Nokia 8 Sirocco review

The Sirocco is an Android One phone, and it's at 8.1 Oreo now

The Nokia 8 Sirocco is part of the Android One program, just like the 7 plus. The difference is the Sirocco is a true flagship-grade handset regarding build and looks and so - a viable alternative to a Pixel 2 XL for all those wanting a pure Android alternative to Google's devices. Imagine if it had a newer chipset than said Pixel.

Anyway, Android one means timely updates and the reality so far is proving to live up to the promise - our review unit is running Oreo 8.1 with the most recent May security patch.

Where the Pixel has an Always on display, the Nokia 8 Sirocco has Glance screen. A remnant of Lumia times, its usual behavior is to pop up every time the phone detects movement and to go off after a predefined time-out (up to 30 seconds). It can be configured to show a clock, missed calls count, unread messages count, among other small notifications. On the Sirocco, however, you can leave it on at all times - so you can always glance.

Android as Google intended shows up when you wake up the phone - clock, notification cards, two shortcuts on the bottom. Fingerprint enrollment uses the standard Oreo interface. Unlocking works as advertised and is quick and reliable. Past that is the standard Android 8 homescreen with a pull-up app drawer.

Lockscreen • Ambient display • Fingerprint enrollment • Homescreen • App drawer

The quick toggles and notifications shade changes color depending on the wallpaper - white for lighter ones, black for darker ones. The task switcher is the usual rolodex and wouldn't it be great if Google put the 'clear all' button on the bottom instead of up top? Anyway, multi-window is supported natively since Nougat.

There are several gestures like double press the power button to launch the camera and fingerprint swipe for notifications.

Quick toggles • Notifications • Task switcher • Multi-window • Gestures

As for multimedia, it's all in the hands of Google and its default apps. Google Photos is in charge of gallery-related tasks and video playback, while Google Play Music is the audio player. There's a file manager with batch actions and Google Drive sync, and Google's Calendar is Nokia's calendar of choice.

Google Photos • Google Play Music • Equalizer • File manager • Calendar

Synthetic benchmarks

One of the key complaints we have about the Nokia 8 Sirocco is that it comes with last year's chipset. There's nothing wrong with the Snapdragon 835 - it's plenty powerful, but the Sirocco will be fighting with phones packing next-gen silicon. It's in a similar position as the LG G6 was last year when LG went the S820 instead of the S835. The G6 was a bit more affordable than rivals, and all things considered, so is the Sirocco, but you'll know you're getting year-old hardware at almost the same price point as the current generation.

The difference in benchmark performance becomes obvious right away in GeekBench. In the single-core test, the Exynos Galaxy S9+ with its custom cores is all the way ahead, but the Snapdragon 845 devices do post significantly better scores than the S835 Sirocco (curiously, the Snapdragon Galaxy isn't quite as powerful as the Xperia and the Mi Mix 2S).

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  3771
• Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
  2468
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  2454
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  2199
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  1987
• OnePlus 5T
  1960
• HTC U11+ (EU)
  1952
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
  1934
• Nokia 8
  1925
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  1915
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro
  1902
• LG V30
  1901
• Huawei P20
  1897
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  1862
• Nokia 7 plus
  1634

In multi-core testing, the Exynos 9810 in the Galaxy S9+ doesn't have the same edge, and loses to the Mi Mix 2S, with the other two S45 devices slightly behind. There's a much wider gap between those and the S835 crowd, the Nokia 8 Sirocco included. Its multi-core numbers are similar to other devices with the same chip, as well as the Huawei P20 and Mate 10 Pro, both packing the Kirin 970.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
  9158
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  8883
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  8466
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  8349
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  6784
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro
  6783
• HTC U11+ (EU)
  6740
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
  6725
• Huawei P20
  6722
• OnePlus 5T
  6701
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  6590
• Nokia 8
  6568
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  6428
• LG V30
  6365
• Nokia 7 plus
  5893

That same gap in performance between this year's and last year's SoCs continues to be evident in Antutu. If that's any consolation, the Sirocco is one of the higher-scoring S835 devices, along with its non-Sirocco brother. The LG V30, for example, isn't realizing the chip's full potential, the Nokias are.

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
  270814
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  264044
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  259244
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  246660
• Nokia 8
  210323
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
  209577
• Huawei P20
  206906
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  203119
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  201065
• LG V30
  182374
• Nokia 7 plus
  140820

Not quite so in graphics benchmarks, where the Nokia underperforms, posting fps numbers lower than most in the offscreen tests rendered at 1080p. It gets trickier in the onscreen tests, where the devices' resolution comes into play, but the Sirocco in the QHD team and consecutively framerates suffer.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  61
• Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
  61
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  55
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  47
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  43
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  42
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  42
• OnePlus 5T
  41
• LG V30
  41
• Nokia 8
  39
• HTC U11+ (EU)
  39
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro
  38
• Huawei P20
  36
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
  34
• Nokia 7 plus
  15

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Mi MIx 2S
  55
• Sony Xperia XZ2
  51
• Huawei P20
  39
• Huawei Mate 10 Pro
  35
• OnePlus 5T
  35
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (Snapdragon)
  34
• Samsung Galaxy S9+
  24
• Samsung Galaxy Note8
  23
• Google Pixel 2 XL
  21
• Samsung Galaxy Note8 (SD 835)
  20
• HTC U11+ (EU)
  20
• LG V30
  19
• Nokia 8
  18
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
  18
• Nokia 7 plus
  14

The Nokia 8 Sirocco posted predictable scores in benchmarks, ones you'd expect from a Snapdragon 835 device. That's the thing, though - Snapdragon 845 is the norm in 2018, and it's noticeably more powerful. It's unclear whether you'd be able to appreciate the difference though, and it's mostly a matter of futureproofing - if you're getting last year's hardware today, that's a year less that it'll remain relevant. Additionally, we experienced some overheating after repeated benchmark runs, and with the resulting throttling came lower scores.