Nokia 8 Update | Syricco | 2018

Nokia 8 Sirocco quick review: 

1. HMD Global, since the time it began its operations to revive the Nokia of yore, has launched a number of phones around the world. Although HMD Global has launched a number of phones, focusing a great deal on design and software experience, none have come close to a certain Samsung Galaxy S8 or an iPhone X in terms of offering the all-round package. That includes asking a hefty sum to own, one of its new phones. HMD's best bet to challenge the biggies, the Nokia 8, looked like an unpolished slab of stone-cold metal, and also, its camera(s) left a lot to be desired. At its mid-range price though, you could -- and should -- of course, overlook some of its shortcomings, but there was still an audience waiting for HMD to launch a true Nokia flagship. For quite sometime now. Enter the Nokia 8 Sirocco.
2. The Nokia 8 Sirocco looks gorgeous. It's got the specs to brag as well. Not to mention, it's the most expensive Nokia phone, in HMD's arsenal right now. And, it's very, very nostalgic. Combine all of this, and you get a phone, that's already knocking on the door of the gentlemen's club. Not that the Nokia 8 was any less successful. But the Nokia 8 Sirocco, which may be considered as a Nokia 8 on steroids, is HMD's first real answer to the Galaxy and the iPhones and the Pixels of the world. Everything about it, including its price, has been seemingly designed to take on the best. No wonder, HMD is calling it, a special edition, taking you back in time, when Nokia was the only major brand doing special editions considered a luxury to own. Those were the days.
   
3. The Nokia 8 Sirocco starts off right where the Nokia 8800 Sirocco left, almost 12 years ago from now. But while the Nokia 8800 Sirocco was a slider feature phone based on the Nokia Series 40 operating system, the Nokia 8 Sirocco is a new-age smartphone based on Android. It's built on the same design philosophy though, and also it uses almost the same build materials.
4. Much like the Nokia 8800 Sirocco, the Nokia 8 Sirocco also comes with an outer frame that's carved out of stainless steel, that's 2.5 times stronger than the 6000 series aluminium, that's onboard the Nokia 8. The front and back, are meanwhile, carved out of Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which is the holy grail in terms of shatter-proof (and scratch-proof) casing in the industry right now. The Nokia 8800 Sirocco, to recall, also came with a scratch-resistant screen.
5. Also, Read Nokia 8110 4G banana phone vs JioPhone: Can nostalgia take on India ka smartphone.
   
6. The Nokia 8 Sirocco may not be a nerd-gasmic slider phone, but, it has an edge-to-edge screen that literally spills over the sides much like the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9. The phone also has barely-there top and bottom bezels. And it's ridiculously compact. I was, in fact, in two minds when I first got a hold of it: is it bezel-less or not? Does it have an unusual 18:9 aspect ratio like the latest of the lot, or not? The short answer will be, a no. Neither is the Nokia 8 Sirocco a bezel-less phone nor is it rocking an unusual aspect ratio. What is all this sorcery then, you ask.
7. The secret sauce here is the kind of display that HMD is using. It's a curved P-OLED panel with a full 3D Corning Gorilla Glass 5 layer up-top. The two, when combined, give you the impression that you're dealing with a complete edge-to-edge screen, when, actually you're not. There are bezels, although, you'll be hard-pressed to make them out. The combination also allows HMD to tightly compartmentalize the whole thing, while the stainless steel frame on the outside adds considerable weight to it. And some sharpness, that would hold on to you. This means even though the Nokia 8 Sirocco has a paper-thin profile -- it's just 7.5mm to boot -- it doesn't feel like it's going to fly out of your hands anytime soon. It's sleek and suave, but also, a lot re-assuring when in the hands.
   
8. The Nokia 8 Sirocco is a 5.5-inch phone, but, it feels smaller than other 5.5-inch phones in the market. Even though, it isn't bezel-less or full-screen. It's an ordinary phone, doing extraordinary things, is what it is, thanks to its breakthrough design scheme that makes it stand toe-to-toe with the best in the business. And give them quite a run for their money. The resolution is 2K or QHD, much like the Nokia 8, only the curved P-OLED panel, gives it the extra punch in addition to making it VR-ready out-of-the-box. There's an always-on functionality too.
9. It's a little disappointing that the Nokia 8 Sirocco comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 on the inside. As a consolation though, the Nokia 8 Sirocco comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage which is non-expandable. And when coupled with unadulterated, stock Android Oreo, the thing should technically fly like anything. This is on basis of past record, and now that, HMD is joining Googles Android One initiative -- the Nokia 8 Sirocco is an Android One phone -- things should only get better. The Nokia 8 Sirocco is on its way to get at least two major updates -- Android P and Q -- and also it's on its way to get them faster than a Galaxy S9 -- that boasts of the latest and greatest in hardware -- falling short of only the Pixels.
10. Also Read: Asus Zenfone 5 is unapologetically an iPhone X clone because that's what 
11. Moving on to the cameras, HMD is promising a lot with the Nokia 8 Sirocco. Just like the Nokia 8, the Nokia 8 Sirocco also comes with dual rear cameras although the set-up has been revamped and hopefully also improved along the way. The dual camera system onboard the Nokia 8 Sirocco comes with a primary 12-megapixel sensor with 1.4um pixel size and f/1.75 aperture while the secondary sensor is 13-megapixel with f/2.6 aperture. There's no OIS though, although HMD is upgrading the camera software with a new Pro mode that's similar to what you found on the old Nokia Lumia devices. The Pro mode offers manual control over settings in a radial manner, allowing you to change white balance, ISO, shutter speed, and exposure compensation. The dual rear cameras are further assisted by ZEISS optics.
12. On the front, the Nokia 8 Sirocco comes with a 5-megapixel camera, which is a downgrade from the one onboard the Nokia 8. It's a little difficult to understand why HMD would do something like this, especially since it's still marketing the Nokia 8 Sirocco as the phone to buy for content creators. The Nokia 8 Sirocco still supports Dual-Sight, a feature that lets a user to simultaneously use both the rear and front cameras to take stills/record videos. Think of it as picture-in-picture. If that wasn't enough, the phone also allows for a live broadcast of videos shot using Dual-Sight on to social media platforms like Facebook. Also, it comes with three microphones that allow for 360-degree spatial audio capture while recording videos. But a meagre 5-megapixel camera on the front, and no OIS on the rear, can spell trouble for HMD, especially among creators, who would definitely want more at the Nokia 8 Siroccos asking price.
13. Elsewhere, the Nokia 8 Sirocco, is backed by a 3,260mAh battery which is claimed to offer up to 22 hours of talk-time. It supports both fast -- 50 percent in 30 minutes -- and wireless -- Qi -- charging out-of-the-box. The Nokia 8 Sirocco is IP67-certified as well. It comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and USB Type-C for charging, data syncing and audio out. That's right, the Nokia 8 Sirocco doesn't come with a headphone jack.
14. The Nokia 8 Sirocco, much like the original Nokia 8800 Sirocco, is all about the design and luxury. And HMD is very clear about its target audience. The Nokia 8 Sirocco isn't meant for everybody. It's for those for whom style trumps substance. With the Nokia 8 Sirocco, however, you'll get substance -- lots and lots of it in fact -- as well, so everybody is a winner. It's not perfect, but then again, there's no such thing as a perfect smartphone anyways. If design and brand are what appeals to you, you must keep an eye on the Nokia 8 Sirocco, as and when it comes to India. 
15. The phone is globally launching in April for 749 Euros which roughly translates to Rs 59,600, and we can expect it to come to India at roughly around the same time.