HMD, the Chinese firm that paid big bucks to slap the Nokia brand onto Android phones, has big plans. It unveiled a new Nokia 3310 to rapturous applause at MWC, as well as a line of mid-level Android devices.
According to a new report out of China, that’s not all. HMD is said to be working on two flagship phones that will pack Qualcomm’s cutting-edge Snapdragon 835, the same chip that (probably) powers the upcoming Galaxy S8.
The report, from Chinese site MyDrivers, says that Nokia will be unveiling an all-metal flagship phone with dual cameras, a big screen, and a Snapdragon 835 under the hood. Those are eerily similar specs to what the Galaxy S8 is set to launch with, and close to basically every other Android flagship that launches this year.
Differentiation is going to be particularly hard because HMD can’t use the Nokia PureView camera tech that the company used to be famous for. One of the only reasons for buying one of Nokia’s Lumia Android phones was the camera, but that brand and expertise were bought up by Microsoft. It’s unclear who is going to be making the lenses and sensors for Nokia’s new phones, but it’s unlikely to be anyone you’ve heard of.
That’s not all, as Nokia is rumored to also be working on a second “flagship” device with a smaller screen but more or less the same specs. It’s set to get the same Snapdragon processor, up to 6GB of RAM (!!!!) and a good camera setup. If that comes to fruition, it could be a good option, since one trend the Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 are likely to follow is increased screen size.
