Nokia has found a way to unify their design language while also focusing on creating a uniquely identifiable product. The Nokia 8.1 continues this tradition and is perhaps one of the best looking phones of 2018. Seriously, the Nokia 8.1 is downright gorgeous. The front of the phone is a plain with a 6.18 inch display taking up most of the space. The screen has a notch cut out and honestly, we’ve gotten used to it. Like the Nokia 7.1 Plus, the Nokia 8.1 too comes equipped with an HDR capable panel dubbed ‘PureDisplay’. Going as bright as 500nits, the 6.18 inch LCD panel has a resolution of 2280×1080 pixels. The screen looks pretty damn good as far LCD panels go and displays excellent viewing angles. That’s pretty much the norm with quality IPS displays.
Like most modern phones, the Nokia 8.1 is also a glass and metal sandwich. The central frame is made of extruded series 6000 aluminium. Like most modern phones, the Nokia 8.1 is also a glass and metal sandwich. The central frame is made of extruded series 6000 aluminium. The back of the phone has a dual camera module towards the top with a fingerprint sensor below it. Towards the left lies the LED flash. The entire back is made of glass and has a very premium finish to it. An unfortunate side effect of this, however, is that the phone is ridiculously slippery. The Nokia 8.1 is pretty straightforward when it comes to software.
The Nokia 8.1 takes a big step towards changing the camera pattern of the Nokia series. The 12MP camera has a 1.4um pixels size which is coupled with OIS and Zeiss optics. The phone handily captures great looking shots in all sorts of lighting conditions while the Pro Camera functionality lets you push it even further. What really struck us was the almost film-like look to the camera tuning. In good lighting, the camera is capable of capturing nicely saturated, good looking shots without any noticeable signs of too much sharpening or excessive noise reduction. the front camera has a 20MP sensor that can use pixel binning to produce superior selfies. The Nokia 8.1 sports one of the best cameras you can find among the Nokia series.
Connectivity options on the Nokia 8.1 include Dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5 and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac. Do note that while the phone does support dual 4G SIM cards, this is a hybrid SIM slot so you’ll have to choose between memory expansion and dual SIM functionality. Our review unit had 64GB of storage on board of which about 52GB was available at launch. It comes with a 3500 mAh battery.