HMD Global recently released invites for a launch event that will take place in Taiwan on April 2. During this event, the tech firm will likely unveil the Nokia X71, a handset that will target the upper mid-range segment of the smartphone market.
Earlier rumors said that the device maker will brand the handset as the Nokia 8.1 Plus, although a recent report interestingly states that while the two handsets will likely feature the same design, the Nokia X71 will likely have three imaging modules.
In contrast, the Nokia 8.1 Plus will reportedly have two rear cameras. The report did not describe the function of the additional camera sensor, although it states that the handset will feature one 48-megapixel rear camera and another camera with 120-degree wide-angle lens. Both rear cameras will sport lenses from Zeiss optics.
At this point, there is limited information available about the specifications of the Nokia 8.1 Plus. However, the handset will likely feature the Snapdragon 710 chipset, the upper mid-range processor offering from Qualcomm.
This SoC comes with two high-performance CPU cores running at a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz, six power-efficient cores clocked at up to 1.7GHz, and the Adreno 616 GPU. The chipset also offers improved processing performance for artificial intelligence tasks and support for popular AI frameworks like TensorFlow and TensorFlow Lite.
Meanwhile, renders leaked last January detailed the design of the Nokia 8.1 Plus, and if rumors are correct, the Nokia X71 will likely feature the same design despite the addition of a third rear camera.
This handset is expected to become the first Nokia-branded smartphone from HMD Global to sport a display camera cutout. Users will be able to find this punch hole in the upper-left hand corner of the smartphone’s 6.22-inch display. Surrounding the display are very thin bezels while the right side of the handset contains the power button and the volume rocker.
On the other hand, the back panel of the handset contains the rear vertically-arranged cameras and directly below the shooters is the LED flash. It is likely that the Nokia X71 will adopt the same camera arrangement, despite the addition of an additional rear camera.
Below the phone’s rear cameras sits the fingerprint reader for biometric authentication, and located in the bottom half of the rear panel is the Android One branding. The top of the handset houses the 3.5mm headphone jack, while the bottom of the handset holds the USB Type-C port, loudspeaker, and the microphone.
Like other handsets from HMD Global, this handset will likely launch as part of Google’s Android One initiative, which means that the device will receive regular software updates and security patches. Furthermore, the smartphone will likely ship with Android 9 Pie pre-installed, and like other Android One handsets, the device will feature stock Android user interface.
There is little information available about the Nokia X71 and the Nokia 8.1 Plus, although more details about the handsets, including its specifications, availability, and pricing, will become available on the launch date. Like other previous smartphone offerings from HMD Global, it may take several weeks before other parts of the world will receive the device.