“The Nokia 8 is the company’s first flagship under HMD Global and brings forth several interesting features”
It’s official. Under HMD Global, Nokia has filled the only spot missing in its smartphone portfolio – a premium flagship device. The smartphone in question is the freshly announced Nokia 8, the rumours about which began echoing through the interwebs at the start of the year. But now that it has been unveiled, and the specifications and features of the device are confirmed, it’s time we look at eight things you must know about the new Nokia 8. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
A splash-proof build
With a premium metal unibody design made from Series 6000 aluminium, as well as a host of colours including steel, matte blue, polished blue and polished copper, the Nokia 8 is a stunner. To put things straight, it looks as premium as a 2017 flagship should be – even if it doesn’t join the phenomenon of bezel-less displays. However, a point worth noting here is that the device comes with IP54 splash-resistance. While we would have liked to see a higher rating like IP67 or IP68 in the phone, a rating of IP54 means that it should be able to handle a few splashes or light rain. Just make sure you don’t take the Nokia 8 for a swim.
Related read: Nokia 8 unboxing and first impressions
Adding to the durability factor is the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 5 coating atop the display, making it resilient to scratches and accidental drops.
Flagship-level hardware
Being the flagship that it is, this one was a no-brainer. For starters, the Nokia 8 is equipped with a 5.3-inch QHD LCD display with 700 nits brightness, promising good sunlight legibility. On the other hand, the smartphone draws power from a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 835 SoC that has been coupled together with a generous 4-gigs of RAM for better multitasking. On the storage side of things, one can find 64GB of onboard storage.
With such powerful hardware, you might worry that Nokia 8 will heat up. But don’t worry, the company has taken care of that aspect by adding a full-length copper pipe with a copper shield to ensure thermal efficiency.
Joins the dual-camera bandwagon
It just had to be there, right? After all, a flagship in 2017 is incomplete without a hallmark feature of dual cameras. The Nokia 8 comes with dual 13MP cameras at the rear with Zeiss optics. One of the sensors is RGB, while the other is a monochrome sensor. Together they result in photos with better brightness and colour reproduction. Moreover, the Nokia 8 also supports 4K video recording and comes with OIS support for the main sensor. Augmenting the video experience is Nokia’s OZO technology which records spatial audio in 360-degrees by using all three microphones on the handset.
Related read: Nokia 8 camera samples
In the front, there is a 13MP front camera with 4K support. It also comes with features like PDAF and screen flash.
Interesting camera features
Nokia hasn’t stopped at the hardware. There are plenty of extra camera features, one of these being Dual Sight streaming, which lets you get a split screen view in the camera viewfinder so that you can use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously. Furthermore, the camera app lets you livestream in this mode to Facebook and YouTube Live, in an effort to get ‘both sides of the story’. ‘Bothie’ anyone? Other features include a customisable bokeh mode as well as a built-in manual mode for the pro users.
Vanilla flavour of Android
The company aims at delivering a lag-free smooth and fast experience with pure stock Android, free from unnecessary bloatware and clutter, and the Nokia 8 is no different. It boots stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, and the company promises to deliver quick updates to the device in the future. Not just that, the brand will also be offering security updates on the same day of Google releasing them.
A slew of connectivity options
In terms of connectivity, the Nokia 8 is a dual-SIM device with the second slot being a hybrid slot. What this means is that you can either use two SIM cards in the smartphone, or equip it with a single SIM and a microSD card for more storage. Thankfully, the smartphone does not ditch NFC support, meaning mobile payments shouldn’t be a problem for its buyers. Other connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac with MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB 3.1 Type-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Enough power to last a day
From the looks of it, the 3,090mAh battery that fuels the Nokia 8 doesn’t sound anything out of the ordinary. But what’s worth noting here is that the device has stock Android which should ensure that the handset lasts a day. It also supports Quick Charge 3.0, meaning recharging the device should be considerably faster. Additionally, the smartphone uses a reversible USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer.
Pricing and availability
According to the company, the Nokia 8 will be released globally in early September. However, an Indian launch isn’t expected until late September or early October. Talking about the price, the smartphone has been priced at €599, roughly Rs 45,190.
Are you excited about the Nokia 8? Or do you think it is just another flagship in a sea of similarly-specced devices? Do let us know in the comments below.
