The Nokia 8.3 5G will be Nokia’s first 5G phone. First announced in March, it is expected to be available in July, so full information is not yet available on it. Despite that, we will try and give it the once over here, so you can form your own opinion on it.
As the name says, this phone is 5G, but it is claimed that it will be the first smartphone that is compatible with all existing 5G bands, which should make it easier to sell worldwide.
Large LCD screen
It has a large 6.81” LCD screen (disappointing it is not AMOLED) with an 82.9% screen to body ratio and edge-to-edge technology with small bezels. This screen has a 1080p resolution and a 386ppi density – typical mid-range specifications. There is no official information on the build yet. On the video the back certainly looks glass and as the Nokia 8.1 had a glass back and plastic frame, it is hoped that the 8.3 at least follows suit.
The chipset is the Snapdragon 765G and the phone is available with either 6 or 8 GB of RAM and 64 or 128GB of expandable storage. Part of the Android One program, based on Android 10, this means you will get security and feature updates quicker than from other manufacturers.
Finishing off on the internals, you get a single speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack and a side mounted fingerprint scanner to protect access to the phone. The battery is a good-sized 4500 mAh one with 18W fast charging.
Quad camera array with Zeiss optics
Onto the cameras. The rear array is a quad one, located in a black circular mounting, centrally at the top. This looks quite attractive and is a welcome change to the black rectangular blocks which are seeming to be becoming the standard for camera arrays in 2020.
This array consists of the main 64MP f/1.9 wide, 12MP f/2.2 13mm ultrawide with auto focus, a 2MP macro and a 2MP depth lens. The array has the Zeiss name prominent in the centre indicating that their optics are used for this (as for previous Nokia offerings). Video can be shot at both 4K and 1080p at 30FPS with image stabilisation. This looks to be standard for mid-range phones, it’s just a pity that a telephoto lens could not have been included instead of one of the 2MP units.
On the front, the selfie camera is positioned in a pinhole at the top left. This is a 24MP f/2.0 wide Zeiss lens that shoots 1080p video at 30fps.
There have been no tests carried out on the cameras yet to see how good the shots are they produce. But this combination should be pretty good at all round shots, as long as you don’t push them to the extremes.
What will it cost?
The Nokia 8.3 5G is available in only one colour – Polar night. In case you were wondering, this is a dark metallic blue that looks graduated in daylight. There is no indication as to what the price will be yet, but expectations set it at around the £500 mark.
If it is that price, is it worth it? Well, the LCD screen and lack of a telephoto lens is a bit of a disappointment, but providing the back is glass and not plastic, it looks pretty good value for money for a 5G phone with 4 cameras from a well-known and respected brand name.
