Its the time of the year, where we know that the OEM’s have already offered their best of the best smartphones with the top of the line specifications. The Nokia 8 and the OnePlus 5 offers top of the line specifications without actually burning a hole in your wallet. To keep this comparison fair, we are comparing the 64 GB OnePlus 5 variant with the 64 GB Nokia 8, which is priced at INR 32,990 and INR 36,990 respectively.
Let’s look at the different aspect of the smartphone, to find which one of these two smartphones offer the best value for money amongst these two smartphones.
Display: Firstly, the OnePlus 5 offers a 1080p OLED panel protected by 2.5D curved tempered glass made from Corning Gorilla Glass 5. On the other hand, the Nokia 8 offers a smaller 5.3-inch QHD+ 1440p IPS LCD screen with the same 2.5D curved tempered glass from Corning Gorilla Glass 5. So, in terms of numbers, Nokia 8 is a direct winner. However, we should also remember that the OLED 1080p panel used on the OnePlus 5 is energy efficient, offers vivid colours, and looks a lot better than the IPS LCD when it comes to multi-media consumption. So, if you are looking for a compact smartphone with a high-resolution screen, then go with the Nokia 8. If you are looking for a bigger screen with the benefits of the OLED panel, then go with the OnePlus 5.
Design: Nokia 8 offers an original full metal unibody design, though this is not the first smartphone to offer this device, one can say for sure that, this is an original design and reflects the good old Nokia smartphones. On the other part, The OnePlus 5 offers a full metal unibody solution with not-so-original design, which reflects the Apple iPhone 7 Plus, in terms of overall design as well as the dual-camera placement.
Processor and RAM: Both models are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-core SoC with features like Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band WiFi (2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz) and LTE download speed up to 1000 Mbps. In terms of storage, the Nokia 8 offers a 64 GB onboard flash storage with a dedicated micro SD card slot (up to 256 GB). The OnePlus 5 just comes with a 64 GB onboard storage (model with 128 GB storage also available) without the support for micro SD card slot. In terms of RAM, the OnePlus 5 offers a massive 6 GB LPDDR4 RAM, and the Nokia 8 offers 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM. So, its the SD card slot versus the extra 2 GB of RAM.
Camera: The OnePlus 5 offers a rear dual-camera solution with dual 16 MP + 20 MP camera with electronic image stabilization. This camera offers X1.6 optical zoom, and Portrait mode and 4K video recording capability up to 30 frames per second. The Nokia 8 offers dual 13 MP camera solution (RGB + monochrome) engineered by Carl Zeiss. The Nokia 8 offers portrait mode, and monochrome photographs as well as the 4K video recording capability up to 30 frames per second. So, even though both devices offer a dual-camera solution, the approach of the camera and their working principle is completely different. Nokia 8 also offers something called the Bothi feature, which enables the both cameras to work instantaneously, so, one can live broadcast the footage to YouTube, Facebook and other social media website.
OS optimisations: The Nokia 8 offers Android Nougat 7.1.2 with stock Android user experience (like how the Android user experience is meant to be). The company is already working on Android Oreo, which will be made available to the users by the end of October 2017. The OnePlus 5 offers a slightly forked version of Android Nougat with Oxygen UI on the top. Even though the device is expected to receive Android Oreo, it will take time (will be made available before the end of December 2017). However, the OnePlus is not so prominent in pushing Android updates (promised Android Nougat to OnePlus 2, but didn’t deliver the same).
Battery: The OnePlus 5 is equipped with a 3300 mAh Li-ion battery with Dash charging capability (OnePlus way of fast charging) via USB type C port. The device doesn’t offer wireless charging so does the Nokia 8. Even the Nokia 8 is equipped with a 3090 mAh Li-ion battery with Qualcomm Quick charge 3.0 capability via USB type C port.
So, these devices offer neck to neck specifications, with the top of the line hardware, full metal unibody design and fast charging capability. So, if you are looking for a premium flagship smartphone, then, these two are the cheapest options available in the market, at this price points and the other devices with these kinds of specifications costs at least INR 45,000 in India.
So, which one do you think offers the best value for the money? Will you go with the Nokia 8 for its brand value and original design or you can count on the OnePlus 5’s promises? Share your views in the comments below.