It has long been suspected that HMD Global has prepared to launch their official flagship smartphone model this year. Speculations have also stated that the phone might be the long-rumored nokia 9. However, it was recently confirmed that the company does not have the former model in development. Instead, the firm has announced that their flagship smartphone for 2017 will be called the "Nokia 8." Now, a couple of supposedly official press renders and specifications have been leaked by the popular tech insider called "@evleaks" (Evan Blass).
Nokia's 2017 flagship design
Unlike the previously leaked designs of the Nokia flagship smartphone, the latest leaked images of the Nokia 8 press renders introduce a different design. Unlike the sharp and edgy form factor showcased by earlier leaks, the new pictures flaunt a smoother and rounded appearance. It will also come in Blue, Steel, Gold/Blue, and Gold/Copper colors after its launch sometime this month.
Facing front
The front side of the Android smartphone touts a curved edge display, which carries very small bezels on each side. The top and bottom bezels, however, are a little on the thicker side unlike some flagship smartphones already released or in development. The upper part holds a horizontally-elongated earpiece and proximity sensor in the middle.
A selfie camera sits on the left, while the right side sports what looks like a notification LED and Nokia logo.
Its lower half features the same thicker bezel as the top and places two capacitive buttons on each side of the home button. Its fingerprint sensor seems to be integrated within the only mechanical interface module of the smartphone.
A polished metal frame surrounds the home key to give it a premium appearance.
From the rear
Meanwhile, the back side of the handset bears a soft brushed-metal design with antenna lines installed on the frame. As expected, Nokia's latest mobile phone also follows suit together with most other flagship models and carries a dual-camera setup.
The press images confirm that the camera optics is Zeiss-branded like the rumors said. Its imaging sensors are arranged vertically with what appears to be a laser autofocus sensor just above its dual-tone LED flash. Additionally, the entire module is surrounded by a metal border. The brand name is horizontally-etched in the middle, while the phone's regulatory information sits just below. A tiny secondary microphone pinhole is also located on top of the rear camera module.
Buttons and ports
Since the leaked images only show the front and back of the Nokia 8, we can only indicate some of the button placements based on reported information. However, it can be clearly seen that its power key and volume rockers are housed in the right frame.
It seems that the SIM card slot and memory expansion combo might be located on its left side. The top frame holds a single 3.5mm audio jack, while the bottom portion bears its speaker grille, USB Type-C port, and microphone pinhole.
Hardware specifications
The latest leaked information about the Nokia 8 confirms that the mobile phone will have a 5.3-inch display with a 2,560 x 1,440 (QHD) display resolution. Its touchscreen is supposedly protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 panel. It will come in two storage options, a 64GB model with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB version with 6GB of RAM. Both versions will rely on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset. Its imaging performance calls for two 13-megapixel cameras with OIS, laser autofocus, and ZEISS optics. Its front-facing camera is reportedly a 12-megapixel unit. The handset will boot Android 7.1.1 Nougat straight out of the box.
