Specs Comparison: Nokia 8 vs ASUS Zenfone 4

In this specs comparison, we will be looking at two recently released smartphones with almost the same price, the Nokia 8 and the ASUS Zenfone 4. Let’s see which smartphone will have the most advantages in the different aspects. Let’s go!

The Nokia 8 is HMD Global’s newest flagship smartphone which we already recently compared with different high-end to flagship units. It has a 5.3” Quad HD IPS display with 2560 x 1440 resolution, flagship Snapdragon 835 chipset with Adreno 540 GPU, 64GB/128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage, 4GB/6GB RAM, 13MP (Color + OIS) + 13MP (Mono) dual rear cameras with Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) and Dual tone flash, 13MP PDAF front camera with display flash, and a 3,090mAh battery.

The Zenfone 4 is the little brother of the flagship Zenfone 4 Pro which is priced at 40k. It has a 5.5” Super IPS display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, a Snapdragon 660 chipset, 64GB internal storage, 6GB RAM, 12MP + 8MP wide-angle dual rear cameras with OIS, PDAF, and dual LED flash, and a 3,300mAh battery.

Here are their detailed specs:

Nokia 8	ASUS Zenfone 4
5.3-inch QHD IPS display @ 2560 x 1440 resolution	5.5-inch Super IPS display @ 1080 x 1920 pixels
Corning Gorilla Glass 5, 2.5D glass	Corning Gorilla Glass
2.5GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835	64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
Adreno 540 GPU	Adreno 512 GPU
64GB/128GB UFS 2.1 internal storage	64GB internal storage
4GB/6GB RAM	6GB RAM
expandable via microSD up to 256GB (uses SIM2 slot)	Expandable up to 2TB via microSD (uses SIM 2 slot)
13 MP (Color + OIS) + 13 MP (Mono) rear cameras: 1.12um f/2.0, 76.9-degree, PDAF, IR range finder, dual tone flash	12 MP f/1.8 Sony IMX362+ 8MP wide angle dual rear cameras: OIS 4-axis, Dual Pixel PDAF with dual-LED flash
13 MP PDAF front cameraL 1.12um, f/2.0, 78.4-degree, display flash	8MP f/2.0 front camera
LTE Cat. 9, 3CA, 450Mbps DL/50Mbps UL	4G LTE
Dual-SIM (nano-hybrid), Dual Standby	Dual-SIM (nano)
WiFI 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (MIMO)	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 5.0	Bluetooth 5.0
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS	GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BDS
NFC	NFC
Fingerprint Sensor	Fingerprint Sensor
IP54 dust and splash resistance	-
Android 7.1.1 Nougat	ASUS ZenUI 4.0 (Android 7.0 Nougat)
3090mAh non-removable battery	3300mAh non-removable battery
142x71.8x8.9mm	155.2 x 75.2 x 7.5 mm
160 g	165 g
USB Type-C	USB Type-C

Here are the advantages of each smartphone.

Nokia 8

+ Higher screen resolution

+ Better performing CPU

+ Better performing GPU

+ UFS 2.1 storage

+ Slightly higher rear camera resolution

+ Higher front camera resolution

+ IP54 dust and splash resistance

+ Android 7.1.1

ASUS Zenfone 4

+ Bigger screen size

+ Super IPS display

For the display aspect, the Nokia 8 provides a higher screen resolution, however, the Zenfone 4 possesses a bigger screen size and has a Super IPS display. The Super IPS display is an upgrade from the normal IPS display which many smartphones have. A Super IPS display is an upgrade mainly because it addresses the issue of IPS displays having to consume more power.

As for performance, it is clear that the Nokia 8 has the upper hand since it has the flagship chipset from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 835. As for its GPU, the Adreno 540 also performs better than the Adreno 512 of the Zenfone 4. If the Zenfone 4 Pro is compared with the Nokia 8, then their performance would be a tie, since the former has the same chipset. However, their price difference is relatively large, so we’ll have to stick with the Zenfone 4 for this.

In the camera department, both smartphones have dual rear cameras. Nokia 8 has Carl Zeiss lens technology while the Zenfone 4 has Sony IMX lenses. The former has a feature called “Bothfie” in which the users can take photos from the rear and the front cameras at the same time. You can check out sample photos for the Nokia 8 here. As for the Zenfone 4, it boasts the tagline of “We love Wefie” which means that camera performance is also its specialty. We should not underestimate the potential of the photo quality of the Zenfone 4 since it gives excellent results as shown on our sample photos here.

For their battery capacity, their difference is not significantly big. We cannot say for certain which smartphone lasts longer since we have not yet tested out Nokia 8’s battery capacity. The Zenfone 4, however, holds a larger battery capacity and upon testing its battery life, it lasted up to 13 hours and 30 minutes in our video loop test.

Both smartphones have a good overall performance, but Nokia 8 is the winner on this aspect since it has the Snapdragon 835 chipset with a QHD 2560 x 1440 resolution screen display. Users will have a better viewing experience with the Nokia 8, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t enjoy the Zenfone 4 as well.

The Nokia 8 is rumored to be priced at Php29,990 (see our article here) while the ASUS Zenfone 4 is priced at Php28,995 (see price listing here)

What do you think? Leave your choice in the comments section below.

Vaughn Chua

Vaughn is your go-to person when it comes to comparing gadgets especially smartphones. He's also a gamer by heart and the "Hackerman" of the team.

4 Comments

Al says:

7 years ago

Contradicting…almost the same price then in one paragraph, their price difference is relatively large…don’t review battery life if you haven’t tested them both:(
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Vaughn Chua says:

7 years ago

We were stating that the large price difference is for the ZENFONE 4 PRO model (priced at Php39,995). We are only comparing the ZENFONE 4 here.

We meant to say that we haven’t tested out the battery life of the Nokia 8 :) Nevertheless, we have edited that section to be clearer on their battery capacity comparison :)

Easy E says:

7 years ago

Itong article na ito parang naglagay ng asin sa napakalaking sugat ng ASUS hahaha..
Parang sinasabi ng article na ito na sa halagang almost Php30k may mabibili kang NOKIA8 na sobrang ganda ng specs at WAG NA WAG kang tanga na bibili ng ASUS ZF4.

ASUS pack-up na o di kaya 50% off nyo lahat ng phones nyo para maubos na ang laman ng warehouse nyo kesa naman hindi mabenta. hahaha TRY AGAIN sa ZF5 or whatever at ibenta nyo uli ng ubod ng mahal para tuluyan na kayo mabankrupt.
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Jude says:

7 years ago

Super IPS display only improves the pixel refresh timing of an IPS display, nothing more than that. So, how does the Super IPS 1080X1920 of Zenfone 4 BEAT the QHD IPS 2560 x 1440 resolution of Nokia 8?

ANSWER: It really does not.

So, the Zenfone 4 ONLY advantage over Nokia 8 is its sightly bigger screen which is only 0.2inch or 0.508cm bigger which one can’t barely notice from a distance.

From Zenfone 4 overpriced price point, just add 1k you get the Carl Zeiss euipped dual camera flagship specifications of Nokia 8.

It’s better to compare Zenfone 4 with OPPO R11S, in which both have the same SoC but the latter has a lower price.
- Reply