Nokia 6 Mid-Range Android Smartphone Now Official, Coming to China Soon

HMD Global, in a surprise move, announced the very first new smartphone this weekend, dubbed the Nokia 6. We were earlier expecting the first Nokia-branded smartphones to be announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. However, most of you will be disappointed to learn that the Nokia 6 is likely to be exclusive to JD.com in China.

The smartphone is made out of 6000 series aluminum and features a premium design that is quite impressive for a mid-range handset. As you can see in the official render, the handset includes a physical home button on the front, which also houses a fingerprint scanner. It features a 5.5-inch 1080 x 1920 Full HD resolution, with 2.5D glass on top. The chipset powering the Nokia 6 is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 430 SoC, which is an octa-core chipset with the Adreno 505 GPU. While the choice of SoC isn't commendable, the Nokia 6 does come with impressive 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard memory.

The Nokia 6 comes with a 16MP camera at the back, with an f/2.0 aperture lens, phase detection autofocus, and a dual-tone LED flash. For selfies, the handset features an 8MP primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture lens. For a superior audio experience, HMD has equipped the Nokia 6 with Dolby Atmos technology as well as dual amplifiers. Not much has been revealed about the software though.

HMD Global says the Nokia 6 will be going on sale in China "soon" via JD.com, a leading Chinese online retailer for 1699 CNY ($245). Unfortunately, the company did not say if it plans to release the Nokia 6 in other markets, so it might end up being a China-exclusive model. The first global Nokia-branded handsets will be unveiled at MWC 2017 next month in Barcelona. We expect to see a wide portfolio from HMD this year, ranging from affordable entry-level Android smartphones to flagship smartphones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core chipset. A few Android tablets are likely to be released as well, although no leaks have surfaced yet.

What are your thoughts on Nokia's comeback Android smartphone?