Nokia 8 availability: HMD launches a 'bothie' phone, but when it is coming to India?

HMD Global, the Finnish start-up who now handles sales and marketing of Nokia-branded smartphones, has launched another Android-device from Nokia’s line-up called Nokia 8, but touted as a ‘bothie’ phone. ‘Bothie’ because the device can shoot from both rear and front-facing cameras at the same time, and can share them directly to YouTube and other live-streaming platforms such as Facebook.

The Android device is designed to compete with rivals Apple and Samsung which are scheduled to launch their flagship smartphones in next couple of months. The phone features a 5.3-inch 2K LCD IPS display, polished aluminium body, Carl Zeiss cameras, and spatial audio tech from Nokia’s high-end 360-degree camera. On the rear, it sports a dual-camera set-up featuring two 13MP sensors (colour + monochrome), and a similar 13MP sensor at front.

Under the hood, Nokia 8 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor, coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, which is expandable via microSD support.

The phone packs a 3090mAh battery and supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0.

For now, Nokia 8 will operate on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. However, HMD Global promises to release software upgrades as soon as they come in. The company has claimed that they have begun testing Google’s latest OS Android O for the model, which is scheduled to first debut on Google devices -- Pixel and Nexus -- before being released to any other Android-operating smartphones.

Globally, Nokia 8 is due to go on sale in early September at a price of €599 (approx. Rs 45,000). However, the phone is likely to be available in India not until October.

In a statement to a daily English newspaper, HMD Global has confirmed the release of the handset in India, but ‘sometime in October 2017’.

The phone will reportedly be available in four colours with two matte and two glossy finishes. While the matte finish will be available in tempered blue and steel, the glossy finished variant will come in polished copper and polished blue.