Nokia 8 is FINALLY Here... But Was It Worth The Wait?

 

  

The Nokia 8 is finally arriving on August 16

The Nokia 8 has finally arrived, after months and months of waiting and poring over the leaks and rumours. Nokia - in partnership with HMD - already re-entered the smartphone space earlier in the year, but until now had only released budget and mid-tier devices such as the Nokia 3 and Nokia 6. However, these phones ran Android, as all Nokia/HMD phones will from now on, at least, that's the official plan, and were quite well received by critics and consumers alike.

Anyway, we've been waiting for the flagship, the big kahuna, for quite some time, and now it has finally happened - Nokia is BACK!

The handset launched officially onAugust 16 and was detailed in full by HMD and Nokia execs. As expected, this is NOT a mid-range phone – not by a long shot.

Instead, the Nokia 8 represents HMD's first proper flagship phone, a phone that will do battle with Apple's iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 at the top of the smartphone market. And there's sure to be even more competition too, what with the release of the Galaxy Note 8, Andy Rubin's Essential Phone PH-1, and the imminent arrival of the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

Juho Sarvikas, Chief Product Officer of HMD Global, said: "We know that fans are creating and sharing live content more than ever before, with millions of photos and videos shared every minute on social media. People are inspired by the content they consume and are looking for new ways to create their own. It's these people who have inspired us to craft a flagship smartphone which perfectly balances premium design, an outstanding experience and powerful performance."

The only difference here, however, is the price – Nokia is asking for €600 for the Nokia 8 and that makes it A LOT cheaper than Samsung's incoming Galaxy Note 8, which is expected to retail for €999, and Apple's iPhone 8, which will be even more expensive at €1000+.

Let's dive right into it and look at the key specs – 

Nokia 8 Specs

• 5.3in IPS LCD Display - QHD Resolution, 700nits Brightness, Gorilla Glass 5 (2.5D Glass)
• 6000 Series Milled Aluminium Body - IP54 Certified, 7.9mm Thickness
• Carl Zeiss Dual-Camera (Primary, Rear-Facing) - 13MP (Colour & Monochrome), f/2.0 Aperture, 1.12µm Pixels, Laser Autofocus, Dual-LED Flash, OIS (Colour Sensor)
• Secondary/Front Camera - 13MP, f/2.0 Aperture, 1.12µm Pixels, Phase Detection Autofocus
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC
• 64GB Onboard Storage
• MicroSD Card Support
• Android 7.1 Nougat

Design-wise it's looking about as gorgeous as we expected from Nokia (not to mention the leaks we'd seen already) with some great metallic colour choices, and curved glass edging meeting the metallic rear panel.

Nokia is offering the handset in two texture finishes, one is "polished" with a mirror finish and the other is a matte finish dubbed "satin" - your colour options are specific to those finishes, so polished will be for copper and blue, while satin will also see a blue option, plus a metallic grey "steel".

Tempered Blue, Polished

Copper

Steel

Tempered Blue, Satin

The Nokia 8 features quite a few USPs such as Carl Zeiss cameras on both the front and rear for optimum imaging performance, as well as OZO Audio, which utilises three microphones with exclusive Nokia acoustic algorithms to capture audio with immersive 360° spatial surround sound.

This aspect is clearly aimed at content creators that like to shoot on their phones – YouTubers and the like. I like that, rather than try and simply beat Apple and Samsung on specs, Nokia is implementing new technologies that actually add utility to the phone.

Some other interesting bits of info include the way in which Nokia's camera team has developed a "Dual-Sight" feature which allows users to livestream to Facebook and Youtube from both front and rear cameras. This also incorporates 360° spatial surround  binaural audio recording, which Nokia claims will capture sound to a quality level intended to match the 4K video recording.

HMD has also partnered with Google to make Google Photos the default gallery application with unlimited cloud photo storage.

"Nokia smartphones always offer a pure Android experience," said HMD at launch, "with no unnecessary apps slowing down the performance of your device. And with Nokia 8, pure Android combined with our innovative engineering processes unleashes the full potential of the SnapdragonTM 835 Mobile Platform. With monthly security updates, the Nokia 8 is safe and up-to-date. Your device is secured with biometric fingerprint authentication, delivering enhanced security and making Nokia 8 a versatile companion whatever your needs."

HMD and Nokia have published a series of Nokia 8 promotional videos following the launch which give a really detailed look at the handset's design and features. In the first video we see the phone from every angle and also get a look at how Dual-Sight video capture works with the split-screen interface.

"Inside Tech" shows off the processor hardware which powers all of the Nokia 8's high-end features.

"Form and Function" takes an in-depth look at design.

And there are two videos showcasing the OZO audio recording.

Nokia 8 Release Date and Price

The Nokia 8 has been given an RRP of €599 and will be available globally from September. It will ship with Android Nougat initially, but should get Android O after it is officially announced by Google. HMD is yet to reveal the update schedule, understandably.

Head on after the jump for the pre-launch rumours to see how they compare to the final reveal!

Virus-free. www.avast.com