“The Lava Z50 and Nokia 1 are the first Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphones in India”
The Mountain View giant Google announced the lightweight Android Oreo (Go edition) platform last year in December. The OS is optimised to work smoothly on entry-level smartphones with up to 1GB of RAM. At MWC 2018, we witnessed a bunch of new Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphones – the Alcatel 1X, ZTE Temp Go, Lava Z50 (first impressions) and Nokia 1 (first impressions). Now, two of these smartphones – the Lava Z50 and Nokia 1 have landed in the country. We pit them against each other to see how they stack up. Stay with us to find out.
Table of Contents
Design and display
Since both the Nokia 1 and Lava Z50 are quintessentially entry-level smartphones, there is nothing to write home about in terms of their designs. Both devices are constructed out of polycarbonate, and feature a matte finish at the back. While Lava’s Z50 has a more boxy design, the Nokia 1 is more rounded in comparison and thus more ergonomic. Moreover, Nokia is also offering Xpress On covers in various colours for users to customise the handset, which is a nice touch. However, the covers have to be purchased separately for Rs 450 each. The Nokia 1 also features IP52 certification for protection against liquid splashes.
Another noticeable difference is the position of the rear cameras. The shooter and LED flash is placed in the top-left corner on the Z50, whereas the Nokia 1’s camera is placed towards the middle.
Coming to the displays, both smartphones offer 4.5-inch panels with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. However, the Lava Z50 gets a TFT display with a 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass layer on top. The Nokia 1 on the other hand, comes with an IPS LCD display and there’s no clarification if it has any protective coating or not.
Performance and software
Moving on to the performance department, both smartphones are, once again, neck to neck with each other. Inside both, ticks the MediaTek MT6737 processor mated to Mali-T720 MP2 graphics. For storage, the devices ship with a gig of RAM and 8GB onboard storage. However, the Nokia 1 gets an upper hand when it comes to the support for memory expansion. One can add microSD cards of up to 128GB on Nokia’s offering as compared to the maximum support of 64GB microSD cards on the Lava Z50.
As for the software, as already mentioned, both boot Android 8.1 Oreo (Go Edition) out of the box. Google promises that the Android Oreo (Go Edition) brings up to 50 percent performance enhancements thanks to optimisations and use of special Google Go apps which ensure a higher amount of free RAM. The interface is free of any bloatware and also ensures efficient consumption of data with Go apps.
Camera and battery
Speaking of cameras, both the Lava Z50 and Nokia 1 come with 5-megapixel primary cameras accompanied by LED flash. However, when it comes to selfies, the Nokia 1 loses out with its 2MP sensor at the front, in contrast to the 5MP shooter on the Lava Z50. Further, the front camera on the Lava Z50 also gets a dedicated LED flash for low-light selfies. Interestingly, Lava’s smartphone also offers a software-based bokeh mode for both the rear and front cameras.
As for the battery, there is not much difference between the two devices, since the Nokia 1 is powered by a 2,150mAh unit and Lava Z50 gets a 2,000mAh pack.
Closing thoughts
While both the Nokia 1 and Lava Z50 are at par with each other in terms of display and performance, they’re quite different otherwise. Those who’re looking for a reliable and durable smartphone should consider the Nokia 1 as the brand is renowned for the build quality of its devices. The Nokia 1 also boasts IP52 protection, and allows you to customise the look of the phone using the interchangeable back covers. However, if you care more about selfies and imaging, the Lava Z50 should be your phone of choice.
Further, the Nokia 1 is slightly more expensive as it will set you back by Rs 5,499 as compared to Lava’s Z50 which retails for Rs 4,400. Even if you account for the effective pricing (when bundled with the telco offers), Lava’s offering is more affordable. For comparison, Nokia has partnered with Jio to offer 60GB of free 4G data and a cashback of Rs 2,200, resulting in an effective price of Rs 3,299, whereas the Z50 is available with Airtel’s cashback offer of Rs 2,000, bringing its effective price down to Rs 2,400. In addition, Lava is also offering a two-year warranty and one-time free screen replacement with the Z50, valid within a year of purchase.
