Nokia 8 Review

Move over #Selfie – it’s time for #Bothie

 

If the cell phone world was modelled on a dining experience, the Nokia 8 would definitely be the dessert at the end – #phoneporn! This is going to be a real treasure for any social media lover. Don’t get me wrong, the Nokia 8 is a powerful smartphone capable of handling the biggest tasks with ease – but, to me, this is a social media must have!

To start, with its polished aluminium unibody, the Nokia 8 has a flawless and soft, silky feel – I felt like I had to have a manicure before I held this little jewel. Its sexy and sassy in design and I loved it!

At 7.3mm it is nice and slim and the rounded corners feel great in the hand. The 5.3-inch screen is encased in aluminium giving the Nokia 8 a solid build and feel. Unfortunately, for those of us with small hands, using it one handed can be a bit tricky. Perhaps Nokia missed a trick by not making this an edge to edge display?

Display-wise the Nokia 8 is bewitching – I could not take my eyes off the screen. The Nokia 8 offers the most clarity and brightness I have yet experienced on a handset. The colour rivals that of Samsung’s AMOLED display and the 2K display brings an almost real world experience to photo’s, streaming and social media.

Continuing our visual journey, it would be unthinkable not to include the camera. Carl Zeiss is back baby! This is by far the best camera I have come across (note: I still need to try my hand at the Sony Xperia XZ Premium camera). At 13MP front and back I wasn’t expecting fire crackers but I got real fireworks!

I can hear critics going: “Yeah-yeah, only 13MP – it’s just another camera!” But wait, let me explain… When I take a face shot, Carl Zeiss does the incredible – I can literally see every pore, every wrinkle and every sweat bead on my face – it is that detailed.

The Nokia 8 includes all the usual camera features you would expect from a flagship device – including; a spirit level, timer, photo grid, and the ever popular Bokeh camera effect. It even has a photo assistant for creating photo animations, movies and collages.

To get to the main event – can we talk about the #Bothie! When sharing photos and video feeds there is always something lost in translation. No more! For the social media kings and queens, you can now use both camera’s simultaneously. That’s right, you can take a picture or video using both the front and rear camera’s at . the . same . time! With live streaming support for both Facebook and YouTube, you can also invite your followers to share your experience with you – live! Incredible!

While I was using the Nokia 8 I got the feeling that the sound was just better. Was it perhaps just my giddiness and perhaps a case of rose-tinted glasses… Hell no! The sound is the bee’s knees. Why? I am sure it has to do with Nokia incorporating OZO Audio technology. This allows for high fidelity 360 degree recording. The audio focus allows you to accentuate certain sounds whilst reducing ambient and background noise. Relive that experience over and over in true sound.

Nokia 8 Dual view

Let’s hover around the hum drum briefly:

The Nokia 8 features the cutting edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile platform with 4GB RAM. This is a powerful tool which performs at galloping speeds across multiple processes and still manages to use up to 25% less power. The multi-window (using two apps simultaneously) works seamlessly. The responsiveness of the fingerprint sensor is a real touch-and-go revelation! (It is quicker and less finicky than my primary flagship android phone).

But wait, there is more… The Nokia 8 runs “Pure Android” v7.1.1. This means Nokia has not included any unnecessary “bloatware”. These unnecessary apps can often slow a device down, consume battery power and use up data. With the Nokia 8 you get the true Android experience.

If I’m really going to knit-pick, the lack of wireless charging is a bit of a let-down – the Nokia 8 supports fast charging but one feels wireless charging is going to be the standard going forward. Another slight disappointment is that the Nokia 8 is only IP54 rated – splash proof but don’t get thrown in at the next pool party.

All in all, the Nokia 8 build is incredible. It is an inspired device – social media gold!

You can get the Nokia 8 for R9499 online or from R479pm on a 24 month Vodacom contract. Find out more HERE

Taken with a Nokia 8
Taken with Nokia 8