Nokia 8 Sirocco - Android One at its best

Nokia is back with a vengeance. With the Nokia 8 Sirocco smartphone, HMD Global (the company behind Nokia) wants to show that it can also compete with the big boys with an expensive, luxury smartphone with Android One. But can they?

Nokia 8 Sirocco

Price € 749,-

Colors Black

OS Android 8.1 (Oreo)

Screen 5.5 inch OLED (2560x1440)

Processor 2.5GHz octa-core (Snapdragon 835)

RAM 6GB

Storage 128GB

Battery 3,260mAh

Camera 12 and 13 megapixel dualcam (rear), 5 megapixel (front)

Connectivity 4G (LTE), Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi, GPS

Format 14.1 x 7.3 x 0.8cm

Weight 177 grams

Other fingerprint scanner, usb-c, no headphone port

Website //www.nokia.com 6 Score 60

  • Pros
  • Luxurious appearance
  • Android One
  • Negatives
  • Camera not good enough
  • No headphone port
  • Case required

An earlier version of the Nokia 8 appeared in 2017. At the time, I was very enthusiastic about the smartphone, because it offered the luxury of a top device, but with its price tag of 600 euros, it was slightly more affordable than the other top smartphones of that year, such as the Galaxy S8, Huawei P10 and the iPhone 7. The Nokia 8 Sirocco that succeeds the device is unfortunately a bit more expensive: 750 euros, but (at the time of writing) is about 100 in the short time that the device has already been released. euros cheaper.

Luxury device

The Nokia 8 Sirocco exudes the luxury you expect from a more expensive smartphone. The waterproof smartphone has slightly curved screen edges, like the Galaxy S9, so that as much of the front as possible consists of a screen. The Nokia is as thin as a razor and the size is just a bit smaller than the other top smartphones. The rear looks somewhat generic, due to a glass finish. Here you will find a dualcam and a fingerprint scanner, which is sometimes difficult to find.

Although the appearance is luxurious, the device does not feel that way. The edges of the curved screen are slightly sharpened and the buttons are a bit stiff to press. Due to the thin construction, curved screen edges and glass back, you have the feeling that you have an incredibly fragile device in your hands. A cover is therefore necessary, luckily you will find a simple cover in the box. There is also no headphone port in the housing, which makes the Nokia 8 less complete than its competitors OnePlus 6 and Galaxy S9.

trump card

Fortunately, the Nokia 8 Sirocco also stands out in a positive way compared to its direct competitors: the smartphone runs on Android One. That is an Android version, which is not maintained by the manufacturer, but by Google. Where other manufacturers often make a mess of the update support and make you wait a long time for the update to appear at all, you get the updates and security patches directly on the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Moreover, there is no bloatware or annoying skin in Android, which does not unnecessarily consume system capacity and battery charge.

The muscles of the Nokia therefore remain available as much as possible for the things you want, whether that be many apps or powerful games. The device has a nice amount of working and storage memory: 6GB and 128GB respectively. There is no memory card slot, but with so much storage available that is not really a huge loss. Of course, the Snapdragon 835 has a powerful processor on board, but other smartphones in the most expensive price category often have the slightly smoother Snapdragon 845.

The battery life is acceptable: about a day and a half with normal use. You can easily charge this via the USB-C port with the fast charger, or with a wireless charger (not included).

Screen

The display panel of the Nokia 8 Sirocco is of excellent quality, the contrast and brightness are neat. The image is also razor sharp, due to its high screen resolution of 2560 by 1440. Nokia has not opted for an alternative screen ratio, but keeps it at 16 by 9 with a screen diagonal of 5.5 inches (14 centimeters). However, the curved edges are not of the same quality as Samsung can. Especially with light colors you see that color distortion occurs.

dual cam

Whether you're looking at Huawei, Samsung, Apple or even OnePlus. All manufacturers claim to have the best camera in their top smartphones. This is simply the part that the marketing department can do the most with, since many top smartphones are very similar due to their glass housings. In the end, it turned out to be Samsung that placed the best camera in its smartphone. The Nokia 8 Sirocco cannot keep up when it comes to the camera quality of top smartphones. It even has to recognize its multiple in the OnePlus 6 cameras. The dynamic range is less, and in difficult lighting conditions such as backlighting or very little light, details and colors are lost, giving way to noise.

Advanced photographers can get more out of the camera, because there are many setting options and photos can be taken in RAW. That softens the situation a bit. The dual camera gives you the option to zoom in and take portrait photos with a depth of field effect. This works nicely. All in all, the camera of the Nokia 8 Sirocco cannot be called lousy, but for the same (or less) money you can get a better camera.

All in all, the Nokia 8 Sirocco does not distinguish itself sufficiently from the competition.

Alternatives

All in all, the Nokia 8 Sirocco does not distinguish itself sufficiently from the competition. The luxurious housing can be found on other smartphones in the same price range, as well as the specifications. The camera doesn't jump out either. This makes it better for you to choose the Galaxy S9, which has meanwhile fallen so much in price that it costs about the same. The S9 has a better screen and a great camera. The OnePlus 6 is also an alternative that has slightly better specs and camera. The major asset of the Nokia 8 is Android One, which provides better support than all other top smartphones (except iPhones). However, a device from Nokia itself wipes that asset off the table: the Nokia 7 Plus. This smartphone costs 400 euros, but offers a better deal despite its less powerful specifications and camera. In addition, this device features a distinctive metal housing and headphone port.

Conclusion

The Nokia 8 Sirocco has no real drawbacks besides the lack of the headphone port. However, the smartphone does not distinguish itself sufficiently, so that you have a better deal with the Galaxy S9 or Nokia 7 Plus. Android One is the big advantage of the Nokia 8 Sirocco, but you will also find that on more price-friendly alternatives, such as Nokia's own Nokia 7 Plus.

Recent Posts

$config[zx-auto] not found$config[zx-overlay] not found