After a lot of rumors and speculations, the Nokia 8 has been finally launched and would go on sales across Europe around September, and an India launch might come around October. Priced at nearly 600 EUR (Approximately Rs. 45,000), the smartphone is priced lower than the current flagships of rival companies, yet pitted in the same field as theirs.
Technical Features & Specifications
- 6000 series Aluminium Unibody Constructio
- 5.3-inch (IPS) 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5 Display with 2K Display Resolution (2560×1440)
- ZEISS Optics equipped Dual Camera Setup for the Primary Camera consisting of a 13MP color Sensor with support for Optical Image Stabilization + 13MP Monochrome Sensor
- 13MP Front Camera equipped with ZEISS Optics
- 4GB LPDDR4X RAM
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor
- 64GB UFS 2.1 Storage
- 3,090mAh Non-Removable Battery
- USB Type-C
- Hybrid Sim/Micro-SD card Slot (This may vary as per the market norms)
- IP54 Rating, which makes it Splash Proof
- Android 7.1.1 Nougat (Stock)
- Ozo Audio Technology for 360° Surround Sound in recorded audio and videos
- An awkwardly named feature called “Bothies”, which allows users to take photos from both the front and rear cameras simultaneously in a single picture, and stream it directly to social media sites like YouTube and Facebook.
With these specs, the Nokia 8 seems to be right up there in competition with the current Flagships. However, if that indeed is the Objective of Nokia, then isn’t it too late to be arriving at the party? The current flagships have been launched and are selling for a long time now. Come September, and we’ll see a new set of flagships coming from Samsung, Apple, and maybe a new Google Pixel by the end of this year. So then, what would remain the purpose of Nokia 8?
There is a possible answer to this question, and that might be the Nokia 9, which might launch with every bells and whistle to compete with the next set of flagships coming by the end of this year. The Nokia 8, at that time, would rest along with the current flagships at a lower price and would attract buyers looking for a Smartphone lower than the cost of flagships, but higher than any mid-range device available in the market.
From a long term perspective, the Nokia 8 seems to be well-set to compete with OnePlus 5, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Apple iPhone 7 in terms of Specs but doesn’t have any other unique element to set itself apart from the Competition. The feature “Bothies” seems to be nothing more than a gimmick, and hopefully, won’t be as successful as the now traditional “Selfies”.
The Nokia 8 is way too far from even coming close to the beautiful looks of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the LG G6, which, one can say, are the harbingers of the new display design we’ll be seeing in many smartphones in the future. The traditional displays of smartphones seem to be getting old now. It’s still acceptable on a midrange device, but might never be preferred on a higher-end smartphone by the next two years or so.
That said, the Nokia 8 still boasts of the great build quality that the Nokias of old, and the recent set of devices offered. So the device might really tick all the boxes for those desiring the comeback of Nokia, or those looking for a well-built device with a stock Android integration.
