This carries a bit of historical significance, but it also means that Nokia has entered a domain full of strong and worthwhile contenders. Whether the Nokia 8 remains afloat in this crowded field of smartphones partly depends on how much the Nokia name can carry the phone, but also whether the Nokia 8 is a good option on its own.
Starting things off with processors, the Nokia 8 joins the growing list of phones that feature Qualcomm’s latest 10nm Snapdragon 835 mobile platform. All the phones except the LG G6 feature the processor, with the LG G6 featuring last year’s Snapdragon 821. It is still a speedy chipset, but the Snapdragon 835 will give you more future-proofing, extra performance, and more battery life in the long run.
Display
The Nokia 8 also keeps pace with other flagships in terms of displays, with the phone featuring a Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution. Apart from the OnePlus 5, which sticks to a 1080p AMOLED display, all the other displays feature at least QHD resolution. Even putting the OnePlus 5 aside, however, discrepancies remain between display technology.
For one, the Nokia 8’s and LG G6’s panels are LCD, which means that they do not support Daydream VR . Meanwhile, the LG G6’s and Galaxy S8/S8 Plus’ panels support HDR, but even then, the specifics are a bit fuzzy. All of the displays are scratch-resistant to an extent, but the Moto Z2 Force’s display technology prevents it from shattering when dropped, at the expense of a scratch-prone screen. Finally, whereas the LG G6 and Galaxy S8/S8 Plus feature taller, 18:9 displays, the Nokia 8, Moto Z2 Force, OnePlus 5, and HTC U11 feature more traditional 16:9 displays.
In other words, if you do not care about any of that, the Nokia 8’s display will serve you just fine. If you sweat over the details, however, it might be best to do a bit of homework on all of the phones.
Things get a bit simpler when it comes to memory. The Nokia 8 features 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB UFS flash across the board, though the Tempered Blue variant features 6 GB of RAM and double the storage. Regardless of the color choice, the fast UFS options are a boon and the microSD card slot is there if those storage amounts are not enough.
Camera
Moving right along, Nokia puts its relationship with Carl Zeiss optics to good use with the Nokia 8’s dual 13 MP cameras. Both sensors feature f/2.0 aperture, but the color sensor is the only one with optical image stabilization – the monochrome sensor does not feature OIS. The front-facing sensor also stands at 13 MP with f/2.0 aperture and auto-focus, which allows the Nokia a 8 to include its “bothie” feature.
This feature allows pictures and videos to be taken with the front and rear cameras at the same time. The phone also utilizes Ozo Audio that uses its microphones to capture a high dynamic range and record binaural audio. It is nice to have these features available out of the box, but, at least with the “bothie” mode, it can be replicated with the right app.
This is where the other options come in. The Moto Z2 Force, OnePlus 5, and LG G6 also feature dual rear cameras, while the single rear sensors found on the HTC U11 and Galaxy S8/S8 Plus are still impressive. The LG G6’s selfie sensor is really the only “okay” option available, but we are at a point where Android flagships finally feature capable cameras on the front and back.
In terms of battery, the Nokia 8 features a 3,090 mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 . The standard allows for rapid charging, but the emphasis is on improved efficiency. If fast charging is all you want, then things do not get faster than the OnePlus 5’s Dash Charge. You have to use the cable and power brick included in the box if you want to use Dash Charge, however, and the OnePlus 5 does not support any other fast charging standard.
The Nokia 8 does not mess around too much with bonus features. The phone features IP58 certification, so while it is reasonably protected against dust, it is only splash-proof. The phone also retains the 3.5 mm headphone jack, NFC, and Android 7.1.1 Nougat. We know that last bit is a weird thing to include for bonus features, but that is for a good reason: timely updates, which Nokia promised for its Android phones and has so far delivered.
Overall, the Nokia 8 checks off all the boxes that a 2017 Android flagship needs to. The problem, and one you might have caught on, is whether the Nokia 8 does enough to differentiate itself from the competition.
Read more tech news @ androidauthority.com
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