Nokia 8 Sirocco Review

Nokia launched the Nokia 8 as their flagship handset. Later they introduced a better product as the Nokia 8 Sirocco, today as per the standards the device is dated and cannot match with most of the competition. Still, let us review the device in Mid-2018 so that we can make out if the device is capable enough till the next flagship from Nokia holds the ground.

Design & Build

The phone comes with a premium aluminum build. Which makes it a toughly build device, although at the back we get the glass back which is on par with the current competition. Talking about the placements the phone, we have the dual camera at the back with a dual tone flash on to the side of the phone. We also have the fingerprint scanner placed just below the camera unit. With the NOKIA branding placed vertically on the same line as the camera unit and the fingerprint scanner.

The Nokia 8 Sirocco is packed with an IP67 rating which makes it waterproof to an extent. On the front of the device, we get the Nokia branding, earpiece, sensors, camera, and a 16:9 ratio panel. This makes the device dated. We will talk about the display in the later part. For the build, the phone is strong enough to withstand the daily life for more than 2 to 3 years. With the Nokia 8 Sirocco build, HMD Global made it loud and clear that they are back with the same Nokia toughness that people were looking for in the modern smartphones.

Display

Nokia 8 Sirocco offers an OLED Panel which is the best in the class panel in the competition. The front glass is a bit curved just like we observe in the Galaxy S – series of the device. The 5.5 inched display comes at a resolution of 2560 x 1440p which is a great part for the flagship performer.

The panel of the phone is a P – OLED one which was famous for being used in the Pixel 2 XL, and for its blueish display at an angle. The same issue is present with the Nokia 8 Sirocco, but a bit minimized and not as evident as the last one

Performance

Nokia rocked the stages with the performance of the Nokia 8 Sirocco. The phone is able to run all the application with ease without any issue. Switching between the apps is a breeze and multi-tasking is easy as hell. Gaming on the Nokia 8 Sirocco is as easy as sliding on butter. The phone doesn’t heat up much and has a good thermal capacity.

Nokia’s flagship is rocking the Snapdragon 835 SoC which is kind of old as per today’s standard. Nokia has bundled 6GB of RAM with the processor and 128GB of Internal Storage. The overall bundle makes it a great performer especially in terms of gaming & multitasking. Day to Day tasks are handled with ease and without any issue

Camera

On the rear, we get two different units wherein one sensor is a 12 MP unit while the second one is a 13 MP unit with 2x zooming capability. Both the sensors are covered with Carl Zeiss branded lenses which improve the quality by a huge margin. Back in the days most of the Nokia phones had Carl Zeiss lenses and it is the same case as with the Nokia 8 Sirocco their 2018 flagship.

One of the major con of the Nokia 8 Sirocco is on the zoom sensor as it produces softer images and decorates the quality of the picture. While it does helps us to zoom and better compose the picture. The primary unit has an excellent dynamic range and is less prone to overexposing issues. The sensor is taught to handle both the shadow and highlights in a balanced manner.

The camera is great with its impressive application to support it where we get tons of option like Auto HDR Mode, Manual mode, and other modes which makes it easy for us to get some amazing shots. The front camera is a great unit and can help you get some really good images especially during the night time with the help of front flash. Sirocco also gets OIS which lets us slow the shutter down to 1/14 to take amazing pictures.

Battery

The phone comes with a 3260 mAh battery which is great for a phone like the Nokia 8 Sirocco. The phone can easily make out a day and a half with the included battery without a charge. Although it is better to charge the phone daily at night and it will leave you with a 40 – 50% battery at night if used wisely only for calling and social stuff.

If you use the phone like a maniac for gaming then it will last a maximum of around 3 to 4& ½ hours based on the game you are playing. The phone comes included with a fast charger which is intelligent hence switches between 5V, 9V, 12V, and 15W based on the charge required by the phone. Another important feature is the Wireless charging which is included in the phone, this makes the phone easy to be charged.

Verdict

The Nokia 8 Sirocco is a great device in 2018 too, the device ticks all the right boxes and misses on just a single side which is the display. If the phone had the new 18:9 ratio display with the same specifications, the phone had been a great device. Still, the phone is great and will work for the next 2 to 3 years with ease, if you can live with the 16:9 ratio display.

If you have a budget and you are looking for some better phones then do look at the Nokia 7 Plus from Nokia which comes with the updated specs and updated display. Also look at the OnePlus 6 & Asus’s ZenFone 5z if you have a budget of around 30,000 to 40,000 INR. What do you think about the Nokia 8 Sirocco? Will you buy one for 45,000 INR? Do let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.