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Nokia’s N1 launches 7th January in China. This or the Mi Pad?

Yash GargDecember 26, 2014

After rounds of speculation, Nokia announced finally that its iPad mini-esque N1 will launch in China on the 7th of January, just about 10 days from now. The tablet comes with decent hardware, and with an expected price tag of around US$250, it’s sure going to grab eyeballs.

To remind you of the specifications, the N1 has a 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 pixel display (identical to the Xiaomi Mi Pad), a quad-core 2.3GHz Intel Atom Z3580 SoC along with 2 gigs of RAM, 32GB of on-board storage (which isn’t expandable, unfortunately). The N1 has an 8 mega-pixel rear image sensor and a 5 mega-pixel front, which co-incidentally (or not?) is the same as the Xiaomi Mi Pad; on paper, that is.

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The N1 will also run Android, v5.0 Lollipop thereof, at launch itself. This, and the aforementioned specifications, add up to quite a bit, if you ask me. Possibly enough to give Xiaomi a scare; up until now, the Mi Pad was the undisputed small screen tablet leader, with some high-end internals and a decent price tag.

However, with an expected price of just US$250 (about 1550 CNY), that N1 presents a very lucrative alternative to the Mi Pad. Also keep in mind Nokia’s worldwide presence, which even after the slow years it has had is way ahead of Xiaomi.

So, the million dollar question: the Mi Pad, or the Nokia N1? The Mi Pad 2 is also believed to be in the works, by the way.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author
Yash Garg
Yash is a blogger by profession, builder of things by passion and foodie by birth. You'll usually find him talking about technology, music, travel and the game of cricket on the streets of Pune when not busy writing or speeding his way through the country! Read more on retro handheld gaming on RETRO91

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David Košič
December 26, 2014
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. This isn’t the Nokia we know, their name was licensed by foxconn so the quality of this product is up in the air.
- bhendrajana
  December 26, 2014
  - David Košič
    December 26, 2014
    - trapchan
      December 26, 2014
Muhammad Yasir
December 26, 2014
too expensive

realjjj
December 26, 2014
The Mipad is cheaper at 1299CNY, better SoC and has microSD.
At the same time this is not Nokia ,it’s Foxconn and their distribution channel and support.
Then again, both are 4:3 AR so what’s the point?
trapchan
December 26, 2014
I’ll take this over Mipad any day for these reasons.
1. Metal body
2. Lollipop
3. Cheaper (compared to current Mipad)
- miki
  December 27, 2014
  how would the N1 powerVR gpu compare to tegra K1? i’m looking for media consumption and gaming.
  - trapchan
    December 28, 2014
    If by media consumption you mean watching a lot of videos, then you better look for 16:9 screen tablet instead of 4:3.
    As for the GPU, I have no idea how both compare. Just wait for the benchmark and review after it launched.
  - jalebi Singh
    February 12, 2015
    the gpu in this nokia tablet is the PowerVR 6430 (exact same one found in the iPad air 1st gen). The tegra k1 is about 2x more powerful then the atom Z3580’s GPU. Also there are more games compatible with the K1. Some games, like NBA currently run on any gpu, but the Power VR series. So you will find the rare game that does’t work on the nokia n1 tablet. So the N1 does have good performance, but id be worried about game compatibility.

Danny H.
December 26, 2014
Nokia will surely has much better build than the mipad. The spec is almost on the same level. Aluminum beats plastic anyway of the week.
- Artur Łukasz
  December 27, 2014
  in my opinion plastic/kevlar is better than aluminium.
  frames in my xperia z1 looks terrible after the fall ;x
  - trapchan
    December 28, 2014
    Plastic might be better on practicality and durability, but metal looks and feels better. At least to me.

Sere83
December 26, 2014
After my Nexus 7 2013 got stolen and the disappointment of the the Nexus 9 I was considering an NVidia shield. I was about ready to buy then this got announced and I immediately thought this is the one. The all metal build and decent price tag is basically an anomaly for android tablets. Its also super super slim and of course Lollipop ready. The GPU is also a beast, same one as ipad air. I’m still looking to buy if reviews are solid but I am concerned about battery capacity, which seems too low to me to compete with ipad or mipad or similar tablets.
Obviously I considered mipad, I got my my mum one and I do like it. The problem is the software. Still very buggy in my opinion and not as fluid as other mi devices. Also it has compatibility issues and problems running certain apps. Then there’s of course the elephant in the room…Lollipop. Xiaomi are so bad at updating their devices to the latest android version I would be very surprised if it gets Lollipop any time soon and when it does it will be in beta for months and months. Lollipop is such a big update I don’t want to buy a new device without it so the mipad is sadly getting missed.

David Košič
December 26, 2014
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. This isn’t the Nokia we know, their name was licensed by foxconn so the quality of this product is up in the air.
- Guest
  December 26, 2014
  Foxconn “the” iphone maker? Not good enough quality?
- David Košič
  December 26, 2014
  Depends if you think that the iPhone is actually quality build product?
- trapchan
  December 26, 2014
  I think a lot of people would agree
Guest
December 26, 2014
too expensive

realjjj
December 26, 2014
The Mipad is cheaper at 1299CNY, better SoC and has microSD.
At the same time this is not Nokia ,it’s Foxconn and their distribution channel and support.
Then again, both are 4:3 AR so what’s the point?
highwind
December 26, 2014
neither…
trapchan
December 26, 2014
I’ll take this over Mipad any day for these reasons.
1. Metal body
2. Lollipop
3. Cheaper (compared to current Mipad)
- Guest
  December 28, 2014
  how would the N1 powerVR gpu compare to tegra K1? i’m looking for media consumption and gaming.
- trapchan
  December 28, 2014
  If by media consumption you mean watching a lot of videos, then you better look for 16:9 screen tablet instead of 4:3.
  As for the GPU, I have no idea how both compare. Just wait for the benchmark and review after it launched.
- jalebi Singh
  February 13, 2015
  the gpu in this nokia tablet is the PowerVR 6430 (exact same one found in the iPad air 1st gen). The tegra k1 is about 2x more powerful then the atom Z3580’s GPU. Also there are more games compatible with the K1. Some games, like NBA currently run on any gpu, but the Power VR series. So you will find the rare game that does’t work on the nokia n1 tablet. So the N1 does have good performance, but id be worried about game compatibility.

Danny H.
December 26, 2014
Nokia will surely has much better build than the mipad. The spec is almost on the same level. Aluminum beats plastic anyway of the week.
- kolorowy nosorożec
  December 27, 2014
  in my opinion plastic/kevlar is better than aluminium.
  frames in my xperia z1 looks terrible after the fall ;x
- trapchan
  December 28, 2014
  Plastic might be better on practicality and durability, but metal looks and feels better. At least to me.

Sere83
December 26, 2014
After my Nexus 7 2013 got stolen and the disappointment of the the Nexus 9 I was considering an NVidia shield. I was about ready to buy then this got announced and I immediately thought this is the one. The all metal build and decent price tag is basically an anomaly for android tablets. Its also super super slim and of course Lollipop ready. The GPU is also a beast, same one as ipad air. I’m still looking to buy if reviews are solid but I am concerned about battery capacity, which seems too low to me to compete with ipad or mipad or similar tablets.
Obviously I considered mipad, I got my my mum one and I do like it. The problem is the software. Still very buggy in my opinion and not as fluid as other mi devices. Also it has compatibility issues and problems running certain apps. Then there’s of course the elephant in the room…Lollipop. Xiaomi are so bad at updating their devices to the latest android version I would be very surprised if it gets Lollipop any time soon and when it does it will be in beta for months and months. Lollipop is such a big update I don’t want to buy a new device without it so the mipad is sadly getting missed.
provokanter Tabellenführer
December 26, 2014

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