The Nokia 9 is HMD Global’s upcoming flagship, if rumors are to be believed, and a new piece of information has just surfaced online. The device was spotted in the metadata of the FIH update server. The source claims that the Nokia 9 PureView is mentioned, and that the device runs on Android 9 Pie. On top of that, the phone is running November Android security patch, but it is worth noting that this is a Chinese model of the device, and this is in no way the final version of the handset. That’s not all, though, the source also claims to know the codename of the HMD Global’s upcoming flagship, and it’s ‘Olympic’, that’s what the phone is called internally, at least allegedly. In order to prove that fact, the source did provide a screenshot of the metadata, where the ‘Olympic’ codename is mentioned, and you can check out that screenshot below this article. So, why ‘Olympic’? Well, there’s actually a reason behind it, at least we do think there is. The symbol for Olympic (games) has five rings, while the Nokia 9 PureView is expected to sport five cameras on the back, and those camera cutouts are referred to as ‘rings’. That is more or less all the info that the source shared regarding the device, but plenty more info actually surfaced in the last couple of days, and we’ll talk more about that down below.
Background: Two days ago, the Nokia 9 appeared in a number of renders, and a 360-degree video. That information more or less showed off the design of the device, and it seems like those are CAD-based renders. The source has some credibility on the matter, so it’s possible that the shown device is real, and that could be the final design of the Nokia 9 PureView, or whatever HMD Global ends up calling the device. That leak revealed that the phone will have seven rings on the back, but only five of them will be used for cameras. The sixth ring will host an LED flash, while the seventh is reserved for some type of a dual sensor which will measure the proximity of objects, or something of the sort, at least allegedly. That leak also revealed that the phone will be made out of metal and glass, and that it will ship with a curved back. A 3.5mm headphone jack will not be included in the package, and the leak confirms that the phone will sport some bezel above and below the display. Nokia’s logo will be included both on the back of the device, and above its display, if the leak is accurate.
Another piece of info surfaced yesterday, actually, as it reported that the Nokia 9 PureView will launch prior to the Mobile World Congress 2019. If that rumor is to be believed, the Nokia 9 PureView may actually arrive as soon as January. HMD Global’s plan was to reveal the phone during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, but it seems like the company’s plans changed, at least according to the rumored info. This means that the company will either announce it during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, or it will host a separate event sometime in January. That’s not the whole story, though, as the Nokia 9 was expected to launch months ago, but it got delayed for some reason. The company’s Chief Product Officer, Juho Sarvikas, was the main man behind the decision, according to reports, as he did not think that the phone is ready to be launched. That decision actually managed to anger some of HMD Global’s employees, or at least that’s what reports have been stating, as those employees think that HMD Global missed its mark with the Nokia 9 launch, and lost some ground along the way, as it did not offer its horse for the race, to compete with other OEMs, at least not in time.
HMD Global had actually acquired PureView usage rights from Microsoft a couple of months ago, and that could be one of the reasons why the phone got postponed. The Nokia 9 got postponed prior to the news that HMD Global acquired PureView right, so the company may have opted to wait with the Nokia 9 launch in order to implement PureView tech in the device. The state of PureView technology is a mystery at the moment, as we did not hear about it for years. The Nokia 808 was quite a compelling camera phone back in the day, best one out there, but that was years ago, and it will be interesting to see whether the technology itself progressed or not. The Nokia 9 PureView is expected to ship with flagship specifications, including at least 6GB of RAM, large display, and a large battery as well. It remains to be seen what processor will HMD Global utilize, though, and that will depend on when the phone becomes official, more on that down below.
Impact: If the Nokia 9 PureView arrives in January or February next year, it should include the next-gen flagship processor from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8150 or 855, depending on which name Qualcomm opts for. That processor will probably get announced before the end of this year, and it will start popping up in phones in February probably. If HMD Global announces the Nokia 9 PureView in January with the Snapdragon 845, it will certainly appeal to consumers less, as the next-gen chip will be included in all flagships after it. HMD Global did something similar this year, though, when the company announced the Nokia 8 Sirocco with the Snapdragon 835 processor, when its competition used the Snapdragon 845 already. That move did not favor HMD Global in any way, so the company probably learned from its past mistakes, and will wait to use the next-gen flagship SoC offering in the Nokia 9 PureView, but we cannot know for sure, of course, as nothing has been confirmed by HMD Global just yet, and all we can do is wait and see what will happen in the end.