Nokia 8.1 Review: Very Good All Around, But Does It Satisfy The Photographer In You?

The advent of phone cameras took photography to the masses and technology made pictures so good that most of us don¡¯t really need a dedicated camera anymore. Need SLR like bokeh for portraits, you got it. Need better low light images, they have you covered. No wonder then that most phone makers today are spending a lot of money in research and marketing for these wonder devices. HMD Global has launched their new photography focussed Nokia 8.1 in India yesterday, priced at Rs 26,999 and it¡¯s time to find out how good the phone and its much vaunted cameras really are.

Same same but different

It looks like HMD Global has got the design, fit and finish on their devices nailed down perfectly. Right off the bat, the Nokia 8.1 looks and feels classy. The use of metal and glass is something that I loved about the Nokia 6.1 Plus I used and it stays true for the 8.1 too. Here though the company has used 6000 series aluminium for the frame that is covered in matte magenta with a silver strip running all along the sides. The curved glass front and back gets the same colour treatment and the Nokia 8.1 screams premium any angle you look at it.

The phone gets a big 6.18 inch screen with a FHD+ resolution in a tall 18.7:9 ratio (2280 x 1080). This means that the phone sits well within the hand, though I still found it hard to reach the extremities of the display with my thumb. The display is plenty sharp though and viewing full HD content online is a lot of fun. The LCD display supports HDR 10 media profile which HMD calls the PureDisplay tech and HDR content actually looks pretty amazing. There¡¯s lot of colour and contrast to see if you have the right kind of content. At this price, this screen is one of the better ones around. If only they had done something about that notch. It¡¯s rather large and bugs me no end, particularly because there¡¯s no infra red projector or other face unlock tech there. It¡¯s just wasted real estate if I¡¯m honest.

Once you use stock android, all other UIs pale in comparison. Abhishek Saksena

A thing that bothered me was that the Nokia 8.1 comes only in the 4 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant. There are cheaper phones with more RAM and storage available, so I was a little apprehensive. Thankfully I have been proven wrong. The phone is holding up rather well with daily tasks and reactions are pretty quick too. Of course pure, bloat free Android One is not very resource intensive and apps open in double quick time. Credit also goes to the Snapdragon 710 processor, one of the few phones in India to have the new gen SoC. It makes light work of games too with no frame drops in whatever little gaming I did.

Smile please

Let¡¯s come to the one thing HMD Global is betting big on with the Nokia 8.1 ¨C the cameras. Like most smartphones today the 8.1 comes with a dual cameras. There¡¯s a primary 12 MP camera with 1/2.55¡± sensor and 1.4 micron pixels ¨C which HMD calls ¡°industry-leading¡±. Just to put things in perspective, the nearly three year old Samsung S7 had the same sensor size and pixel size, while the 2013 model HTC One (M7) had bigger 2 micron pixels. The primary sensor is assisted by a 13 MP sensor for depth perception ¨C used in live focus mode for faux bokeh in portraits. Both cameras come with Zeiss glass. At the front is a massive 20 MP camera with fixed focus. And snce the proof of the pudding is in eating it, let¡¯s dig in.

12 MP main camera plus a 13 MP depth sensor look through Zeiss glass. Abhishek Saksena

The thing that I noticed first was the fast autofocus and quick shutter speed. Point the camera, press the shutter and more often than not, you¡¯ll end up with a properly focussed and a sharp image. In good lighting conditions, the camera shines (pun intended). The shots have a ton of detail and there¡¯s a fine balance between image sharpening and noise. In low light, the noise reduction artefacts are visible and some detail loss is evident, but only when pixel peeping. The colour reproduction is accurate too and pictures are punchy if a bit over saturated at times. Colours are accurate, though the camera has a bias towards a warm white balance.

In harsh light and contrasty conditions the small sensors of the smartphone cameras (DSLRs have much bigger sensors) struggle with retaining highlight detail along with shadow areas, and it¡¯s true for the Nokia 8.1 too. The HDR mode helps, striking a good balance in both dark and light areas, but the pictures end up with a slightly cooler tone. Live Focus mode for portraits works as advertised. Edge detection on high contrast edges is great, though difficult edges like hair get muddled a little bit. But that¡¯s the case with most phones today. The Nokia 8.1 also shoots up to 4K resolution and thanks to the aforementioned OIS, the footage is relatively stable, though micro shakes are apparent. Overall, the image quality is pleasing. Not Google Pixel level great, but satisfying nonetheless.

Edge detection pretty good. Struggles with fine edges like hair. Abhishek Saksena

Money where your mouth is

The Nokia 8.1 is a big phone and if there¡¯s one advantage of big phones you can¡¯t overlook, it¡¯s the battery capacity. The phone comes with a 3,500 mAh battery and has enough stamina to last you a day and more. It lasted well over a day with my average use scrolling through web pages, messaging and burning my retinas watching YouTube videos. Thankfully there¡¯s fast charging support and there¡¯s an 18 W fast charger bundled in the box.

And now¡¯s that time where I wonder whether I¡¯m getting enough value for money. At Rs 26,999, it is in a place where it¡¯s neither a low-to-mid-level phone, those that sell the most in the country, nor it¡¯s in the premium category. This is a good thing since there isn¡¯t much competition there. Standalone, I¡¯d recommend the Nokia 8.1 without thinking twice. If you want a great camera, pure Android and a phone that you can show off to your friends, the Nokia 8.1 it is. If you want better value for money, there¡¯s the Poco F1.

Here are some more pictures for you to feast your eyes on.

Colours appear saturated at times. Lot of details in the shots though. Abhishek Saksena

Most smartphones struggle with harsh lighting conditions and Nokia 8.1 is no different. Abhishek Saksena

Who needs portrait mode when the natural bokeh of the lens is so good. Abhishek Saksena

The classy colour combination looks and feels premium. Abhishek Saksena