HMD Global has officially entered into the flagship territory with the launch of the Nokia 8, which is the company’s fourth smartphone in 2017. Nokia had recently introduced the entry-level Nokia 3, Nokia 5, and the Nokia 6 smartphones to the masses and was meant to be budget-centric devices. However, HMD is looking to make its mark among the big shots with the new Nokia 8, which features premium hardware to take on its flagship rivals.
Having said that, one other smartphone is giving the Nokia 8 a stiff competition is the OnePlus 5. This latest offering from OnePlus is a solid all-rounder and has thoroughly impressed us in all aspects that matter the most – great camera experience, cutting-edge performance and much more at just Rs. 32,999. But can the Nokia 8 do better than the OnePlus 5?
Design & Display
Although the OnePlus 5 offers a bigger 5.5-inch screen when compared to the Nokia 8’s 5.3-inch display, both the phones are of similar dimensions and weight. Both the devices come with a sturdy aluminium unibody design with aerial bands that blend in up top and below the screen, however, neither of them offers full water resistance.
In terms of display, the OnePlus 5’s display resolution is a mere 1920 x 1080 pixels but the Nokia 8 display comes with a QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, which offers much sharper visuals than the OnePlus 5.
Performance
Under the hood, both the handsets run Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 835 processor, which is also seen in other power flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the HTC U11. The OnePlus 5 may have a slight advantage over the Nokia 8 with 6GB of RAM against Nokia 8’s 4GB offering. Notably, you also have the option to upgrade your OnePlus 5 to a generous 8GB of RAM if needed. Both the phones offer 64GB of internal storage which can be further expanded via microSD cards.
Camera
The camera was OnePlus 5’s headline feature offering a dual rear-facing shooter of a 16MP sensor with f/1.7 aperture and a secondary 20MP sensor with f/2.6 aperture. Up front, the OnePlus 5 also sports another 16MP camera with f/2.0 aperture for selfies.
The Nokia 8 has also followed this year’s dual-camera trend and comes with a combination of dual 13MP rear cameras with f/2.0 aperture, which is not something to write up to against the OnePlus 5 camera. The Nokia 8’s selfie camera is also not that great at 13MP with f/2.0 aperture.
Software
On the software front, the OnePlus 5 and the Nokia 8 ship with Google’s latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, with OnePlus making some minor tweaks to the software using its own Oxygen OS overlay. Both the devices are expected to receive the upcoming Android O update as soon as Google releases it.
Battery and Pricing
The OnePlus 5 is backed by a decent 3,300mAh battery that keeps the phone up and running easily for a whole day while the Nokia 8 sips juice from a marginally smaller 3,090mAh battery cell. As mentioned earlier, the OnePlus 5 is currently available at Rs. 32,999 and the Nokia 8 is expected to come with a price tag of 599 Euros (approximately Rs. 45,500).
Globally, the Nokia 8 will go on sale in early September but we do not know when the phone will come to the Indian markets. The handset will be available in four colour options – PolishedBlue, Polished Copper, Tempered Blue, and Steel – while the OnePlus 5 is available in Midnight Black, Slate Grey, and the new Soft Gold options.
Verdict
The OnePlus 5 seems to have the edge over the Nokia 8 in terms of specs and value for money, however, it is too early to say anything at this stage. Either way, both are equally attractive phones offering some great specs and worth buying.
