What we know: The Nokia 8 smartphone

Nokia took the smartphone world by storm at Mobile World Congress in February, thanks to the unlikely resurrection of the 3310.

Yes, it lasts for ages and yes, you can play Snake on it, but a reimagined dumbphone isn't the flagship we were really after, is it? A selection of mid-range Android handsets didn't exactly set tongues wagging either, but we might not have long to wait until Nokia breaks out the big guns.

That's right: a flagship Nokia is in the works. If you're curious what rumours are whirling around online, or just want to know the facts, here's everything we've seen and heard about the upcoming Nokia 8.

WHEN WILL THE NOKIA 8 BE OUT?

The summer months are typically drier than the desert when it comes to smartphone launches, but the latest rumours suggest that Nokia is on track to break that trend with its upcoming flagship.

According to Winfuture.de, the Nokia 8 will be officially revealed on the 31st of July.

That would leave enough of a gap between the 8's arrival and the inevitable Samsung Galaxy Not e8 launch in August, iPhone 8 in September and the Google Pixel 2 in October.

WHAT WILL THE NOKIA 8 LOOK LIKE?

If there's one thing we can be fairly certain of, it's what the Nokia 8 will look like. That's because Nokia has an established design which has already shown up in the less expensive Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6.

That means a mix of aluminium and glass, with minimal lines and angles. Expect metal shades, rather than colourful hues, with at least four colour choices mentioned so far: "blue", "steel", "gold/blue" and "gold/copper". 

Around the back, there'll be at least one camera - although a dual camera setup has been rumoured for a while. That would certainly put it on par with the gaggle of dual-cam phones currently doing the rounds.

HOW MUCH POWER WILL THE NOKIA 8 PACK?

If Nokia wants its latest phone to be treated as a full-on flagship, it's got to have the right internal hardware - so you can expect a Snapdragon 835 to be running the show. It's the quickest chip you'll find ina phone right now, and all signs point to it finding a home inside the Nokia 8. 

RAM won't be quite so copious, though, with the latest rumours pointing to 4GB instead of 6 or 8GB like you'll find in a OnePlus 5. However, with Nokia's hands-off approach to Android, a stock OS won't need huge amounts of memory to keep your apps running smoothly. 4GB seems like a sensible middle ground to us.

Other rumours suggest 64GB of on-board storage and dual SIM card slots, but there's no word on whether microSD expansion will also make the cut. Battery capacity is an unknown at this point too.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW?

Nokia recently announced a renewed partnership with Zeiss optics, which can only mean good things for the Nokia 8's rear camera. Little is known about it so far, but we're expecting that signature Zeiss logo to make an appearance somewhere.

The screen is expected to top out at 5.7in, making it more of a hand-filler than other top-end phones, with a 2K resolution that will bring it up to par with the rest of the high-end Android crowd. OLED panels have been rumoured, but nothing is confirmed just yet.

Other extras that might make the cut include iris scanner security, just like Samsung's Galaxy S8, IP68 waterproofing and  OZO audio. This is Nokia's 3D sound recording and playback tech that was built specifically for VR - suggesting that the Nokia 9 will arrive with the 4 microphones needed to make it work, and support for VR footage shot on the company's high-end OZO 360-degree video cameras.

Source: What we know: The Nokia 8 smartphone