HMD Global is reportedly planning to launch a smartphone under its own brand name for the first time and a purported render of the handset has now surfaced online. Until now, the Finnish firm has been releasing smartphones under the Nokia brand, but the design of the handset with a new HMD logo on the rear panel suggests this could soon change. We now have a fair idea of what the handset could look like when it makes its debut.
91Mobiles has published an image of HMD’s purported N159V smartphone, sourced from unnamed industry sources. The handset is shown in a black colourway with a dual rear camera module with an LED flash. The HMD logo is visible in the centre of the phone’s rear panel and there’s no other branding visible anywhere on the handset.
While we still don’t know what HMD plans to call its first handset with the model number N159V, the leaked image suggested that it will arrive as a midrange phone. The phone looks like it will be equipped with a plastic rear panel and the power and volume buttons appear to be located on the right side of the handset.
The purported render of the first smartphone from HMD
Photo Credit: 91Mobiles
HMD’s first smartphone is shown to sport a flat display in the leaked renders. The render of the smartphone also suggests that it will be equipped with a front facing camera for selfies and video chats that is located in a centre-aligned hole punch cutout at the top of the screen. The render does not reveal whether the phone will be equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack at the top or the bottom of the phone.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of the company’s plans to launch HMD-branded devices. Last September, HMD Global CEO Jean-Francois Baril announced that the Finnish firm would soon expand its product portfolio with phones released under the HMD brand. The company has been marketing Nokia-branded phones globally since 2016.
