HMD Global, the company behind Nokia’s rebirth, has a new flagship, the Nokia 8, coming very soon. Samsung, on the other hand, is setting up the stage to unveil the successor of last year’s disastrous Note 7, the Galaxy Note 8, in the coming weeks, to be precise on August 23.
Now, what do these two have in common? Both smartphones have been heavily leaked, and both are the next flagship devices of their respective companies. So far, we know quite a lot about them from all the leaks and rumours. However, the question remains as to which of the two will take the title as the better flagship smartphone.
Nokia 8
Nokia 8 is the company’s first high-end device to come out since HMD renewed Nokia a few months ago, so it is fair to assume that a lot is riding on this phone for the company. One of the recent leaks suggested that the Nokia 8 will be unveiled on July 31, 2017, which is not that far away.
Just yesterday, the phone was accidentally briefly listed on Nokia’s official website where an image showcased the phone in its full glory, giving away the design and a few key specs. Rumoured to be priced at USD 675 (approximately Rs. 43,440), the Nokia 8 is expected to come with a 5.3-inch Quad-HD display with 2.5D curved glass on top for protection.
Going by the images of the phone, it is not likely to have an edge-to-edge display, and the top and bottom bezels are larger than what we usually see in the recent smartphones. The Nokia 8 seems to have a slim metal shell with curved edges and a home button (most certainly doubling as a fingerprint scanner) below the screen with the ‘back’ and ‘recent’ capacitive keys. A retailer even listed the phone well ahead of the launch hinting that the Nokia 8 might come in Blue, Steel, Gold/blue, and Gold/copper variants.
The upcoming device’s camera had made news recently when HMD Global shook hands with Zeiss optics once again. The latter had once powered all Nokia handsets and after the partnership, the camera brand will once again back all optics for Nokia smartphones. The Nokia 8 is said to have a 13MP dual-lens setup on the rear.
We do not yet know much about the battery; but given that the Nokia 8 is a high-end smartphone, we can expect the phone’s battery to come with fast charging support. As for the internal specs, sources say that the Nokia 8 will house a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC coupled with 4GB or 6GB of RAM. The handset will most likely run on latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 has received equally high attention in the past few weeks thanks to its predecessor, the infamous Note 7. Following reports that the handset had been setting on fire, the company was forced to recall most devices, which later resulted in the Note 7 being binned altogether.
There were`rumours that it marked the end of the Galaxy Note lineup, however, the company announced that it would be releasing its next flagship this year. Going by the tradition, Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Note 8 before the IFA tech show in Berlin on August 23.
Rumour has it that Samsung will place the Galaxy Note 8 above the USD 1000 price point, much like what Apple is planning with the iPhone 8. Recently, the company seemed to accidentally tweet an image of the Galaxy Note 8 while promoting its Exynos 8895 processor. With the first ‘official’ look of the Galaxy Note 8 out, we can expect a wider infinity display and smaller bezels than the Galaxy S8 and S8+.
Along with an S Pen support, the Galaxy Note 8 will supposedly come with a huge 6.3-inch Super AMOLED display and an improved IRIS scanner. Based on rumours, some of the most notable features we can look forward to in the Galaxy Note 8 are the in-display fingerprint sensor and the built-in Samsung’s very own ‘Bixby’ AI assistant.
In terms of specs, the Galaxy Note 8 will possibly come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset paired with 6GB of RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage. Running on Android 7.0 Nougat, the handset will likely have a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C connectivity port. The device is rumoured to sport a 12MP dual-camera setup on its rear panel with Optical Image Stabilization and phase detection autofocus. As per leaks, the Galaxy 8 is tipped to have a 3,300mAh battery.
Conclusion
Both the Nokia 8 and the Samsung Galaxy 8 are in a cut-throat race to be the better flagship. Although it comes with a good chunk of high-end specs, the Nokia 8 seems to lack the flair that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has with its gorgeous design, edge-to-edge display, and S-Pen support. Having said that, it is still early to decide which one has the upper hand over the other before the official launch of the smartphones.
