has been mediocre regarding updates to it's phones.
  • LMAO
  • Thing is in this range I would want function over form, what you're talking up about this phone is what I'd expect from a flagship.
  • that's all relevant when their performance and battery life are up to par. we are talking inferior processing power 430 vs 625 (power efficiency and performance) and still to be proven software.
  • May dive in since the price is so low.
    The build on this phone looks very well done to me so I'm very curious.
  • T-Mobile will profit handsomely from this alliance.
  • Does anyone know if this has a dual-band wifi radio (2.4 and 5)? Nevermind----- (read fully drhere) I see it Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Hopingng the USA version has NFC so I can use Android pay
  • Read the specs, nevermind.
  • Limited ATT support and Snapdragon 430? Too bad, coulda been a contendah. Talk about shooting themselves in the foot first thing out of the gate...
  • I have a Moto x pure using at and t. I live in NYC and get LTE everywhere I go in the city. The nokia 6 has the same bands so I don't think it will be a problem
  • Does this even have Verizon lte band support? I know it didn't have cdma
  • No.
    No one IN THE WORLD uses CDMA anymore. If Verizon insists in using outdated tech and American consumers insist in using Verizon, they'll always remain limited to the phones Verizon pays OEMs to release with CDMA. Otherwise no OEM will be producing special versions of a phone just because one American carrier insists in staying in the 80's.
  • Can't understand why it doesn't have at least the SD 626, if not the 630 processor.
    Wish Nokia would have made the 6's body out of the same colorful polycarbonate material they used with their old Windows Phones. Just to be different.
  • If this is the low end build , the flagship model should be very interesting .
  • What does it take to get the Verizon LTE bands on this phone?
  • A wait until next year?
  • It'll take Verizon to pay for the special edition of the phone.
  • I'll keep exercising patience and keeping my money saved for the Nokia flagships later this year. I'm expecting big things especially if this is the quality of the low to midrange phones. If the flagships fail to deliver I'll just get the Note 8 or new iPhone 7s/8Plus instead
  • I am surprised that you didn't compare it with ZTE Axon 7 mini, which offers better processor, same RAM & storage, better camera (with OIS), more LTE bands and dolby atmos sound; all with Android 7 and $200 (or less).
    I am using it since January and still haven't found a phone that can beat that.
    Nokia can't sit on nostalgia to sell phones. They are gonna get beaten by Xiaomi and Lenovo in Asia as well as OnePlus, Motorola and ZTE in US.
  • Android Central seems to have a problem with the Axon 7 family. They never mention it - except when it's in the news for getting an upgrade (7.1.1, by the way - way before much of the competition). I don't know if they're down on ZTE for their MiFavor OS skin (which, admittedly, has its detractors), or just because it competes so well on specs and price with the OnePlus family that AC has such a hardon for. OP is great - don't get me wrong. But they're moving into a different price category than the A7 and other midrangers. But then again, AC also has no problem recommending you shell out 800 bucks for the latest Samsung bauble...
  • I think the Nokia flagship sailed a long time ago !!