Nokia 8 Camera Samples, Photo Gallery and First Impressions
HMD Global, the parent company for Nokia entered India with three budget offerings, the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3. But while nostalgic Nokia fans were in the offing for a premium Nokia smartphone the wait has come to an end with the announcement of the flagship Nokia 8 that was launched today at an event in New Delhi.
Unlike other high-end (flagship) phones that carry a premium price for instance the Samsung Galaxy S8 series or the Galaxy Note 8, the Finnish company has launched the handset with not so very expensive price tag of Rs. 36,999. The Android-powered Nokia 8 will start shipping on Amazon India as well offline retail stores from October 14. We were able to attend the event and get our hands on the device for some time and here’s our first impression for the Nokia 8.
Nokia 8 Design & Build
The Nokia 8 packs in top-of the line specifications like Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 835 SoC fabricated with 10nm process which is claimed to deliver better performance, more efficient running and low power consumption. But while many premium smartphones have been joining the 2017 trend of nearly bezel-less design, the Nokia 8 has slightly thick bezels on both edge. The smartphone however, is molded out of a single block of series 6000 aluminium coated with either matte or glossy finish giving a supreme look on the rear side. The company claims that the Nokia 8 is been “anodised four times, and polished no less than ten times boasting a European design.”
While using the Nokia 6, we felt the buttons a bit flimsy, but that wasn’t the case with the premium Nokia 8. Fine antenna lines run along the curvature with Nokia logo carved at the centre below the dual rear camera. The power button and volume keys are located on the right edge while the hybrid dual-SIM tray is placed on the left side of the device. The fingerprint sensor is embedded on the home button itself. The single speaker grill is drilled at the base with USB Type-C port pitched alongside while at the bottom you have the 3.5mm headphone jack. Up front it has the Nokia branding at the top right corner with sensors and front camera. At the bottom, we see the capacitive back-lit navigation keys. The phone comes with IP54 rated splash proof.
Nokia 8 Display
The Nokia 8 features a 5.3-inch display with 2560×1440 pixel resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top to protect from scratches. For those who prefer smaller displays, the Nokia 8 certainly ticks that box right away. We had limited time to test the resolution in low and good lighting situation, however within that time frame we were able to observe that the display was legible both in outdoor and indoor condition. The auto-brightness delivered decent output and the viewing angles were good.
The Nokia 8 features a 5.3-inch display with 2560×1440 pixel resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protectionNokia 8 Software and Battery
The Nokia flagship runs stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box. During the global Nokia 8 launch, the Finnish company had promised that the handset will be the fastest way to get Google’s latest Android OS version, Android 8.0 Oreo. To say, the smartphone offers bloatware free experience with simple layout and intuitive user-interface. The image gallery is replaced with Google photos giving users the option to save boundless images on the cloud.
Coming to the powerhouse, the Nokia 8 has a 3,090mAh battery accompanied by Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 fast charge technology. The company says that with Quick Charge 3.0 support, the phone will deliver a full day’s usage in only “30 minutes charge”. However, we will put this claim to a test during our in-depth review.
Nokia 8 Camera
The highlight of the Nokia 8 is its imaging department that offer dual camera array on the back. The smartphone is complemented by Carl Zeiss optics, a hallmark of Nokia smartphones. The Nokia 8 is accompanied by 13-megapixel dual rear camera, one for RGB and another monochrome with dual-tone LED flash. At the front, it has a 13-megpixel sensor with autofocus. A notable and perhaps the most captivating feature on the Nokia 8 is the “Bothie” that utilises both front and rear camera. The feature enables user to record or shoot via front and back camera at the same.
In addition, the camera software also allows live streaming of video from both cameras simultaneously to Facebook and YouTube via Dual Sight. During the launch, Larry Paulson from Qualcomm said that Dual Sight is powered Qualcomm Spectra enabling to snap capture every angle via front and rear camera all at once. The Dual Sight can be switched on from the main camera app that split the screen into two, and capturing shots from front and the other end. Further to enhance the experience the Nokia 8 gives the option to record video content in 4K quality. The Nokia 8 also offers high dynamic range microphones which is accompanied by OZO audio that allows the device to pick up 3D spatial audio.
Nokia 8 Camera Samples
The ‘Bothie’ feature enables to record and capture shots both from front and rear camera simultaneously
Nokia 8 Final Thoughts
With the penetration of Chinese smartphone brands in India, consumers have likely shifted their taste to these brands given their aggressive pricing strategy and new smartphone launches almost every alternate month. But with HMD Global tagging a decent price on its new Android-powered Nokia flagship it might change the ball game. Considering the price, the Nokia 8 will likely compete against the Chinese OEM OnePlus’ latest flagship the OnePlus 5. The Nokia handset offers a decent 4 gigabytes of RAM while the latter comes with a whopping 8GB of RAM for a slightly higher price. While many might opt for high storage, those camera enthusiast who have nostalgia for Nokia phones (with in-house Zeiss Optics) they might prefer bestowing their coinage on the new Nokia 8.
Nokia 8 Photo Gallery
The Nokia 8 features dual rear camera with in-house Zeiss optics