Leaks suggest there is no Nokia 9, but a Nokia 8 that may feature Iris recognition

After it unveiled Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 at MWC this year, HMD Global struggled to make the phones available in most countries. The smartphones were expected to hit the shelves in more regions in the second part of Q2, according to HMD’s tweet at the end of May, but they didn’t, and we know the company is now in the process of fulfilling its word – better later than never, right? However, what also gets us excited about the first couple of months of Q3 is the fact that we may see the official announcement of the much-rumoured Nokia 9 – but we really can’t know when exactly.

However, a tip, which recently originated in China, suggests that we may not see a Nokia 9 at all, as HMD Global could actually be prepping a smartphone that will be called Nokia 8, instead. Nonetheless, there do not seem to be many changes in Nokia 8, in terms of design or hardware, as compared to previous Nokia 9 rumours, and for all we know they could virtually be one and the same device. What this tip suggests, which we haven’t heard before, is that the smartphone will probably feature Iris recognition, among few other smaller changes.

The text in the leaked images of Nokia’s upcoming flagship is in Chinese and refers to a Nokia 8 device, which sports an aluminum body, like we previously suspected, and very thin, narrow bezels, with curved metal edges that tightly meet the display.

However, a change from previously leaked designs for the device is resembled by the fact that the main dual-lens camera is actually located to the left and not in the center of the back panel. We were also able to spot a USB-C port, so that’s another tick on the list.

As far as Iris recognition goes, there isn’t any detail, as to how the tech is going to be incorporated, or whether the feature will be sufficiently stable and safe to implement and use.

The tip confirms what had previously been leaked about the upcoming flagship, namely that a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip will be housed inside the body, together with 4GB or 6GB of RAM, and 64GB storage. The dual-lens cam will benefit from 13MP capabilities, while the front of the phone will be taken up by a 5.3” QHD screen.

Nokia 8 will aim to compete with above mid-range handsets and we are quite excited to see it, given the fact that Nokia 6 proved to be quite an attractive Android smartphone for its price segment. The tip suggests that we should expect to see a $699 price tag on the new phone in western markets, which would make it a lot more affordable than other Android flagships, such as the Sony Xperia XZ ($800) and the Samsung Galaxy S8 ($999).

We don’t have any solid detail about a release date, but the recent tip, as well as previous rumours, all indicate that we should expect to see it at some point in July or August, at the latest.

source: CNMO (in Chinese) via Slashgear