We’re a week removed from Mobile Word Congress and Sony may have bagged the award for Best New Smartphone with their Xperia XZ Premium, but Nokia definitely stole the show with the re-imagining of the 3310; so much so that it even stole the spotlight from their new crop of smartphones the Nokia 3, 5, and 6.
Related: Nokia 3310 Hands-On, Initial Review
While we’re inclined to agree that the trio of smartphones bearing the Nokia brand are a bit lackluster, they do pave the way for more impressive releases in the near future. We’ve already heard rumblings about a flagship device and some of the Nokia 8’s rumored specs, but new rumors have now surfaced that include a few more details and its possible launch date as well.
Here’s what we know about the phone so far.
Nokia 8 Rumored Specifications
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor
- 4GB or 6GB of RAM
- Adreno 540 GPU
- 5.7-inch QHD IPS display; 2560×1440 resolution, Gorilla Glass 5 protection
- 64GB or 128GB of expandable storage
- 24-megapixel rear camera, OIS, PDAF, LED flash
- 12-megapixel front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC
- GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- Fingerprint Scanner
- USB Type-C
- Non-removable Li-Ion battery
- Android 7.0 Nougat
Here’s what the new rumors coming out of China are saying about the Nokia 8.
Two Variants: The Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Plus?
Sources suggest that HMD Global Oy will be following suit with the current trend in flagship devices and they will be releasing two variants of the Nokia 8. Aside from the screen size, which we’re assuming the “Plus” will be getting the 5.7-inch screen, the variants will differ in RAM and storage capacities. The bigger of the two may also be seeing the dual camera treatment as well, because… Why the heck not? Everyone else is getting a dual camera, right? But, it has been confirmed that we won’t be seeing the PureView or Carl Zeiss tag on any these phones.
Possible Pricing and Availability
One of the big questions when a flagship device is released is: “How much will it cost?” And it turns out, not as expensive as we thought it would be. The smaller of the two variants is rumored to receive a price tag of $579 or Php 29127, while the “Plus” sized Nokia 8 will be somewhere along the lines of $652 or Php 32798.
As for its release date, you’ve read the headline for the article, we’re most likely going to see the device be released either late in May or sometime in June. This is due to the fact that Samsung has stock-piled the initial run of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 and rather than release a flagship with 2016’s flagship SoC, ala LG and their G6, it seems HMD Global Oy has opted to wait it out a little bit.
Let us end this article by saying that these are rumors. While some of them end up being true when it comes time to launch, nothing is really confirmed until then.
