Nokia 8 Review: There Is A Lot To Excite You In Nokia’s Most Powerful Phone To Date

It was the year 2011 when Nokia decided to opt for Windows 7 instead of an Android OS for its lineup of smartphones and it was the same day that marked the beginning of the end for the former ruler in the business. It gave the likes of Samsung and LG an opportunity to rise through the ranks and dominate the market while Brand Nokia scummed to its choice of decisions.

And then there was a comeback, never seen in this business when Nokia’s ex-executives formed HDM Global and launched three mid rangers Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 last year, followed by a nostalgic Nokia 3310.

Since then, Nokia 8 has been the most anticipated device as it was bound to mark one of the greatest comebacks and after all those leaks and rumors, it’s finally here.

Nokia 8 was unveiled in London on Wednesday and as expected its build quality looks as promising as the ‘Nokias’ of yesteryears while the camera department is still something the company wants to play with. This doesn’t mean that Nokia 8 is just another camera centric device as it still is the most powerful smartphone from the company.

For those who were expected Nokia 8 to be a bezel-less device, well, it’s not, however, when comes to looks, the Nokia 8 is nothing but beautiful. Zeiss Powered Cameras have also made a comeback with this device and under the hood, SD 835 breathes heavily to let others know of its presence as there is nothing you can throw at Nokia 8 that it can’t handle.

However, as far as the competition is concerned, Nokia 8 has a lot to catch up and without further ado, let’s see what the already hailed ultimate Android smartphone has to offer.

Nokia 8 Specifications

• Full 6000 series aluminum unibody design, polished into a luxury mirror finish.
• 5.3-inch (2560×1440 pixels) Quad HD LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 554ppi pixel density, and 700 nits brightness
• Octa-Core Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform coupled with Adreno 540 GPU
• 4GB DDR4X RAM, 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage, expandable up to 256GB via microSD
• Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), upgradable to Android O
• Single / Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano/microSD)
• 13MP (Colour) primary camera with OIS + 13MP (Mono), f/2.0 aperture, ZEISS optics, PDAF, 1.12um pixel size, 76.9-degree wide-angle lens, IR range finder and dual tone LED flash
• 13MP auto focus front-facing camera that comes with ZEISS optics, PDAF, 1.12um pixel size, f/2.0 aperture and 78.4˚ wide-angle lens
• Fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button, Barometer
• 3090mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack, 3 microphones, Nokia OZO 360° spatial surround sound
• 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (MIMO), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/ GLONASS, USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1, NFC
• Dimensions: 151.5 x 73.7 x 7.9 mm

What we like about Nokia 8

• Despite even having thick bezels on top and bottom, Nokia 8 is a good looking smartphone, thanks to its 7.3mm slim body and four color options including glossy blue and copper, matte blue and grey. Moreover, with those smooth curves, it will perfectly fit into your hands.

• ‘Bothie mode’ is something that separates Nokia 8 from other flagship smartphones in the market. It uses both the front as well as rear cameras simultaneously to capture images and record videos. With the live broadcasting feature for social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, Nokia 8 might cash in on rising video streaming demand.

• Nokia 8 also comes with OZO Audio technology, which makes the device capable of recording 360-degree audio as well as delivering clear and immersive audio experience.

• The Nokia 8 has three 13MP cameras in total- two at the back and one up front. While the twin cameras are capable of capturing RGB and monochrome shots for detailed inputs, the front unit is also one of the best corners in this segment and can easily be compared to some of the vlogging cameras.

• Like all other recent Nokia launches, Nokia 8 also comes packed with stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat with no customizations whatsoever. There is nothing like a stock android experience in the days of smartphones coming with a lot of bloatware, it feels like a breath of fresh air. HMD has also confirmed that Nokia 8 will be one of the first devices to get Android O.

• The 5.3-inch display offers great viewing angles and everything looks precise and sharp.

• Coming to the under the hood power, SD 835, 4GB of RAM and 540 GPU were expected in a smartphone like Nokia 8 and the device is more than capable of doing anything you throw at it. Be it multitasking or heavy games, users will never witness frame drops or lags.

What we didn’t like about Nokia 8

• The one thing that doesn’t go well with the whole package is the 3090 mAh battery that comes bundled with Nokia 8. For a powerful smartphone like Nokia 8, this seems to be a bit underpowered cell, however, HDM says that they have done everything to optimize the efficiency.

• Quick Charge 3.0 has been there for a long time and HDM could have done something out of the box by offering the updated version with Nokia 8.

• When it comes to looks, Nokia 8 is not as flamboyant as the likes of Samsung Galaxy S8 among others.

• Nokia 8 is not waterproof and comes with splash proof IP54 rating.

• There are no stand out features.

Verdict

Nokia 8 has left us with a mixed bag of emotions. While under the hood power is up to the mark, the 3090 mAh battery failed to give us the confidence of a full day of heavy usage. On the other hand, while ZEISS optics cameras take Nokia 8 right at the top of the flagship smartphones, the Bothie mode seems like a gimmick and can be infused into other devices with a software update.

Moreover, the design theme of Nokia 8 seems to be focused on simple yet effective, it will be safe to not compare it with flagship offering from HTC and Samsung.

But that is what Nokia has been all about as it finds its own sweet spot and likes to compete with nothing but itself.

With a price tag of $702 (Rs 45000 approx), Nokia 8 is expected to get a little attention from two segments, one ruled by OnePlus 5 and the other by Samsung Galaxy S8, iPhone 7 Plus, HTC U11 and LG G6.

It all comes down to the cameras and stock Android and in the coming weeks, we will get to see what kind of mark Nokia 8 leaves in the flagship segment.