Nokia 8 review: Returning to the world of Nokia without Windows

A lot has changed since nosotros last reviewed a Nokia flagship smartphone hither at Windows Central. Non including Microsoft branded Lumia handsets, the last 'Nokia' flagship phone we reviewed was the Nokia Lumia Icon/930 back in 2022, almost four whole years ago. The Microsoft-Nokia acquisition that took place that year marked the end of an era for Nokia. The brand was all simply expressionless, with no new smartphones planned nether the infamous 'Nokia' moniker.

However, non all was lost for Nokia fans. Simply 2 years after the acquisition took place, Microsoft sold the Nokia brand to a visitor chosen HMD Global who wanted to showtime building Nokia branded smartphones again, but this time running Android. Adept news for Nokia fans, bad news for Windows Telephone fans. That sale was finalized in Dec 2022, and a twelvemonth later, HMD Global now sells a line of high-quality Android handsets under the Nokia brand.

Here at Windows Central, we empathize that a fair few Windows Phone fans are just here because of Nokia. When Nokia adopted Windows Telephone in 2022, die-difficult Nokians were obliged to start using Lumia branded handsets too. Since the acquisition in 2022, however, Nokia fans accept had to put up with Microsoft-branded Lumia devices considering that was all that was left of Nokia. Well, not anymore.

We've seen immense involvement in the Nokia Android phones from current Microsoft Lumia branded smartphone owners hither at Windows Cardinal, and every bit such we thought it would exist a bang-up idea to review Nokia's latest flagship; the "Nokia 8" for those remaining Lumia 950 users who want to bound back on the Nokia branded smartphone bandwagon. And then here it is, our review of the Nokia 8, powered by Android.

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Nokia 8 specifications

Category	Spec
Operating Organization	Android vii.i.1 (Android viii.0 update bachelor)
Display	5.3-inch IPS LCD 2560 x 1440 (554ppi) Gorilla Glass 5, ii.5D curved drinking glass
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (MSM8998) Octa-core upward to ii.45GHz
GPU	Adreno 540
RAM	4GB or 6GB
Storage	64GB or 128GB UFS 2.1
Expandable	Yes, upwardly to 256GB
Battery	3090mAh
Charging	USB-C (USB 3.one Gen 1) Quick Accuse three.0
Water resistance	IP54 splashproof
Rear Camera 1	13MP RGB, Carl Zeiss optics, f/two.0, ane.12-micron pixels, OIS Dual tone flash, PDAF, laser autofocus 4K 30 fps
Rear Camera 2	13MP monochrome, Carl Zeiss optics, f/2.0, ane.12-micron pixels
Front Camera	13MP, f/2.0, ane.12-micron pixels, display wink 4K 30 fps
Connectivity	LTE 3xCA, True cat nine Wi-Fi 802.11 air-conditioning MIMO Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Pismire+ GPS/AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Sensors	Ambient lite sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, E-compass, Gyroscope, Fingerprint Sensor, Hall sensor, Barometer
Audio	3.5mm headphone jack Three microphones, 360-degree sound capture
Security	One-impact fingerprint sensor at the front
SIM	Dual SIM slot
Network	LTE: Band 1/two/iii/4/5/7/8/20/28/38/39/xl/41 WCDMA: Band 1/2/iv/v/8 TD-SCDMA: Ring 34/39 GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
Dimensions	151.5 10 73.seven x 7.9mm 160g
Colors	Polished Blue, Polished Copper, Tempered Blue, Tempered Steel

Nokia 8 design and display

Let's start with what is ever a hallmark feature when it comes to Nokia smartphones, its design. The Nokia viii comes in several color configurations, including argent, copper, blue, and glossy blue. Nosotros're using the sleeky blueish model, which feels fantastic in the paw. All variants feature an aluminum body, with the glossy blue and copper variants featuring a mirror-like cease on the back that makes it feel a lilliputian like drinking glass. This makes the phone feel a chip fragile in hand, unlike the old Nokia Lumia flagships that felt like tanks.

I do prefer the mirror-like finish plant on the copper and glossy blue models, if only because information technology makes those variants feel a lilliputian more premium in hand. Not everyone volition relish the glass-like finish, nevertheless, as it attracts fingerprints very rapidly and is super slippery. If then, the silver or standard blue versions will be more to your liking. Outside of the mirror-like finish on the torso, the Nokia 8 is a relatively uninspired looking smartphone, with no real outstanding design decisions.

And that'due south okay, because not every smartphone needs to push button the boat out when it comes to pattern. The Nokia 8 is even so a keen looking telephone and feels fantastic to concur and manipulate. The unibody blueprint curves around the edges of the phone, all the way upward to the glass front which makes the device feel like a single slab of aluminum and glass, like to the iPhone 7. The volume and power buttons are located to the correct of the phone and have a very satisfying, clicky feeling to them. No complaints there. At that place's also a USB-C port and headphone jack.

Moving on to the front end of the device, here'south where things start to fall down a scrap for me. This is a 2022 flagship that's rocking the face of a 2022 flagship. It features huge bezels on all sides and is rocking a relatively standard sixteen:9 QHD IPS LCD. It's a dainty display with great viewing angles and gets super bright when outdoors, similar to how the onetime Nokia Lumia handsets did. At present, this is a personal preference of course, but I wish HMD Global had opted for an 18:9 display with less bezel. The front of this phone makes the handset feel dated, and I'd much rather take a bigger display in the same size form-gene.

I as well wish the Nokia 8 was rocking an OLED console instead of LCD. Don't get me incorrect, the LCD console on this telephone is great; more than than enough for the price yous pay, but OLED is just ameliorate. Deeper blacks, brighter colors, and better bombardment life are all great advantages to using an OLED console. The LCD on the Nokia 8 has some neat viewing angles, only rarely am I looking at my telephone at whatever bending other than dead-on, so great viewing angles is a moot reward for me.

Below the brandish features capacitive back, home and multitasking buttons, which I'm glad are here considering how big the chin is on this phone. The habitation push also acts every bit a fingerprint reader, which I'1000 not overly impressed with as I find it to be too small and somewhat slower than the fingerprint readers found on other flagship devices. Above the brandish, we're rocking an every bit big forehead bezel, featuring a speaker grill, front end-facing camera, and the infamous Nokia logo.

Nokia 8 software

The Nokia viii is not running Windows phone, much to my dismay. Instead, it's running a super clean, nearly stock version of Android, which I always prefer over the clunky, incredibly customized versions of Android that y'all often detect on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy or HTC flagships. This version of Android on the Nokia 8 is substantially a make clean slate, allowing y'all to customize it in whatsoever which way y'all want without there being already predefined customizations fix by the OEM.

The Nokia 8 does come up bundled with a bunch of Google apps out of the box, but most of them can be disabled. This means if you wanted, you tin can disable everything Google has to offer and download Microsoft'south own offerings instead, which is exactly what I did. Instead of using the default app launcher, I utilize the Microsoft Launcher, forth with Cortana as my default assistant, Border as my default web browser, Outlook for email and many more than Microsoft apps for specific things.

In that location are a couple of customizations that Nokia has done here, mostly to help some of the Nokia-specific features that you won't observe on other phones. For case, there's Glance screen (hey, remember that?) which is configurable in the Settings app. It'due south not as useful or as configurable as it was on Windows telephone, but it does evidence you how many new text messages, telephone and email messages you lot've missed. It likewise shows the time, engagement and battery percentage.

The other notable change Nokia has made here is the camera app. It's non the best camera app I've always seen. In fact, I'm not impressed with the camera app on this phone at all. We'll talk about image quality in our camera portion of the review, but for at present, I just want to focus on the camera app itself. It looks like something that was designed in Paint. It'south likewise super deadening to open and very unintuitive and clunky.

For example, the photographic camera app features a whole bunch of configurable options, which is not bad, but the configuration menu is hidden behind a hamburger carte du jour that takes yous away from the viewfinder so you lot tin't see the changes you're making. The old Nokia Camera app on Windows phone was so much more intuitive, with menus that were transparent so you could see the changes you were making. It's fair to say the Nokia Photographic camera app on Android is poor and holds no candle to the old Nokia Camera app that we had on Windows phone. Hopefully, this improves over time.

A lot of Windows phone users are wary of making the switch to Android because of the horror story that is OS updates. A off-white few Android OEMs are bad or tedious at supporting their devices with official Android releases, which sucks and contributes to the atrocity that is Android fragmentation. Luckily, those interested in the Nokia 8 tin remainder easy, equally Nokia has promised at to the lowest degree two years of speedy Android security and Os updates. In fact, my Nokia eight updated to Android viii.0 from 7.ane.one over the weekend, bringing with it a whole bunch of new features and optimizations.

So, if the frequency and efficiency of official Os and security patches are of import to you lot, the Nokia viii is a better pick over the likes of Samsung or HTC fabricated devices. Even OnePlus takes its sweet time in pushing out the latest version of Android on its smartphones. Nokia has been quicker than nearly in this regard, and that'due south bully.

It's besides worth noting that with all the Microsoft software and services installed on the Nokia eight, this device is pretty much a Windows phone without the live tiles. It hooks into all my Microsoft services and is even paired up with my Windows x PC thank you to Cortana and the Microsoft Launcher / Edge. The only matter I'm missing is live tiles, which you can technically achieve if yous download a 3rd-party live tile launcher from the Google Play Store. I'd rather stick with Microsoft'southward ain launcher, however.

Nokia 8 performance and battery

Thank you to Nokia's super make clean version of Android, this device simply flies when it comes to using the device solar day-to-mean solar day. I've seen no slowdowns or laggy functioning when scrolling through or multitasking between apps. I would often see frame drops on the Samsung Milky way S8; there's no such effect here on the Nokia 8. This is aided by the 4GB or 6GB of RAM that comes bundled with the device. Since there's no actress crapware running on top of the Nokia 8, there's more memory to keep your device running nice and smooth. Just the way I similar it.

Battery life is e'er an important factor for any smartphone, and I can confidently say that the battery life on the Nokia 8 is superb. I'grand able to get through a full day with ease, sometimes lasting about two days earlier dropping below 5% bombardment. I would ofttimes be hit effectually 25% at bedtime, and cheers to quick accuse support, charging via the USB-C port on the device takes no more than an hour at most.

There'south no wireless charging hither, which I know is going to annoy many Nokia fans looking to switch from the old Lumia flagship devices, but I honestly feel quick accuse is better and more convenient in 2022. Information technology's faster, that's for sure, making peak-ups via cable often more convenient than using a wireless charger anyway.

Nokia 8 sound and photographic camera

I'1000 not incredibly impressed with the audio quality of this device. Featuring a single, downward firing mono speaker, it'southward not super bassy or impressive. Information technology tin go pretty loud, but that'southward not necessarily a good thing. I exercise wish HMD Global had opted for a stereo speaker set with another one in the front-facing earpiece at the superlative like on the iPhone.

The cameras, on the other hand, is a unlike story. The rear cameras are great, capable of clear, high-quality photos and video in well lit scenarios. It's no Pixel 2 photographic camera by whatever means, but it'due south meliorate than your boilerplate $500 smartphone photographic camera. It'due south rocking dual 13MP cameras, one a standard shooter and the other a monochromatic lens. The monochrome lens allows you lot to shoot in black and white, something I really couldn't intendance less about.

Nokia opted for a monochrome lens alongside the standard shooter as information technology allows for greater color accuracy when taking photos. It'due south a small difference and 1 that I wouldn't miss if the Nokia 8 didn't have information technology. The dual-lens setup does allow for that "Bokeh" effect that and then many other flagship devices are obsessed with, which is a nice addition merely isn't something I e'er found myself using.

The camera is okay when it comes to low-calorie-free photography. I found that photos often came out a niggling grainy and soft, however, information technology's definitely non the worst low-light shooter I've ever used. There's besides the "bothie" way, something Nokia is boasting about for reasons that I tin't think of. A bothie is both a selfie and a rear shot photo, at the same time. It splits the viewfinder in half, allowing you to take a photo of yourself using the front end camera and the subject in front of the rear photographic camera. I can't encounter the point in this.

The selfie shooter on its own is pretty good. It's also 13MP, significant your selfies are going to look crisp and clear, and maybe a little too detailed for a selfie photographic camera. Overall, the cameras on the Nokia 8 is virtually what I'd expect from a $500 device. It'southward more than capable in most scenarios, if sometimes a little tedious to actually take the photo. And as mentioned above, the photographic camera app itself needs some serious work if it is to be taken seriously, especially considering the "Zeiss" branding etched on the back of the phone.

Nokia 8 closing thoughts

Equally a fan of Windows phone and a long time Nokia Lumia user, using the Nokia 8 is similar bumping into an old ex that you loved but has moved on and is happier than ever. HMD Global has built a fantastic, affordable flagship with great performance, a clean version of Android and a set of cameras that are more than capable.

I practise admit; I really didn't want to similar the Nokia viii. My evil, bitter side was hoping that without Windows phone, the Nokia brand would crash and burn down in the chaos that is the world of Android smartphones. But now I've used the Nokia 8, I like information technology a lot. Sure, not every aspect of the device is deserving of the Nokia brand, but that'southward fine because this is nonetheless a neat phone.

There's just enough to similar about this device, even downwards to the little details. Things like the vibration motor, which feels great in this phone with sharp, clean vibrations. There's likewise the volume and unlock buttons, which have a satisfying clicky-ness to them. Admittedly, there are some annoyances with this telephone too, mainly referring to the slow and pocket-sized fingerprint reader on the forepart of the device.

Regardless, exercise I recommend the Nokia viii for those looking to make the switch from an onetime Lumia? Yes, I think I practise. For the price you pay, I don't think you can go wrong. The Nokia 8 is a well-rounded, affordable flagship with enough of good things going for information technology.

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The Adept

• Premium build
• Great battery
• Buttery smooth performance

The Bad

• Terrible camera app
• A fingerprint magnet
• Wearisome fingerprint reader
• Traditional 16:nine aspect ratio in a earth of xviii:nine displays

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/nokia-8-review

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