When most people hear the name Nokia, they cast their minds back to endlessly playing Snake on stylish-yet-indestructible phones that stood out from the pack of phones at the time with attention to the design details. Now, French start-up OFF Global has licensed the brand and is bringing two laptops to the market, sporting the same Nokia spirit and moniker. The 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch PureBook Pro will be the first additions to the brand’s laptop range.
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A big screen doesn’t mean big money
When you think of 15-inch or 17-inch laptops, there are two clear categories: a dirt-cheap laptop with a dull screen and bad components that your parents usually buy, or a premium machine that looks great but costs an arm and a leg. OFF Global’s Nokia PureBook Pro aims right for the middle with a sleek system that, on first impression, gives me some serious 14-inch MacBook Pro vibes when you open it up. Just look at the rounded edges, the protruding feet, and the flat top, and you’ll see what I mean. On top, there’s an aluminum cover that comes in four shades and makes a robust, upmarket statement. The whole package comes in at 0.7 inches thin and 3.7 pounds for the 15-inch model, and 0.8 inches and 5.5 pounds for the 17-inch model. Under the hood, you’ll find a 12th Gen Intel Core i3-1220P, 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD. That’s going to be more than good enough for day-to-day productivity, along with some casual gaming and binge-watching on the 1080p IPS panel. Plus, working hard is aided further by the decent amount of I/O (two USB-C charge & sync ports, a USB 3.2 port, microSD card reader and 3.5mm audio jack) and a battery that’s rated to last up to 10 hours. And the price of this, as hinted to with the sub-header there, isn’t sky high: €699 for the 15-inch and €799 for the 17-inch PureBook Pro. Pricing or the US and UK aren’t available at the moment, but stay tuned for updates. The laptops are expected to launch soon in what the company calls “Phase 1 countries,” including France, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Morocco, Tunisia, Canada and Thailand.
Outlook
There is a lot to get excited about here, as the Nokia PureBook Pro models are nicely-priced big-screen laptops that don’t skimp on the display, the design, or the internals. Personally, it’s good to see the Nokia name get some love, but I’ll wait until I’ve got my hands on one to put it through its paces. Keep it locked to Laptop Mag for that.
