Nokia 8 review: A solid but uninspiring flagship

The Nokia eight is Nokia’s new flagship smartphone, joining stablemates just like the revision of the traditional candybar Nokia 3310, the entry-degree Nokia 3 and the mid-range Nokia 5 and Nokia 6.

or not it’s price noting that, despite the branding, Nokia doesn’t actually have a great deal to do with this new range. The venerable brand identify is now licensed to Finnish enterprise HMD international, and while the handset range is simply discovered at Nokia’s web site, it sits alongside a portfolio including digital fitness (courtesy of the acquisition of Withings), virtual reality and networking infrastructure.

still, it be a flagship Nokia handset and it needs to be value the £499 (inc. VAT) fee. So how does it stack up? And what’s the dual-digital camera trick — the ‘bothie’ — all about?

The large draw of the Nokia 8 is that it is a excellent-spec cellphone that aims to gives flagship rivals from Samsung, Apple, and HTC a run for their funds, whereas being significantly much less costly. Its leading rival, in cost/efficiency phrases, is the well-obtained OnePlus 5.

The Nokia 8 is accessible in Polished Blue, Tempered Blue, Polished Copper and metal.

images: Nokia

The hardware design is suitably remarkable. Rounded corners and a small domestic button/fingerprint sensor take a seat below the 5.three-inch display. the edges are curved into the returned, and the unibody design is neat and tidy. The correct edge houses superbly constructed energy/lock and quantity keys that bring a satisfying however quiet click when pressed. The left part properties the SIM and MicroSD card caddy.

My review pattern had a copper coloured back that changed into a great deal greater reflective and slippery within the hand than i admire. There are different alternatives, though: an equally vibrant and reflective blue, and matte finishes in blue and grey.

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On the again the twin cameras take centre stage, sitting in a raised vertical lozenge that makes them stand out from the backplate. The good and bottom edges condo the antenna bands. They can be found right here for minimum interference when the telephone is being held, and are designed into the standard look of the handset.

On the handset’s entrance, the reveal is rarely somewhat edge to area on the lengthy edges, and the precise and backside bezels are quite colossal at 14mm and 17mm respectively. This outcomes in a monitor-to-body ratio of sixty nine.2 %, compared to eighty four.1 % for the class-leading Samsung Galaxy S8. The bottom bezel gives space for the domestic button/fingerprint sensor and two capacitive buttons.

or not it’s a neat design it is appealing sufficient, but there is nothing in particular special or distinct about it. still, it be a pretty tough handset: I couldn’t bend it in any respect in my hands, and the reveal is blanketed by way of Gorilla Glass 5. The Nokia 8 has an IP54 score, meaning that or not it’s ‘grime blanketed and might face up to ‘water splashes’ for as much as 10 minutes. Many flagship smartphones have improved (IP67 or IP68) ratings, although the OnePlus 5 is not IP-rated.

The Nokia 8 also meets the slimline necessities of a contemporary high-end handset, measuring just 7.9mm thick, 151.5mm tall and seventy three.7mm huge. It weighs 160g, and it feels in the hand like an excellent and severe gadget.

At 5.3 inches the Nokia 8’s IPS lcd reveal is on the small facet for a flagship handset — it’s smaller than the 5.5-inch display on the Nokia 6, for example. however, the 1,440 through 2,560 pixel resolution gives it an brilliant pixel density of 554ppi, in comparison to the Nokia 6’s 1,080 by way of 1,920 and 403ppi.

or not it’s arguable no matter if this QHD resolution is in reality required in a handset. I change continually between distinctive phones, and infrequently don’t basically be aware an awful lot change between QHD (1,440 x 2,560) and FHD (1,080 x 1,920) resolutions. there’s an additional component to take note of, although: the Nokia eight’s monitor is terribly vivid, making it handy to read outside in sunlight.

The Nokia 8’s flagship-grade requisites stretch to the underlying platform, which consist of Qualcomm’s proper-conclusion Snapdragon 835 chipset and 4GB of RAM. The handset ships with Android 7 (Nougat), which isn’t augmented by any variety of epidermis so everything runs impressively right away. net pages load with satisfying pace, streamed video is easy, and apps open instantly. there’s 64GB of inner storage, of which 15GB is used out of the container.

Handsets can get warm when the processor is handling hard workloads, and to assist evade this the Nokia 8 has a full-size copper cooling pipe with a graphite protect interior the shell. this is designed to dissipate warmth throughout the whole physique of the phone; my evaluate unit certainly stayed cool all through the test period.

And so, to the camera. Or somewhat, the cameras. On the front is a 13-megapixel digicam, while on the back there are two more 13MP cameras — one coloration, one mono — along with a flash and IR range finder. dual rear cameras present merits: which you can shoot true black-and-white photographs, and also capture more suitable high-quality photographs in low light than you would get with most single-digital camera setups. I’ve most effective been the usage of the Nokia eight for a comparatively short time, but low-easy photographs do appear more advantageous than the average.

twin Sight mode allows ‘bothie’ stills and video from the entrance and rear cameras at the identical time.

graphic: Nokia

The leading camera innovation is dual Sight mode, which allows for the ‘bothie’. Whereas a selfie makes use of simply the front digital camera, a bothie captures images from the entrance and rear cameras on the identical time. The drawback is, it would not work that smartly in observe. A cut up-monitor picture that indicates views from entrance and again cameras is only that, and sometimes without difficulty appears like two separate pictures spliced together down the center. or not it’s now not peculiarly interesting.

The means to capture dual Sight video is greater engaging, and the different probably constructive digital camera function is its capability to livestream to fb and YouTube.

The Nokia eight’s 3090mAh battery has to hold a bright, high-decision display going and service an impressive processor. despite the fact Nokia does not give battery life estimates, we discovered that the handset performs neatly in this appreciate: an ordinary day’s use involving a number of calls, some web shopping, and a few media streaming left me with sixty five percent final. When energy does run low, the Nokia 8 helps QuickCharge three.0 by way of its USB-C port.

Conclusions

photograph: Sandra Vogel/ZDNet

The Nokia 8 is well made, even though it lacks any design aspects that make it stand out from the gang (until you count the reflective copper finish on my review unit). It presents impressive battery life and an excellent 5.3-inch screen. it be high-quality to peer pure Android 7 on board, which should bode neatly for a quick improve to Android eight (Oreo).

The dual camera setup produces first rate pictures, however the ‘bothie’ concept is uninspiring, and possibly not a game-changer. despite the fact there’s little truly unbelievable concerning the Nokia eight, it packs an fabulous punch at a aggressive expense.

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