The Nokia brand is back, under the watchful eye of Finnish firm HMD Global, and the "new" Nokia just got its first flagship phone: the Android-powered Nokia 8. Fitted with high-end components, a premium camera and a 5.3-inch OLED display, it could have enough to take on the market's biggest players.
There's still a lot of affection and interest in the Nokia brand, as the relaunch of the Nokia 3310 proved earlier this year. HMD Global is made up of ex-Nokia executives, who will be hoping that the brand's history is enough to put this on a lot of people's shopping lists.
The 5.3-inch display is just about par for the course for 2017 flagships, running at a QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. Under the hood, the Snapdragon 835 processor, Adreno 540 GPU, and 4 GB of RAM is enough to keep the most demanding phone users happy. Storage is set at 64 GB but can be expanded via microSD.
One of the phone's standout features is the 13 MP dual-lens camera with optical image stabilization, built with Carl Zeiss optics – that's a partnership that harkens back to the days of Nokia Windows Mobile phones. The camera quality of those handsets was one of the few positives to come out of Nokia and Microsoft's brief partnership.
Photo and video quality can't be judged off a specs sheet, but the camera promises 4K video recording and a "bothie" mode that allows you to capture pictures or movies from both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, split-screen style (handy for those live streams, perhaps). 360-degree audio can also be recorded from the phone.
At 7.3 mm thick on average across its curved frame, the phone is almost as thin as the iPhone 7, which is no mean feat. It keeps the chunky bezels on the front though, bezels that phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 have been moving away from.
The phone is only splashproof, carrying an IP54 certification, and comes with a 3,090-mAh battery that should last you through the day and beyond. Again though, we'll need to reserve judgment until we've had chance to actually test a Nokia 8 out.
Android 7.1.1 Nougat is on board, and Nokia (or rather HMD Global) says it's pretty much the stock version of the mobile OS, and that Android O will be arriving soon. Let's hope it gets updates as fast as Google's own Pixel and Nexus phones do.
The phone fits in ahead of the budget and mid-range Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and Nokia 6 handsets that have already been unveiled this year, so there's something for everyone from the rebooted brand.
As for the all-important price, it's set at €599 for when the phone goes on sale in September. That works out at around US$705 with a quick currency conversion, but as yet Nokia hasn't confirmed whether or not the phone will make its way to the United States. It's available in four colors, called Polished Blue, Tempered Blue, Polished Copper, and Steel.
Product page: Nokia
