The Nokia 8 has just been announced, with HMD Global unveiling the flagship Android smartphone that many have been waiting for. It offers flagship specs, with a 5.3-inch Quad HD display and powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 hardware, meaning it should offer a top-tier experience.

Nokia has chosen to launch its new smartphones as pure Android, avoiding the heavy customisation that the likes of LG and Samsung a known for, instead offering a phone that's closer to Google's Pixel, or the Moto handsets. 

Launching on Android 7 Nougat, HMD Global's Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer, was bullish about this position when we spoke to him prior to the announcement. Sarvikas reinforced the position that avoiding customisation and bloat would result in being able to use all the power for the things you want, as well as being able to deliver the latest updates faster. 

That's good news for Android users getting the latest security update, which Nokia has delivered on with its existing handsets - the Nokia 3, 5 and 6 - but Sarvikas also outlined a strong desire to have the Nokia 8 running Android O as quickly as possible.

With no date yet given by Google for the launch of Android 8, Sarvikas didn't confirm a date for the update to Android O, but stated that the Nokia 8 would be aiming to be one of the first devices to push out the update to Android O, and that the company was already working with development versions of the software.

That's good news for those interested in this new flagship phone: the likes of the HTC U11 or Samsung Galaxy S8 may be waiting for many months. Hopefully, Nokia can deliver on that promise slightly faster.