New Nokia 8 Model Shown In FCC Certification

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The Nokia 8 was announced back in the middle of August and, since then, the Nokia brand has been somewhat quiet on the North American front. HMD Global, the company that manages the Nokia brand, has taken a lot of great steps to bring the Nokia name back to the smartphone world but only in limited markets. That means that Nokia fans outside of Europe and Asia have been sitting and waiting for their chance to experience the big Nokia comeback. However, that appears to be changing with new Nokia 8 listings that have hit the FCC.

New Nokia 8 Model
Image Source: Evan Blass / VentureBeat / Twitter (screenshot)

FCC certification is an essential step for any electronic device that is to be sold in the United States. We often get some information about upcoming smartphones as they pass through FCC certification. For example, last week we saw information about the Google Pixel 2 XL as it made its way through FCC certification.

By looking at these Nokia 8 FCC filings, it appears that HMD Global may have a more powerful variant lined up for North America. The Nokia 8 that has already been released in some parts of the world sports a flagship Snapdragon 835 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. That model may still come to North America but the variant shown in these latest FCC filings packs in 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Those are pretty impressive specs and firmly puts the Nokia 8 in competition with devices like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and upcoming LG V30.

One of the most appealing features of the Nokia 8, however, is the commitment of HMD Global to updating Android quickly. They have been saying all of the right things and there has been word that an Android Oreo update is right around the corner for the Nokia 8. Unless you have a Nexus or Pixel device, you typically have to wait a few months for Android updates. Some smartphones never get updates. If HMD Global releases timely Android updates then it would certainly give them an edge over other smartphone manufacturers. Even big brands like Samsung take their sweet time in getting Android updates rolled out. We could use some other options when choosing flagship devices with timely software support.

There’s no indication as to when this new Nokia 8 variant will be released in North America. It’s good to see that the regulatory work has been done. This means that HMD Global could be ready to launch any day. It will be interesting to see how much the device costs in comparison to the rest of the world. Obviously there will be a price increase over the existing Nokia 8 variant due to the increased RAM and onboard storage. The existing variant has been selling for about $650 USD after conversion. I would imagine we see this new variant with a little more RAM and storage come in around the $750 to $800 mark. Pretty standard for a flagship device these days.

The big question will be if people are willing to drop that kind of money on a device from a brand that fell off the face of the earth a few years back. Brands like Samsung dominate the Android market and even brands like LG, HTC, and Huawei have surpassed the once-powerful Nokia name. Can the Nokia 8 compete in this new smartphone market? I guess we will have to wait and see.

Would you pick up a Nokia 8 when it comes to North America? How much would you be willing to pay for a Nokia smartphone in 2017? Let us know your thoughts!

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