Nokia will soon release the phone that fans have been waiting for, the Nokia 8; its flagship offering in its return to the world of smartphones.

Nokia previously announced three Android handsets at Mobile World Congress 2017, alongside the new Nokia 3310, a retro play that appears to be more of a marketing stunt than anything else.

Now things are getting serious. Here's everything you need to know about the Nokia 8.

Nokia 8 design

  • 151.5 x 73.7 x 7.9mm
  • Aluminium body
  • Front fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack

All the Nokia Android phones start life as a block of 6000 series aluminium, and the Nokia 8 flagship is exactly the same. As with Nokia's previous Android phones, the story is very much about the care and attention that goes into creating the handset, including the anodisation and polishing needed to create the Polished Copper glossy finish. 

There's no mention of waterproofing, however.

There's a front fingerprint scanner sitting between the back and recent apps touch controls, meaning that the full space of the 16:9 display is available for you to use. It might not be shifting form factor like Samsung and LG, but it's a high quality phone.

There's USB Type-C on the base and a 3.5mm headphone socket on the top.

Nokia 8 hardware specs

  • 5.3-inch, IPS LCD, 2560 x 1440 pixel, 554ppi
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
  • 4GB RAM, 64GB storage
  • 3090mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0

The Nokia 8 offers a 5.3-inch display on the front, using an IPS LCD panel. This is rated at 700 nits, so it has a lot of brightness. 

Nokia has also made the step to Quad HD, meaning a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution, resulting in 554ppi - right up there with the sharpest of flagship phones.

Driving the phone is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, as well as microSD expansion for those who want more space. That's a flagship loadout, so should give the handset the power to handle everything with ease.

There's a 3090mAh battery from which it's claimed you'll get over a day of use, with support for Quick Charge 3.0, so if you do go flat, you should be back in the game in no time at all.

Nokia has also used a liquid cooling system for the Nokia 8, with a large copper heat pipe running through the internals and a graphite heat shield to enable the SD835 to run to the best of its abilities.

Nokia 8 camera

  • Dual 13-megapixel rear, 1.12µm pixels, f/2.0, PDAF, IR focus assist
  • One RBG sensor, one monochrome sensor
  • Front 13-megapixel camera, 1.12µm pixels, f/2.0, PDAF
  • Dual-Sight camera mode
  • Zeiss partnership in camera development

Where HMD Global is looking to differentiate is in the camera. The Nokia 8 has a dual 13-megapixel camera on the rear, offering one sensor that captures RGB colour data and a second that captures monochrome data. Combining this information should lead to better quality results whatever the conditions. 

The front camera is also 13-megapixels and offers the same specs, as all have an f/2.0 aperture, 1.12µm pixel size and feature phase detection autofocus. 

One of the unique offerings is being able to capture from the front and rear cameras at the same time, with the ability to stream these live to Facebook or YouTube. 

There's no wide angle or zoom offering, instead this is all about quality.

Nokia 8 software

  • Pure Android Nougat
  • Bespoke Camera app

The Nokia 8 launches on Android 7 Nougat and is unfettered, with no bloatware and no changes from Nokia.

The only addition is a support app for owners of the phone and Nokia has used its own camera app to support the advanced functions that it offers.

There's also the ambition to bring Android O to the Nokia 8 as soon as possible.

The Nokia 8 will also be able to capture 360 audio with an Ozo Audio feature.

Nokia 8 release date and price

  • 13 September release
  • Available in UK and globally
  • £499/€599

The Nokia 8 was announced on 16 August at a launch event in London. The Nokia will be available globally in September and, specifically, in the UK from Wednesday 13 September.

The Nokia 8 price is £499 in the UK, €599 in Europe.