HMD Global has brought Nokia phones back to life, and how! According to Counterpoint Research, HDM sold 16 million Nokia-branded phones in the third-quarter of 2017. That’s an impressive number for a startup. The Finnish company has been working behind the scenes to announce a wide range of Nokia phones at the MWC event in Barcelona next month. HMD had also announced many Nokia devices at last year’s MWC, including the nostalgic Nokia 3310.
HMD to unveil a wide range of Nokia phones at the MWC
HMD Global’s chief product officer Juho Sarvikas said in a tweet that he had been “super busy” planning for the upcoming MWC event. He told fans that they could “expect it to be awesome.” He didn’t mention the Nokia phones that would be unveiled at the MWC. However, recent rumors and supply chain leaks have dropped tons of details about the upcoming Nokia phones. They include the Nokia 1, Nokia 4, Nokia 3310 4G, and Nokia 7 Plus. But the star of the show will be the premium Nokia 9.
Sorry for radio silence. Been super busy planning #MWC2018 . Please expect it to be awesome ?
— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) January 18, 2018
HMD Global has already announced Nokia 6 (2018), it’s first smartphone of this year. It comes with a better processor, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a Bothie camera. However, it is currently available only in China. According to NokiaPowerUser, the Nokia 6 could be launched worldwide at the MWC. HMD has already registered itself as an MWC exhibitor.
Nokia 9 to be HMD’s answer to iPhone X, Galaxy S9
Apple’s iPhone X is already out there in the wild and Samsung is set to announce its flagship Galaxy S9 at the MWC. The Nokia 9 with its top-notch specifications will be the Finnish company’s answer to the iPhone X and Galaxy S9. The phone has already been seen passing through the US FCC and China’s 3C certification sites. The US FCC was generous enough to have revealed almost all the specifications of the device.
According to FCC documents, the Nokia 9 would feature a 5.5-inch OLED screen made by LG Display. It would have a bezel-less design similar to other premium Android phones. Interestingly, the device would be powered by last year’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 rather than the latest Snapdragon 845, which could disappoint many potential buyers.
The FCC documents revealed that it would pack a 3250mAh battery with fast charging support and 128GB of RAM. The regulator did not mention the RAM, but the rumor mill claims it would offer 6GB RAM. It would run Android Oreo out of the box. The Nokia 9 would come with a dual camera setup on the back, consisting of a 12MP and a 13MP sensor. One of them is expected to be a telephoto lens.
HMD Global would use Carl Zeiss optics on the Nokia 9 cameras. The phone is said to have a merely 5MP camera on the front. According to a recently leaked back cover, the Nokia 9’s dimensions would be similar to that of Nokia 3. The dual cameras would be arranged vertically on the back panel. Sitting below the camera module would be the fingerprint sensor. The USB Type-C port, speaker grille, and the mike are placed at the bottom, but there was no sign of cutouts for the 3.5mm headphone jack on the leaked back cover.
Nokia 3310 to get 4G support
HMD is also expected to launch a 4G variant of Nokia 3310 at the MWC 2018. The device was recently spotted passing through China’s TENAA certification site with model number TA-1077. The Nokia 3310 4G would have the same technical specification as last year’s Nokia 3310 such as 256MB RAM, 512MB storage, a 1200mAh battery, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. However, it would run YunOS, which is based on Android and built by Alibaba.
A Nokia 4G feature phone
HMD Global could also unveil a 4G feature phone at the MWC event next month. It is rumored to have a QWERTY keyboard that would remind you of Nokia E72. The device was recently spotted on the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) site. It has also received Bluetooth certification from Bluetooth SIG. The 4G feature phone would be launched in five variants with model numbers TA-1047, TA-1056, TA-1060 and TA-1066. It would run HMD’s Feature OS and would be available in dual-SIM and single-SIM variants depending on the market.
Nokia 1
The entry-level Nokia 1 could be a major sales driver for HMD Global this year. According to Russian journalist Eldar Murtazin, it would be part of Google’s Android Go program. Android Go is a stripped down version of Android that is perfect for phones with 512MB to 1GB RAM. The OS is aimed at entry-level phones in emerging markets. It would bring lightweight apps such as Google Maps Go, Google Go, and Files Go to Nokia 1.
The rumor mill claims Nokia 1 would come with 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage. It would be priced at RUB 5,999 (roughly $100) in Russia.
Nokia 7 Plus
The Nokia 7 Plus had never appeared in the rumor mill until NokiaPowerUser spotted the name in the APK teardown of the Camera app (version 8.0210.20) of Nokia 5 running Android 8.0 Oreo Beta. The Nokia 7 Plus is expected to be a larger and more powerful variant of last year’s Nokia 7. It is expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 processor.
Of course, HMD Global could have a few other Nokia phones in store as well. The MWC event is only about a month away, so we will find out soon.
