NFC issues

user1507749883912

Is anybody else having problems with NFC? Basically I can really do anything with the NFC function. Android Pay sometimes works sometimes doesn't. Android Bean never worked. I also tried Read ID and after several tries managed to get something to read.

Basically, the NFC antenna is bad.

Question is, is anybody else having issues? If yes, then I'll probably return it for the full price and get a Pixel. I liked the Nokia, but a bad NFC antenna is unacceptable in a brand new phone at this price. It just shows that the QA is not there. I had live with such thinks on my Nexus 5, but then it was so easy and cheap to DIY fix that thing.

Manu

I have the same problem

user1507749883912

I took the Nokia 8 back for a refund and ended up with a Pixel 2. It just works flawlessly 

krizzii

NFC never worked for me, always get an error. 

Manu

Mine works now (or it always did). For me it has been a matter of knowing where the antenna is located to avoid moving the phone around. And a little bit of patient as it only reacts when is finish reading.

 

user1507749883912

I suspected that this may have been a design fault imbibing the aluminium body which is why I decided to change the phone. By comparison, Google put the NFC antenna behind the glass at the top of the phone to avoid interference.

It is really frustrating to be standing in a que to pay and then delaying everybody else because the thing if not reading properly.

user1508931083168

I also had problems with NFC in the beginning. Then I noticed that the NFC chip seems to be at the top of the phone. When I put the top of the phone to the card reader, the NFC payment goes through immediately.

I do have problems when reading NFC-enabled local bus cards. It takes many tries before the phone reads the card. Perhaps the solution is that it takes some time to read the card, and I should keep the phone still for a few seconds before moving it around on the card

south lugu

I also want to know where is NFC area. There is no introduction in user guide.

mcdona922

I'm glad I came on to these forums as I take some comfort in the fact that I'm not alone on this one.  Had my Nokia 8 for just over a month now and today at the checkout Android Pay was a no go.  I tested it against another NFC enabled phone, my old Xperia Z3 and Android Beam was a hit or a miss.  The old Z3 works flawless every time, perhaps the glass body helps?  I'm past the return period or this phone would be going back for a refund.  £500 for a phone that can't be used as intended is a real let down.  Any word from Nokia on this, let me guess no of course not.

user1509519629373

I am also sad about the NFC on Nokia 8. It's never works on me. Will Nokia be noticed about this issue and provide us possible solutions ?

user1508931083168

I don't have any issues with NFC, it is working perfectly for me. 

Please note, the NFC chip is on the very top of the phone, so when using NFC, put the phone to the NFC item with the top touching, also at an angle of about 45 degrees. That works for me

user1509775847474

I too have trouble with the NFC. After I realised the sensor is around the camera(weird) it started recognising tags but it works way slower than my former samsung phone and it still reads incomplete data and sometimes it doesn't write complete blocks. It's very frustrating considering this works perfectly on rivals or even cheaper phones.

Manu

Ok, I have been doing some tests, as user1509775847474 says, the sensor is around the camera or under it. I have realised that when I deactivate the nfc in the settings and activate it again, it works.

Jm1983

I've never actually been able to use NFC payments on my Nokia 5, and I even had the phone exchanged once. Nokia just tells me to speak with the "app developers" (are you serious?), even though I've told them it is working for other people... I'm past the 30 days now so I'm stuck with this phone with a defective NFC chip

TyneA1

I have noticed it does not work well, today I was in M&S and could not get it to work I only had 2g so was wondering if you needed 3/4g or wifi to get it to work? Also failed to work at McDonald's.  Do you need to tap it on the reader to get it to work? I keep hitting the phone off the reader thinking it needs a tap to activate.

leialdrin23

i have same issue really sad now

user1511248646214

I have the same nfc issue. Await nokia‘s reply for a week already. Quite disappointed, i will consider to trade in Samsung if they have no solution within this week

Mark Yates

I'm having to turn NFC off , then back on again to get Android pay to work (I don't have to close Android pay). It;s really frustrating as it takes 2-3 times longer to make a payment as a result... surely this can be fixed.

djedhor

Since the Oreo update I can't initialize Bluetooth connections with NFC anymore. I tried two different devices and it didn't work with both of them.

Brillo

I just bought my Nokia 8 earlier today. I did have a problem but moved my old Samsung S5 halfway down the Nokia 8 & it worked. It was back to back but that didn't pick the connection up. All fine after. Hope that helps.

revanmj

Same here - I put the phone to the terminal, and phone reacts to this (vibrates and shows my card) but the terminal seems like it never received any data from the phone.

Mark Coley

It's hit and miss with me. I often get a message saying to hold it nearer the reader (or something like that) but once that has happened the reader seems locked until the person in the shop cancels the transaction and puts it through again. I've tried putting a credit card on the reader in this situation and that doesn't work either - it's as if an attempt at communication has been made but then the reader is waiting for it to finish. So it could be a software problem. I doubt the system was designed to require the shop assistant to cancel the transaction if you weren't quite on target - surely you are just supposed to keep moving the device until it works?

user1510411388081

Nokia should have documented this more better, (or put a symbol or something on the phone).

I've given mine a try the past few days, and as someone mentioned before, its at the top of the phone.

My advice would be to find and get use to the (very small) sweet spot, by using it to read any NFC card you may have.

Something like the NFC TagInfo app is a good one.

You will soon find the Nokia 8's NFC is fairly directional and is located at the top of the phone, and seems to like the target to be angled a bit.

It is certainly very fiddly compared to every other NFC phone I've used, but it is fairly consistant once you know where it is.

Also, for thos who don't know how to use paying apps, you need to open the app to pay (ie. cannot just tap the phone and assume itll work).

revanmj

I figured out it would me a matter of finding out where exactly is NFC antenna. The same was the case in my previous phone (Nexus 6P) - once I read teardown article mentioning that NFC antenna is near the camera, most payments went without a problem.

I will try to find this sweet spot in Nokia 8 with a terminal in vending machine at work, so I won't annoy people in a queue like in normal shop.

After all those years of making smartphones with metal body, you would think that manufactures would figure out by now, that clearly stating to users where NFC antenna is located, would be really helpful.

englishpunk

Still having the same issues with the public release as the beta, to make an Android Pay payment I have to turn NFC off and on again, was hoping it was fixed in the public release, but it seems that's not the case.

It's repeatable and should be readily fixed, I saw several people reported it in the feedback app, maybe a list of known issues and their progress would be helpful in the forums ?

revanmj

"Also, for thos who don't know how to use paying apps, you need to open the app to pay (ie. cannot just tap the phone and assume itll work)."

Not true - on my Nexus 6P I used both Android Pay and my bank's app to pay without launching them (when they were set as default). Only unlocking the screen was required.

revanmj

With help from people from other forums I figured out how to put the phone to the terminal for a payment to consistently go through - top frame (plastic/rubber part) should touch the terminal and phone should be at about 45 degrees angle to the terminal's display. So far this works well for me.

Rave

 Hello,

Just to chime inm, I am having issues with the NFC as well.

Twicw now I have been in the shops using android pay and it has failed, the last time I had to have the assistant retry 4 times on 2 different tills.

I have also tested with passive NFC tags, and its very hit or miss, I also use a yubikey NFC to authenticate to lastpass, and this took me nearly 2 hours of trying the other day to sign into my account.

I have scoured the internet looking for the location of the NFC antenne but i cant find anything, Nokia if you are reading this please can you publish a document or addendum to the manual with the location of the NFC antenna, and if necessary (assuming its not a design/hardware issue) inprove the NFC, either via software or increasing the gain on the antenna.

Mark Coley

I downloaded a passport reading app. It seems to need the front facing camera to be in the middle of the wire loops to work.

Mark Yates

So can someone answer whether the NFC chip near the rear cameras , or the front facing camera?

Manu

I have been testing with some NFC tags and here is the result.

- The antenna is located right under the rear camera, I think it is behind the "Zeiss" logo and the led flash.

- If the phone is awake I can keep using the NFC without problem.

- If the phone has been locked, I have to deactivate and activate the NFC again to be able to use it.