First look: Nokia 8 flagship smartphone

Finnish company HMD Global has unveiled its latest Nokia-branded smartphone in a first bid to win over Samsung and Apple customers.

The Android-powered Nokia 8 will be available in September and will retail for a global average price of €599 (US$703), HMD said Wednesday.

The company, which started operating in 2016 with an exclusive license for Nokia-branded phones, has so far focused its efforts to revive the Nokia brand on cheaper smartphones and a redesign of the classic Nokia 3310, first sold in 2000.

Juho Sarvikas, HMD’s chief product officer, said now was “the perfect time” to introduce the model, which he describes as a flagship product.

The phone will feature a “dual-sight” photo and video function, in which images from the front and rear cameras will be displayed simultaneously on a split screen. HMD describes the feature as “less Selfie, more Bothie”.

HMD had chosen to release cheaper models first because 50 percent of global demand was for phones costing between €100 and €250, Sarvikas said in an interview.

“We wanted to start there, where we know that we are highly relevant with our proposition. We’re very eager to enter the flagship segment as well.”

New optics

The new device has Zeiss cameras, after HMD said in July that it had signed a partnership with the group, part of the German optics company Carl Zeiss.

The launch comes as Apple prepares to launch a new iPhone and Samsung rolls out its new Galaxy Note 8. Sarvikas said by phone that HMD was “less concerned about competition; we’re here to design for the consumers.”

Demand for the redesigned 3310 feature phone, unveiled in February, had been “very strong.” Sarvikas was unable to share detailed sales figures but said HMD had sold “millions” of smartphones and “tens of millions” of feature phones – of which the 3310 is just one model.

Nokia sold the handset business to Microsoft in 2014. In 2016 Microsoft sold it to HMD and FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Chinese phone maker Foxconn Technology. HMD’s Chief Executive Officer Arto Nummela, a former Nokia executive, left the company last month.