Nokia 7 Plus Is a Nexus Phone That Google Stopped Making

 

Google pulled the plug on its Nexus lineup of smartphones about two years ago. This put an end to a popular line of affordable smartphones running stock Android, and getting updates straight from Google. While the company did introduce the Pixel series of smartphones to showcase pure stock Android instead, these phones haven’t exactly been affordable. As a result, Nexus users were stranded with very few options for their next upgrades.

Now, the recently revitalised Android One programme allows any manufacturer to deliver most of the features of the Nexus lineup. Last year, Xiaomi launched a single Android One device in India called the Xiaomi Mi A1 (Review). It was priced at Rs. 14,999 with the promise of Android updates for two years. While the later Nexus smartphones - like Nexus 6P - were premium devices, usually with flagship-grade specifications and price tags, while the Xiaomi Mi A1 was a budget offering in comparison. Buyers willing to spend up to Rs. 30,000 - Nexus 5 territory - on a phone still did not have an option with powerful specifications running vanilla Android, right until the launch of the Nokia 7 Plus (Review).