HMD Global has launched its first flagship high-end phone, the Nokia 8, in South Africa. The phone, which sports vanilla Android (7.1 Nougat with 8.0 Oreo to follow soon), will retail for an aggressively priced recommended R9 499.
HMD Global, a Finnish company with the exclusive rights to make phones using the Nokia brand, has released several midrange Android smartphones as well as a “reboot” of the iconic Nokia 3310 this year.
The Nokia 8 is the company’s first high-end device, going head-to-head with flagship phones from the likes of Samsung, Huawei, Sony and Apple.
The ultra-slim Nokia 8 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, paired with 4GB of RAM. The phone has 64GB of flash storage, two rear-facing cameras using Carl Zeiss optics and a 13-megapixel front-facing shooter. HMD Global’s phones are made by Chinese manufacturer Foxconn.
Nokia 8 users can live-stream directly from the phone’s camera app to Facebook and YouTube using the front and rear cameras.
HMD Global said last month that the phone features a “dual-sight” photo and video function, in which images from the front and rear cameras are displayed at the same time on a split screen. The company described the feature as “less Selfie, more Bothie”.
The Nokia 8 is available for R449/month on a 24-month Vodacom contract, the UChoose Flexi 150, HMD Global said. The phone will be available on MTN and Cell C from 1 November. — © 2017 NewsCentral Media
