HMD Global has officially started selling its latest smartphone, the Nokia 8, in the Kenyan market.
Launched in mid-August, the Nokia 8 bears the distinction of being the first Nokia-branded flagship smartphone from HMD Global.
To confirm its flagship status are specifications that set it apart from HMD Global’s other Nokia-branded smartphones namely the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6. Those 3, have been officially available in the Kenyan market since the end of July.
The device is set to receive an update upgrading it to Android 8.0, Oreo soon.
We are on it @nokiamobile . @Android #Oreo maturing nicely on #Nokia8 , will release when perfect. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/wPxEGA4rJn
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) September 16, 2017
Prior to this official availability, the Nokia 8 has been selling in the country through third parties.
The device goes for Kshs 60,000, almost Kshs 10,000 more than the third parties have priced it.
Focus on the camera
The Nokia 8’s hero feature is its cameras. It has a pair of 13-megapixel dual cameras at the back that operate much like Huawei’s on its flagship devices i.e. one shoots in colour while the other shoots in black and white and the results merged in a single shot using the company’s signature Image Fusion Technology.
The 13-megapixel camera on the front, meant for selfies, takes the selfie game a notch higher with its Dual-Sight mode which lets users shoot using the front and back cameras simultaneously.
Rounding up the Nokia 8’s camera focus is the ability to go live on Facebook and YouTube straight from the viewfinder and not via the individual apps, a first as far as Facebook goes and one of the few times that we get to see YouTube integration taken this far (Samsung premiered the YouTube live streaming feature on the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ last year).
Long time users of Nokia devices will also notice the Zeiss branding at the back meaning that the Nokia 8 features the renowned German brand’s optics tech. Guess which other company turned to German optics for its cameras?
The only immediately noticeable downside of the device, if we can call it that, is the camera bump at the back which increases the device’s otherwise very thin design profile by 0.4mm.
Other specifications of the device are as below:
| Size and weight | 151.5 x 73.7 x 7.9mm, 160g |
| Display | 5.3-inch IPS LCD QHD 2560 x 1440, 700 nits screen brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass 5, 2.5D Glass |
| Camera | Primary camera: 13MP (Colour + OIS) + 13MP (Mono), 1.12um, f/2.0, 76.9˚, PDAF, IR range finder, dual tone flash Front facing camera: 13MP PDAF, 1.12um, f/2.0, 78.4˚, display flash |
| Processor | Snapdragon 835 |
| Memory | 4GB RAM, 64GB onboard storage (expandable up to 256GB) |
| Operating System | Android 7.1.1 Nougat |
| Battery | 3,090mAh with Qualcomm Quick Charge™ 3.0 |
| Network | 3G, 4G |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (MIMO), Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, NFC |
| Others | Fingerprint sensor |
| Colour options | Tempered Blue and Steel |
