Nokia 8 Sirocco review

12MP normal cam plus 13MP telephoto cam

The Nokia 8 Sirocco has a very compelling camera setup, going by the numbers. The primary cam is built around a 12MP dual pixel sensor (1.4µm pixel size) behind an f/1.75 aperture lens. The secondary cam is a telephoto one that delivers 2x optical zoom, even though Nokia doesn't specify focal lengths (and EXIF data doesn't help too much). It uses a 13MP sensor, this one with 1.µm pixels, though it still outputs 12MP images. It's got a dimmer f/2.6 lens in front. The lenses carry the Carl Zeiss branding - a collaboration that's been going on for years.

As has been the case on recent Nokias, the camera app is practically the only piece of custom software on the Sirocco. If you're easily bothered by the little things, you'd complain about the the position of the rear/front camera switch - it's your only way of going into selfie mode (up/down swipe doesn't work) and it basically requires two hands.

There's a column of icons for quick settings: face smoothing, single/dual/P-I-P (for combined front/rear shots), self timer (off/3s/10s), HDR (off/auto/on), and flash (yup, off/auto/on).

Camera interface

There's a menu button below all these, where you'd find Pro mode. You can also get to it by sliding the shutter release button inward - a neat shortcut since at least the days of the Lumia 1020.

Anyway, Pro mode lets you pick one of five white balance presets, focus manually, choose ISO (100-3200) and shutter speed (1/500s-4s), or set exposure compensation (-2/2EV in full stop increments).

Pro mode

Image quality

The Nokia 7 Plus produced decent photos with what is in all likelihood the same hardware as this Sirocco. However, they are in two different tiers of devices and where the Sirocco stands, the bar is set higher. We'd say the Sirocco misses it, if just barely.

Let's do it a little backwards - the telephoto camera's photos are softer and less detailed than we'd like. The Sirocco's 2x optical zoom will still bring stuff closer and do it better than digital zoom from a wider angle cam, but that's not really a proper yardstick. The latest Galaxy and iPhone telephotos produce noticeably sharper images in good light.

Camera samples, telephoto camera

The main cam's photos are sharper with more definition and superior contrast. Colors are very likable too - vivid but not over the top. What's not so great is dynamic range, and the Sirocco struggles in high-contrast scenes.

Camera samples, normal camera

Low-light photography isn't the Sirocco's forte, though it still creates usable images. The most obvious issue is the phone's tendency to underexpose dark scenes, so you'll like the results better if you dial in some positive exposure compensation or tap on a dark area to meter for that. Or, if you can be bothered, play with some sliders in post.

Low-light samples - normal camera

As with many dual camera implementations on the market, once the light drops below a certain threshold, the telephoto camera doesn't work and instead you're getting digitally zoomed in shots from the normal cam. You can actually see it in the viewfinder - you tap the zoom button, it goes to tele, and then the composition changes slightly.

Low-light samples - telephoto camera

There are few more convenient ways for side-by-side pixel peeping than our Photo compare tool. We've pitted the Nokia against the Galaxy S9+ and the Huawei P20, but another set of phones is just a couple of clicks away.

Normal camera: Nokia 8 Sirocco against the Galaxy S9+ and the Huawei P20 in our Photo compare tool

The Auto HDR option isn't too trigger happy. In fact, we found ourselves having to force it on in high-contrast scenes, where it probably should have engaged automatically. It's one of those implementations which prioritize highlight detail and bring up the lower midtones, though you might be losing some detail in the deepest shadows. There's a minimal detail penalty when shooting in HDR.

HDR: Off • On • Off • On • Off • On

The Sirocco can shoot quite good panoramas, with plenty of resolution (upwards of 3,000px tall) and fine detail. Stitching is also excellent. Oh, and by the way, unlike on some other phones which limit you to a left-to-right pan, the Sirocco can do panoramas in any direction.

Panorama sample

The Nokia 8 Sirocco's Portrait mode is quite proficient at separating subject from background, and the blur looks convincing. However, since the telephoto cam is in charge here, the images are again a little soft, and that's when you do manage to get one in focus, which isn't really all that common.

Portrait samples

Selfies

For selfies, the Nokia 8 Sirocco relies on a 5MP cam - it is somewhat low-res, but then it's got large 1.4µm pixels. Wonders are out of the question, but it still does a decent job in challenging light.

Selfie samples, low light

In good light, it produces nice selfies with adequate detail (5MP is 5MP) and accurate colors.

Selfie samples, good light

There's a faux-bokeh mode for selfies too, naturally, and it also separates subject from background nicely. Remind us again - why are second cameras needed for blurring backgrounds?

Selfie samples, portrait

Video

The Nokia 8 Sirocco is rather limited in its video recording capabilities. It can do 4K at 30fps (60fps at that resolution isn't a thing with Snapdragon 835 phones) and 1080p at 30fps, but not 1080p at 60fps. Why so, Nokia? Electronic stabilization is not available in 4K, but only in 1080p and you can't turn it off. Why so, Nokia?

2160p videos are recorded with a bitrate of around 42Mbps - just about the standard number for the h.264 codec. 1080p clips get around 20Mbps, which is actually a little more than the average 17Mbps. Audio is recorded in stereo at 256kbps.

You can count on the Sirocco to produce high-quality 4K videos with its main cam - sharp, detailed, and noise-free. Colors are rendered nicely too, perhaps just a little conservatively. 1080p footage is similarly above average in quality, but we feel than the option to turn off the stabilization could have yielded slightly sharper results.

Just like we observed on the Nokia 7 Plus, the telephoto camera's videos have a different white balance making for warmer zoomed in footage. 4K is plenty sharp, 1080p is a bit worse than what you'd get from the main cam.

Again, similarly to the Nokia 7 Plus' behavior, the Sirocco's stabilization has some issues with panning, where it would overshoot a little and take an extra fraction of a second to go back - care should be taken not to pan too fast. Other than that, the stabilization smooths out pretty much everything.

For those of you who want to pixel peep locally, we've uploaded short samples straight out of the phone (2160, 1080p@30 from the normal camera and 2160, 1080p@30 from the telephoto one).

You can also head over to our Video compare tool to see how the Nokia 8 Sirocco renders our test charts. We've pre-selected the Galaxy S9+ and the Huawei P20, but feel free to play around with other phones we've tested.

Nokia 8 Sirocco against the Galaxy S9+ and the Huawei P20 in our Video compare tool