HMD Global announced the Nokia 8 at the iconic London Tower Bridge during a special event. Nokia 8 has been subject to a slew of leaks and speculations with most of its specifications and features surfacing online ahead of its scheduled release.
For the most part, specifications of the Nokia 8 have been quite easy-to-foretell, but it comes with the 'Bothie,' which enables you to use the front and rear-mounted cameras concurrently in order to stitch one image, live stream or video together.
The Indian Express' Shruti Dhapola reports they had an opportunity to get their hands on the Nokia 8 ahead of its official announcement.
Let's check out the device's first impression.
Display and color options
Nokia 8 features a 5.3-inch 2KLCD IPS screen and sports a metal unibody design, however, the device will be up for grabs in a couple of polished color variants, with a glossy finish.
It will be available in four color choices including steel, tempered blue, polished copper, and polished blue. Apparently, the Finnish company affiliated with Nokia was not satisfied with launching just black, white and gold hued smartphones.
Unique design
In terms of design, the Nokia 8 bears a striking resemblance to the previously launched Nokia-branded mobile phones. The device does not boast minimized bezels on the screen, nor does it have curved edge display, which no one anticipated, anyway.
The handset features a mildly curved design, making it easier to hold and use. The front of the phone is shielded with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, while the back is graced by a fingerprint resistant coating.
Furthermore, the sturdy-yet-good looking phone is made up of 6000 series aluminum, but is this the most unparalleled device slated to hit the store shelves?
On the color front, yes, and on top of that, the Nokia 8 is a very sleek phone. But for the rest of it, the handset maker has played it very safe.
Specifications
HMD Global seems to be in no mood to play the specifications war, but interestingly the phone packs Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 processor, under the hood. To the dismay of Nokia loyalists, the upcoming device will not be available in 6GB or 8GB RAM variants but will feature standard 4GB RAM and 64GB expandable storage, instead.
The burning question on everyone's mind at the moment is whether or not the lack of additional RAM will make the upcoming flagship more vulnerable to losing its potential buyers to others in the market?
According to the report, HMD Global believes the dearth of bloatware, paired with their uncluttered UI gives the phone an edge in terms of performance.
They are also convinced that the Nokia 8 will come out with flying colors in benchmark tests. However, with both front and rear mounted cameras supporting 4K video recording, one might think that the absence of a128GB variant might give the company a hard time.
On the software front, the Nokia 8's neat UI gives it an edge over its competitors. Furthermore, the company says it will be the fastest handset to receive Android O updates as they are already hard at work on this.
In terms of optics, HMD Global has jumped on the dual-rear camera bandwagon. The device sports vertically placed sets of dual rear cameras. In addition to a 13MP Colour sensor in the back with OIS along with another 13MP Mono sensor, there is a 13MP camera in the front as well.
Other features include dual tone flash on the rear camera, IR range finder, PDAF, and the Zeiss Optics branding. Taking things to the next level, HMD Global has introduced a new option for dual usage, where the front, as well as the rear camera, can be used simultaneously, for pictures, videos and even live streams on YouTube and Facebook.
Nokia 8's native camera supports live video streaming. There is a manual mode as well. The device features OZO Audio, which guarantees to capture and playback all ambient sounds on your video.
