The Nokia 8.3 5G was first announced in March and now HMD Global has some great news for Nokia fans in the US. Of course, that’s the fact that the phone is finally going to be available for purchase. The news follows initial confirmation that this phone would be coming stateside, revealed back in July.
As of September 23, buyers in the United States can pre-order the Nokia 8.3 5G from Amazon. And, in the subsequent weeks, the phone will also arrive at Best Buy.
In terms of what, exactly, buyers are getting, that’s the Nokia 8.3 5G in Polar Night. The color, inspired by Nokia’s Finnish heritage, is an almost-black deep blue that cuts toward a high-sheen dark teal in images. And Nokia describes the color as being engineered with a “metallization technology with a signature light refraction pattern that lets colors blend to resemble the Northern Lights.”
On price, Nokia 8.3 5G will start at $699 for an 8GB RAM, 128GB storage configuration.
So when, exactly, will the Nokia 8.3 5G finally ship?
Now, there is a distinct range of dates, in terms of when the Nokia 8.3 5G will finally ship. Although it could start shipping well outside of that range. HMD Global didn’t provide exact details, as noted above.
The first date in that range centers on the second pre-order date. Namely, that’s the date that pre-orders will open up at Best Buy. As noted above, that’s not a certain date, set to be just weeks after pre-orders open on September 23 on Amazon. The second date is the release of the next installment in the James Bond saga, No Time To Die. That’s expected to hit its theatrical release on November 20.
That’s because the latest Bond film will, according to HMD Globals announcement, put the device in the hands of that movie’s protagonists.
So it seems likely the phone will launch either around the time of one of those events. Or, more likely, in between those two events. Speculatively, at the very least.
What are buyers getting with this phone?
Nokia 8.3 5G was initially billed as the first global 5G flagship when it was announced back in March. Arguably, without a launch in the US, it can’t be a globally-available smartphone. But, although that launch was already confirmed as of June, it also isn’t the first globally available 5G flagship. And arguably isn’t even a flagship Android smartphone. But it does come close.
That’s primarily because Nokia packed the 8.3 5G with a powerful Snapdragon 765G SoC. So it’s definitely at the top of the mid-range. Especially with 8GB RAM and 128GB expandable storage up to 400GB. Support for 5G up to a theoretical 2.4Gbps and a 6.81-inch FHD+ 2,400 x 1080 pixel, 20:9 ratio PureDisplay screen help that along too.
As do the 64-megapixel quad camera and front-facing 24-megapixel selfie snapper, all packed with ZEISS Optics. Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, charging at 9V/2A with a 4,500mAh battery, and advanced video and audio features help there too. There’s even a 3.5mm audio jack in place.