Nokia 8
- M
- Minu
- ter
- 08 Mar 2024
I've been using this phone for the past 4+ years, and it would be wrong to not post a review of the most practical and durable Android phone there is, which is none other than the beautiful Nokia 8. Here are the aspects of this phone that I enjoyed the most.
1. Display: Possibly the cheapest phone ever with a 1440p display, and the brightness at 700-800 nits is impressive, even for today's standards! The 16:9 display is practical too, where almost every video fits like a glove, unlike today's generic, skinny, tall giraffes we've been exposed to since 2017! The 5.3 inch display makes it compact too!
2. Software: The cleanest software experience from Android 7 to 9, rather minimalist compared to all other skins by various brands. Stock Android doesn't feature unnecessary apps, unlike Chinese brands including Samsung, that force several Amazon, Microsoft and Hancom apps. It's also the perfect upgrade for a person like me, who miss the clean, beautiful and simple TouchWiz 5.0 experience from a Galaxy J3.
3. Performance: This is the biggest step up from the previous low end I used (Galaxy J3). The Snapdragon 835, paired with the more modern UFS storage, is a night and day difference from the former's Cortex-A7 based Unisoc chipset with the dated eMMC storage, which was underwhelming for basic tasks too! The Nokia 8 is so snappy, that it can tolerate a variety of tasks, hampered by today's increasing hardware requirements! I'm planning to start mobile gaming, once I get enough time to do so. The chipset outperforms today's low end and entry level phones. Paired with the well-optimized stock Android software, it's more than enough for the average user.
4. Camera: This is probably the most interesting part of this phone, because the camera takes great photos while having a tiny camera sensor! The photos are comparable, and sometimes outperform modern flagships and Apple phones for daily shots, macro shots and portraits using Google Camera, but it isn't a great camera for night time shots. The stock camera app can be grainy at times, but does more than enough for presentations, printed materials and lectures. The phone was the first ever phone to feature 4K recording from the front camera, and the selfies come out great too. The rear camera lens window is glass, unlike most other modern flagships relying on smaller plastic sheets.
5. Audio: This phone has possibly the best implementation for audio recording, using 3 microphones! The audio comes out crystal clear, and has a pleasant 3D effect to it, which none of the other mobile phones have been able to match. The audio zoom feature is an added bonus too, which isn't advertised (it was added with the Android 8.1 update, which preceded Samsung's implementation. Also, the single speaker has a remarkably pleasant reverb to it, which showcases its full potential when ringing during an incoming call. It gets loud too, which is helpful during public transportation.
6. Design: This is simply the reason why I purchased this phone over a thousand alternatives! It's small, ultra compact, super slim and lightweight, which is rare to come across within today's generic giraffes! The back, home and recents key under the display, and the completely machine-milled aluminium unibody are nice bonuses too! My model is in the Polished Blue/Purple colourway, which has a reflective, mirror-like finish that's never found on an other phone to date.
7. Battery: While the capacity is extremely low at 3000mAh, it lasts upto 3 days from my light use, 8-10 hours of on-screen time during heavy (non-gaming) use, upto a week of pure standby and can be left turned off for 2 weeks to even a month. The battery has shown signs of ageing, so I'm planning to get this phone a battery replacement as soon as possible.
8. Connectivity: The Nokia 8 has the best connectivity out of all phones I've used, and effortlessly outperforms my colleagues' mid-range and flagship phones. Even though it's not 5G supported, the phone easily picks up 4G signals in remote areas, when all other phones get poor cellular reception. The phone hasn't dropped calls so far, and the voice during all calls is crystal clear (including social media apps such as WhatsApp, Imo, Messenger, Viber etc). The USB Type-C 3.1 port is surprisingly helpful during video output, too!
9. Others: The 3.5 mm jack, MicroSD slot, fancy vibration motor deserve to be appreciated. Also the retail package includes a pair of aluminium earphones and a charger, unlike most expensive phones today (cough cough Apple, Samsung, Google, Xiaomi cough cough).
I would honestly appreciate a higher IP rating, FM radio and a telephoto or an ultrawide camera, but I bought this phone for US$200. Even for its launch price, it was the cheapest phone ever with a Snapdragon 8 series chipset, so I'm not disappointed.
With that being said, this is simply the best phone to ever exist imho!
- ?
- Anonymous
- X}k
- 27 Feb 2024
Still better specs than todays phone.. Even better than Samsung A05 newly launched,
- V
- Vps
- ap8
- 18 Feb 2024
One of the best phone I ever used since from Sept October 2017 until now. Still working perfect . Looking for more such products from Nokia again. Worth for your money spent.Thank you Nokia team for a such a product.
- ?
- Anonymous
- tes
- 03 Dec 2023
Ashrith , 09 Jul 2023My friend have this phone but it always restart by itself, ... moreA battery replacement will do wonders. I have been using my phone from 2018 April. One of the best phones I have used which is worth the price. Don't feel like buying a new phone yet. Never even used a screen protector but it still looks good as new.
- M
- Maurice
- 8k{
- 19 Nov 2023
vgon, 15 Sep 2023My phone still goes. No problem so far. Battery lasts the s... moreAgree. Bought it in july 2019 and it still goes, without any noticeable downgrade in either performance or battery life!
I wish all phones are like these.
- ?
- Anonymous
- YTd
- 29 Oct 2023
vgon, 15 Sep 2023My phone still goes. No problem so far. Battery lasts the s... more"Battery Last the same"
Probably biggest lie of the year
- v
- vgon
- M5y
- 15 Sep 2023
My phone still goes. No problem so far. Battery lasts the same !!! Incredible phone !!! I wish i could find a new one to buy it again.
- m
- madu
- 6kx
- 21 Aug 2023
Ashrith , 09 Jul 2023My friend have this phone but it always restart by itself, ... moreReplace genuine battery. It will work. My having same problem. Even after 5 years it is still working
- J
- Josus
- nSZ
- 31 Jul 2023
Ashrith , 09 Jul 2023My friend have this phone but it always restart by itself, ... moreFriends always believe their friends have everything better.
- M
- Mickey
- 3Du
- 30 Jul 2023
A.K. , 22 Jul 2023Using this phone since 2018, never had an issue untill now.... moreBeen working fine since my mate gave it to me as he got a Samsung upgrade on his contract. That phone lasted about 3 years . This still going strong some 5 years on
- A
- A.K.
- XrV
- 22 Jul 2023
Minu, 09 Jul 2023It's an "old" phone considering its age. Eve... moreUsing this phone since 2018, never had an issue untill now. Phone sometimes can be turned off by its own, get slow when browsing internet, but usable, can only talk on loud speaker if I am making a call, otherwise there are some scratchy noises on a background, which in turn create difficulty to recognize speech when not in a loud mode.
I have been installing hundreds of apps and used this phone to the max. It has fell down thousands times, been under water for multiple times, was exposed to direct sunlight at 45 degrees all day, so it looks pretty worn out, but I like to use things untill they die completely.
I believe maybe If I will do factory reset, this phone will be able to serve me another 2 years or more, who knows.
I have also never left this phone charging for long periods of time (it was always charged up to 80-97%), so battery still holds ok, last me a full day.
Camera is still working, not a high quality pictures, but for me camera is not a priority in phone, mostly its about hardware.
- M
- Minu
- ter
- 09 Jul 2023
Ashrith , 09 Jul 2023My friend have this phone but it always restart by itself, ... moreIt's an "old" phone considering its age. Even iPhones don't last this long with at least 2-3 battery replacements.
What issues does it have so far?
- A
- Ashrith
- vI9
- 09 Jul 2023
Minu, 18 Apr 2023Not reliable? I've used mine for 3 years now without a... moreBut my friend's phone which is Nokia 8 have issues
- A
- Ashrith
- vI9
- 09 Jul 2023
My friend have this phone but it always restart by itself, not very good phone in 2023 ☹️
- A
- Amruth
- ypc
- 31 May 2023
Minu, 27 May 2023And don't forget the fact that this is the cheapest ph... moreYes minu, it's a great phone I like it and would like to know more about your experience with Nokia 8
- M
- Minu
- ter
- 27 May 2023
MakeNokiaGreatAgain, 19 May 2023A couple of negative reviews cannot outdo the wealth of pos... moreAnd don't forget the fact that this is the cheapest phone ever released with a SD8xx chipset, cheapest flagship ever made by Foxconn, one of the last phones with a 16:9 display, cheapest phone to feature a Li-Po battery, first ever phone to feature 4K recording from the front camera, last flagship with an aluminium unibody and navigation buttons under the display and so far the only flagship to have a polished aluminium unibody!
This phone itself is unique.
Also the fact that this phone beats any Pixel phone to date with Google Camera, even with the same camera sensor.
I'm planning to post a review here too, since this is my 3rd year of using this phone.
- MakeNokiaGreatAgain
- 3Sn
- 19 May 2023
jakeqz, 16 Apr 2023Overrated. They should stick to Snake. External speaker... moreA couple of negative reviews cannot outdo the wealth of positive reviews about Nokia 8. Just look at the sheer number of fans of this phone. You can disagree, but I think Nokia 8 is the best phone of 2017, and is severely underrated. This is the closest Nokia came to matching the legendary Nokia N8.
- M
- Minu
- IWR
- 18 Apr 2023
jakeqz, 16 Apr 2023Overrated. They should stick to Snake. External speaker... moreNot reliable? I've used mine for 3 years now without any huge issues
- j
- jakeqz
- 6Xx
- 16 Apr 2023
Overrated. They should stick to Snake.
External speaker and headphone jack have totally failed. The external speaker failure is not even due to something being plugged in repetetively (as it's internal). USB charging/connection socket is dodgy too.
I expected it to last more than 4 years.
Hardware setup is decent, it runs well on websites. But if it's not reliable doing things it's supposed to do, like making phone calls, what's the point?
- M
- Minu
- ter
- 01 Mar 2023
111Nation YouTube, 22 Feb 2023I really love this phone, just does anything, without lag :... moreSame!! Unfortunately the 6GB RAM model was Germany-exclusive