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HMD Global has been one of the leaders in budget Android phones for some time, using the Nokia brand to sell a wide variety of devices. The Nokia 9 PureView was the company’s first flagship phone, but it had a few issues and was only available unlocked. HMD is now back with a new premium option: the Nokia 8 V 5G UW.
The Nokia 8V 5G UW is the latest smartphone that aims to bring to the masses the 5G millimeter waves (mmWave), which offers gigabit speeds in the right situations). It also represents HMD Global’s first attempt to create a high-end device for a large US network. Unfortunately, between the limited usefulness of mmWave and the increased competition from Google and Samsung, there is little reason to buy the Nokia 8 V.
Design, material, what’s in the box
If you follow HMD Global’s product line, the Nokia 8 V may look familiar. Indeed, this phone is essentially a Verizon version of the Nokia 8.3 5G, which arrived in the United States in September. The only noticeable difference is that the Nokia 8 V supports mmWave 5G, unlike the 8.3. Both phones are priced the same ($ 700), so either it’s the first Android phone without the infamous “ 5G tax ” or the Nokia 8.3 has a more comfortable profit margin.
Nokia 8 V (left) next to Galaxy S20 (right)
Industry speculation aside, the Nokia 8 V is a chonker of a telephone. I’ve been using the smaller Galaxy S20 as my primary phone for a few months now, and the 6.81-inch screen on the Nokia 8 V is gargantuan in comparison. The phone is physically bigger and heavier than the Galaxy Note20 Ultra and OnePlus 8T, both of which are already considered extremely tall by most people.
HMD Global opted to use an IPS panel for the display, although some phones that are hundreds of dollars less have better quality AMOLED displays (such as the Pixel 4a 5G at $ 500 and OnePlus Nord at £ 379), and it only runs at 60Hz. There is also a substantial “ chin ” under the display, but at least HMD has stopped putting the Nokia logo on it.
The Nokia 8 V’s rear case is made of shiny plastic, which looks nice (especially when it bends the light), but easily attracts fingerprints and smudges. The coating is also extremely slippery, and because the sides of the phone use the same material, sometimes picking up the phone can feel like taking a bar of soap in the shower. The 230 g mass only aggravates the problem. I would have preferred the matte plastic, like the Galaxy S20 FE and some of Nokia’s lower end phones.
On a more positive note, I’m happy to see that the Nokia 8V still has a headphone jack. The bottom of the phone also has a USB Type-C port and the main speaker. The speaker is capable of playing audio at a reasonably high volume, but it still looks tiny, like pretty much every other smartphone speaker.
The left side of the phone houses the Google Assistant button, which has become a staple of Nokia phones over the past year. It’s advertised as ‘customizable’, but the only option is a switch to turn it off. I ended up doing just that, because I kept accidentally pressing (again, because the phone is slippery). The right side has the volume buttons and the power button, which doubles as a fingerprint reader. I’ve rarely had problems with the Nokia 8V detecting my finger, but it can be difficult to feel where the sensor is. The SIM / microSD card slot is also on the right side.
There is a shadow around the camera cutout, which is common on LCD screens with cutouts
Unfortunately, the internal hardware of the Nokia 8 V is disappointing. It uses a Snapdragon 765G chipset, the same as the Pixel 5 and LG Velvet, paired with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The Pixel 5 costs the same as the Nokia 8V, but has more RAM and twice the storage capacity. Even the $ 350 Pixel 4a has 128GB of storage, so I’m not sure why HMD couldn’t do better here. There is also no wireless charging and no IP rating.
In the box you get the phone, a USB Type-A-to-C cable, and a 15W USB Type-A wall charger. The phone doesn’t seem to charge beyond 15W, even using C-to-C cables and various wall adapters.
Software, performance, battery life
All of HMD Global’s Android phones stay close to stock Android, and the Nokia 8 V is no exception. The phone has a clean version of Android 10, with an upgrade to Android 11 soon. Verizon includes a handful of preinstalled apps, but most of them are account management tools, and you can uninstall any third-party apps (Audible, Yahoo Mail, etc.). Performance is great across the board – the Snapdragon 765G is super fast, as long as you don’t play graphically intense games.
However, the software of the Nokia 8 V has one major drawback – long-term support. The phone is advertised as having “two Android update cycles,” but HMD Global has confirmed to me that the promised Android 11 update counts as one of the two cycles. This means that the Nokia 8 V will receive Android 11 at least four months late, then Android 12 at some point, and that’s it. There are also only 24 months of promised security updates.
This level of software support for a $ 700 phone is embarrassing. Google phones have offered three years of OS and security updates starting in Pixels 2016, and Samsung recently guaranteed three OS upgrades for most of its devices. There is no excuse for HMD not to offer at least three years of security patches.
Battery life is at least a highlight for the Nokia 8 V. In my typical use of responding to texts, occasionally surfing the web, and watching YouTube and Hulu, I typically ended up each day with around 50 to 60% battery remaining. This is pretty much what I would expect for a Snapdragon 765G phone with a large 4500mAh battery, but still nothing to do.
Camera
The Nokia 8 V technically has four rear cameras, but only three of them produce images on their own – the latest is a 2MP depth sensor used only to enhance photos from other lenses. The three cameras of note are the primary 64MP, the 12MP ultra-wide, and the 2MP macro. Main and ultra-wide cameras can sometimes produce good photos, but colors sometimes look washed out. Fine details are also sometimes lost – this is especially noticeable in the tree photos below.
By comparison, the 2MP macro on the Nokia 8V is completely unnecessary. The whole point of a macro lens is to capture fine detail with a shorter focal length, but 2MP is way too small for any of those details to show up. Every photo I’ve taken with it seems to be from a point-and-shoot camera from ten years ago.
The Nokia 8 V also seems to struggle with dynamic range. Cameras worked best when the light source was behind me, but as soon as I took a photo with the sky (or other bright light source) in the frame, the brighter areas were completely blown out.
Should you buy it?
Unless you get an amazing deal. The Nokia 8 V is not a wrong phone: It works well, the camera photos are generally acceptable and the software experience is clean. However, there is nothing that the Nokia 8 V does better than the competition. The Pixel 5 is the same price, but has twice the internal storage, 2GB more RAM, IP68 protection against water, a smoother 90Hz screen (although it is smaller), a device much better photo and wireless charging. Nokia’s device is even worse compared to the Galaxy S20 FE, which has a faster chipset and 120Hz AMOLED display, and has gone as low as $ 550 in the past.
The Nokia 8V’s main selling point is mmWave 5G compatibility, but Verizon’s ultra-broadband network is still limited to certain blocks in a handful of cities in the United States. While that’s still an important feature for you, the Pixel 5 also supports Verizon’s ultra-broadband network, as does the $ 400 TCL 10 5G UW.
If Verizon is drastically reducing the price of the Nokia 8V, it might be worth picking up. Until then, there are better ways to spend your money.
Buy it if:
- You get it on sale.
- You live or work in an area covered by Verizon’s ultra-broadband network.
Don’t buy it if:
- You want standard flagship features, like AMOLED displays, water resistance, and wireless charging.
- You want more than two major operating system updates.
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