The 2017 Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) in Barcelona saw Nokia introducing mid-range smartphones and a throwback with the hugely popular 3310, which made more news than its more powerful siblings. With HMD Global having acquired full licensing from Nokia (News - Alert), it was only a matter of time before the company released high-end smartphones. There were some rumors at MWC, but nothing concrete, and although the recently released images of sketches for the Nokia 8 and Nokia 9 phones have not been confirmed by HMD Global, details are being released that have Android users excited.
If confirmed, HMD Global is going after the high-end of the market, with iPhone (News - Alert) 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and other flagship phones clearly the target. The sketches were obtained from a tipster, and although they are not of high quality, the Nokia 9 has taken a page from Samsung's latest Galaxy and eliminated the home button in the front, and the bezels are also very small to give more real estate for the screen. The home button, fingerprint sensor and dual-cameras (with vertical placement) are in the back.
The screen is rumored to have a 5.5-inch OLED with the same aspect ratio of the new Samsung Galaxy 8 at 18:9. The other specs include the newest and more power efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB RAM (News - Alert). Even without the power efficient feature of this processor, the huge 3800mAh battery and Quick Charge 4.0 technology will do quite well for a full day of work.
There is 128GB of built-in storage, and there is a 22MP dual-camera system on the back with a 12MP front camera. Another leak last month said Carl Zeiss would supply the lenses for both phones.
The phones are going to be running Android (News - Alert) Nougat out the box, but HMD is in talks with Google to run stock Android operating systems because they get faster updates and security patches.
The Nokia 8 will have a home button and fingerprint sensor in the front with slightly larger bezels on the top and bottom. The display is said to be a 5.7-inch Quad HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio, a 22MP OIS + EIS rear camera and 12MP for the front.
The processor is still up in the air, with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 and 835 as possible options. The RAM is the same at 6GB, but the storage comes in 64GB and 128GB options with a microSD card slot.
Last but not least is the price, which is expected to run at $699 for the Nokia 9 in the U.S. The price for the Nokia 8 is not available, but it will be cheaper considering the specs.
Until HMD Global confirms these specs, it is all speculation, but if history is an indicator many of the features will likely be on the new Nokia smartphones.
Edited by Alicia Young