Nokia 8 Review

Pros

Cons

Introduction

In 2017 Nokia returned to the smartphone market, where it met with a rather warm welcome from a whole generation of mobile users. The Nokia 3, 5 and 6 have their own merits, but the flagship model is the Nokia 8.

The features and functionality of this device are designed to compete with the best smartphones Samsung, HTC, LG and other manufacturers. At the same time, the price is slightly lower than that of other flagships, not counting the OnePlus 5. It makes sense to compare directly with the Chinese device Nokia 8.

However, a simple list of technical specifications could not describe the beauty of Nokia cell phones during their heyday, and the same applies to Android smartphones. You need to look at design, software, and the big picture.

Design

Nokia has been known for its distinctive design and build quality since before Apple made smartphones. That is why Nokia 8 will be carefully studied against the backdrop of the appearance of competing smartphones.

For the most part, the Nokia 8 holds up well in comparison. The only drawback of the design of this smartphone is the lack of zest. The buyer will receive a typical bar of aluminum and glass with curved edges and discreet plastic antennas at the top and bottom. Around Double Camera There is a small aluminum bezel, the HOME button is located under the screen with a fingerprint scanner that does not click. On the sides of this button there are capacitive buttons back and recent applications.

When switching from OnePlus 5 on Nokia 8 immediately notice the fundamental similarity. You can take the paragraph above and place it in the ONEPLUS review 5. At the same time, it is impossible to say that the developers of Nokia specifically copy something with OnePlus 5. There are many Android smartphones with a similar appearance, so it's bad that Nokia did not make enough effort to highlight Your smartphone from their close rows.

All this does not prevent Nokia 8 perfectly lying in the palm. There is a fear that many consider the appearance of this smartphone outdated compared to the curious screens. The device is more similar to the products of the end of 2015 than on the 2017 smartphone.

The hull is rather impressive, the weight is 160 g, the thickness is 7.9 mm, but the smartphone cannot be called particularly large. With regard to the large screen, it would be possible to wish that the body was more compact.

In this review, the blue model is considered. There is also a bright shining copper version, which seems outwardly more attractive, although this is a matter of taste.

There is no level of protection from water and dust here that other expensive smartphones use the IP54 certificate. This is enough to protect the inner components from splashes. Oneplus 5 does not even be.

Power buttons and volume control are located next to each other on the right side of the housing. They would not prevent different surface textures so that you could press without looking, especially since they are rooted away from the face of the user. In the current state, if you wish to reduce or increase the sound when watching a video or in games, the screen is sometimes inadvertently turned off.

The main complaint against the elements of the control refers to the fingerprint scanner. It triggers pretty quickly, if it is properly putting a finger, but its size is too small compared to the scanners on other smartphones. As a result, a read error often occurs, although there is a possibility that over time, users will learn to put a finger at the desired angle.

Screen

Nokia went to an unusual step and supplied the smartphone the screen is smaller than the average. These are currently consider screens with a diagonal of 5.5 inches, and Nokia has a 5.3 inches diagonal. It cannot be said that this is a compact smartphone, especially with large frames at the edges. No problems with such an unconventional size arise. It is not very convenient to use it with one hand, but it is good to watch multimedia content and read web pages.

The question arises whether Quad HD resolution is needed on such a screen. On the OnePlus 5, the screen size is 5.5 inches, 1080p resolution, the pixel density is noticeably lower, but there is not much difference in image clarity.

Such a high resolution is unlikely to be useful for anything other than virtual reality applications. Even the huge screen Samsung Galaxy S8 with a diagonal of 5.8 inches runs at 1080p by default, although Quad HD is supported.

More significant is the fact that Nokia has opted for an LCD panel over OLED. It's a great screen, crisp and bright up to 700 nits. On the other hand, Nokia has been known for using OLED panels in Windows Phone smartphones. In particular, they were used in the Glance screens, which is also here.

Glance is a dimly backlit area of ​​the screen that displays basic information such as time, date, battery level, and number of notifications. This screen appears when the smartphone is moved.

On OLED displays, this functionality is more cost-effective because the technology only lights up pixels in the right places. Now the whole screen lights up, which can be annoying at night, since Glance works while recharging.

Performance

There are no complaints about the specifications and speed of the Nokia 8. The device runs on the Snapdragon 835 processor, which is used in all flagship Android smartphones in 2017.

This is a fast yet power efficient processor that handles all tasks without issue, including high pixel count on a Quad HD screen. 4 GB of RAM help him in his work, as well as the absence of a heavy shell on top of Android.

Almost all Android flagships this year have similar characteristics, so we don't see anything new here. Either way, the lack of stutter and lag is good news.

Modern 3D games like Gear. Club and Guns of Boom work without problems, as do 2D games like ReRunners. It can be noted that during games, the only speaker at the bottom of the case can be accidentally blocked by hand.

Machine does not get too hot during heavy computing tasks. In addition to the energy-efficient processor, a copper cooling tube with a graphite shell helps in this, which distributes heat throughout the body of the device.

In GEEKBENCH 4, Nokia 8 estimates amounted to 6578, between the output of OnePlus 5 (6719) and Sony Xperia XZ Premium (6492).

Software

Some users waited not one year, when Nokia will release smartphones on Android. A few years ago, the company instead of her preferred Microsoft with the Windows Phone system and tried to make it the third major player of the mobile market. We had to regret this decision of the company, so the Android-smartphones Nokia we see only now.

Used close to the net version of Android 7.1.1. Here are standard Google Applications to work with e-mail, calendar, messages and a set of phone numbers.

The disadvantage of this approach may be the feeling that the smartphone is too standard or faceless. As mentioned above, the appearance of the device leaves the same impression.

However, there are always those who prefer pure and functional users interface instead of bizarre widgets and strange recycled menus. This is what provides clean Android.

The user receives a familiar notification menu that is extended from top to bottom, the multitasking menu in the familiar site, the white list of applications opens with a gesture from the bottom up on the home screen. Google Now is located on the left of the home screen, Google Assistant opens through the HOME button long.

However, something from itself Nokia added. This is the above screen GLANCE, as well as apps wallpaper and support.

Among the large number of pre-installed applications there is a streaming broadcast service Deezer, eBay and Amazon Prime Now. All of them can be deleted.

For a week, the smartphone once had to reboot after the fall of the system, but the rest of the time it worked stably and smoothly.

Another strange anomaly was displayed on the icon of the application Gmail 280 unread letters, although in fact they were not. Surely this error will be eliminated in the software update.

Cameras

Before Nokia left the smartphone market a few years ago, it produced devices with one of the best cameras. This happened in those years when Apple was just learned to make such devices.

Thus, expectations from Nokia 8 cameras were high. Although the CARL ZEISS optics are used here, as well as on previous successful Nokia smartphones, the Nokia 8 cameras will hardly become the same breakthrough as the Nokia 808 PureView apparatus was.

A double rear camera is used with a resolution of 13 MP, which removes well-balanced photos, but it does not reach the best samples. For example, autofocus works quite slowly and unreliable. As a result, it is often necessary to click on the desired object manually. With the shooting of close objects there are also problems.

Automatic HDR works inefficiently. Too often in the photographs there are disturbed bright areas, like the sky on the background or light from the nearest window.

When HDR is turned on manually through the camera interface, efficiency is improved. Thus, these are software problems, which is also noticeable by the confusing user interface. The double camera is not the same as on iPhone 8 Plus or Oneplus 5. Another focal length is used for physical zoom. Rather, it resembles the approach Huawei P10, the auxiliary module removes monochrome images. This should increase the detail and improve the quality of shooting with weak lighting, but in this regard, the Nokia 8 results cannot be called outstanding.

The quality between different photos may vary, but in general it seems that onePlus 5 takes off better, although the Chinese device can also be counted among the best camera phones.

rate in advertising Nokia 8 can Damage to the front chamber. It uses a 13 megap sensor, as the back, since the front and rear camera can work simultaneously in the dual sight mode (double glance).

Manufacturers like SAMSUNG and LG tried to offer similar mode in their devices, but he did not reach popularity. He lacks simplicity and elegance of Selfie, there is a difference between two photos, although they are removed simultaneously from one point.

In this section, you can shoot a video that has more meaning. For example, you can remove the speech and reaction of the audience on it. It is unlikely that such an opportunity can be called frequently necessary.

There is also the possibility of direct video broadcasting, both single and double, on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. It may be more sought after.

Nokia uses the OZO voluminous sound to provide quality at the level of Hollywood standards. Indeed, the sound when shooting a video is good, there is a small defect direction during playback. However, this opportunity cannot be called a revolutionary, if only you are not a director who decided to make a film on a smartphone.

Autonomous operation

With such a bright screen with a large number of pixels, it is unlikely to wait for the records for the duration of autonomous work. Despite this, Nokia 8 shows a good result.

With a load from a small to medium, like telephone calls, work with e-mail and text messages, viewing sites in the browser, shooting photos, from 9 am to 68% from 9 am to 68%. The next day, he retired until 15:30, at that moment the charge level was 24%. Obviously, even with a heavy load, a smartphone will be able to work without any problems throughout the day.

20 minutes of the saturated Guns of BOOM game reduced the charge level by 5%. The device supports Fast charging via the USB-C interface. Exactly per hour, the smartphone is charged to 86%.

Should Nokia 8 should buy?

Nokia 8 is a qualitative first attempt to the Finnish manufacturer to return to the flagship level. It uses the highest possible processor, solid metal design, a clear screen with a diagonal of 5.3 inches close to a clean version of Android. Camera with proper lighting capable of issuing good photos.

However, the smartphone does not allocate anything special. Its design can be described as typical, the screen does not apply to the category of curious, not used OLED technology. The camera does not always trigger immaculately, there is a problem with focusing and exposure. In part, this can be forgiven, taking into account the fact that the smartphone is cheaper than other flagships. However, OnePlus 5 is even cheaper.

Estimates

• Performance : 8
• Design: 6
• Value: 7
• Calls and sound: 8
• Camera: 6
• Autonomy: 8
• Software: 8
• Screen quality: 8