HMD Global, using Nokia's brand name, officially launched the flagship Nokia 8 smartphone at an event in London, bringing a new player to break the monotony of existing players. The handset was long in the rumours, but Wednesday's launch finally put an end to all those speculations about the phone and its specifications.
Nokia has chosen the specifications carefully so it can hold a steady ground despite competition from rivals such as Samsung and Apple. The biggest highlight of the Nokia 8 is that the phone brings back the best of Lumia days with Carl Zeiss optics.
Price and availability in India
Nokia 8 will be available globally in early September. It carries a price tag of EUR 599, which roughly translates to Rs. 45,000, but don't expect this to be final price when the handset arrives in India. In case you are wondering when that might happen, a company spokesperson confirmed to Gadgets360 that Nokia 8 will launch in India in early October.
Camera
Nokia 8 features a dual camera setup at the back, which uses two 13MP RGB and monochrome sensors with f/2.0 aperture, laser autofocus and dual LED flash. Both sensors help capture pictures and fuse them together to produce a detailed image. But that's just the surface of what Nokia 8's camera is capable of.
HMD Global has added state-of-the-art technology that allows Dual-Sight video streaming on Facebook and YouTube. The company is calling this feature "bothies" – short for capturing selfies and videos from both cameras.
Nokia 8 is also equipped with high dynamic range microphones to capture surround sound using Nokia Ozo Audio algorithms while shooting videos, which ensure quality effects even while sharing videos on social media.
For selfie lovers, there's a reliable 13MP front snapper with 4K recording support on both front and rear cameras.
Design and display
Nokia has picked top-of-the-line materials for the Nokia 8. The flagship is built with 6000-series aluminium and has a splash-proof IP54 rating. The handset comes in four colours, glossy Polished Copper and Polished Blue, and matte Tempered Blue and Steel, which gives a varied choice for buyers.
The handset has been designed in such a way that users won't have heating complaints, thanks to the copper pipe solution and graphite shield to transfer heat.
Matching the requirement of a flagship smartphone, the Nokia 8 comes with a 2K resolution display measuring 5.3 inches diagonally and has a Gorilla Glass 5 for protection. The overall design of the phone is a reminiscent of existing Nokia 6.
Performance
Under the hood, Nokia 8 packs a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset with 4GB RAM, 64GB expandable storage up to 256GB and a 3,090mAh battery. There's a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The handset runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box, but it is guaranteed to get Android O sooner than others.
