Nokia and Qualcomm dropped a couple of hints that point towards a 5G-enabled Nokia smartphone that will be unveiled sometime next year.
At the Qualcomm 5G summit in Barcelona, HMD Global spokesperson said that they are looking to halve the price of 5G smartphones in 2020 to increase the rate of adoption. It included other conversations around Nokia’s future plans too.
#5G is about to roll out a lot faster around the world—and in a lot more devices—thanks to our #Snapdragon 7 Series Mobile Platform with integrated #5G, just announced at #IFA19. https://t.co/NeSr5Yk7dp pic.twitter.com/ZK9dBjTi9zSeptember 6, 2019
In the past, Qualcomm has also teased the existence of a Nokia premium rid-ranger that will be powered by a Snapdragon 7 series mobile platform with integrated 5G. Considering that none of the current Snapdragon 7 series chipsets support 5G, this is likely to be a new unreleased chipset. 5G is going to be a big part of Qualcomm’s 2020 portfolio, and we should hear a lot more about it at the Qualcomm Tech Summit in Hawaii in December.
Some rumors suggest that the phone will be Nokia 8.2, which makes a lot of sense. The Nokia 8 series has used Snapdragon 7 series chipsets in the past, and are positioned just below the Nokia flagships without being nearly as expensive. Considering that the Nokia 8.1 is due for a refresh in the coming months, and is one of the most popular smartphones by HMD Global, the Nokia 8.2 may be the company’s affordable 5G handset.
Details are still scarce about the upcoming Nokia mid-ranger, but it should follow the same glass and metal sandwich design that most Nokia phones sport. Instead of a notch, it will opt for a hole-punch display or a pop-up module for the front camera.
Talking of cameras, we expect it to also go for a multi-camera setup such as the Nokia 7.2, by bringing a 64MP primary camera, an ultra-wide lens, and a depth sensor. ZEISS optics should also follow.
Even MediaTek has announced its intentions of affordable 5G smartphones for 2020 and will compete with Qualcomm’s upcoming roster of chipsets on mid-range smartphones, thus bringing 5G to new price segments.
