Another classic Nokia is set to return, but this time it's far more interesting
Quick Summary
HMD Global is rumoured to be making a mid-range phone with the design of Nokia Lumia devices and running Android 14.
This could be a more exciting device from HMD than its recent launches.
HMD Global – the brand that resurrected Nokia over the past few years – has recently started to branch off with its own devices. We've seen the launch of the HMD Pulse phones, for example, but there could be something even more exciting in the works.
HMD's Pulse handsets are very much entry-level, which is an area that the company had some success in with affordable Nokia devices over the past few years. However, to really move forward, the company needs to expand into a more exciting space, especially in Europe and the US. Enter stage left a new device that appears to base its design on the Nokia Lumia family.
The design language here is called "fabula" and according to X / Twitter leaker Makul Sharma (via 91mobiles), HMD has a mid-range device in the works based on this Nokia design philosophy. It all started with the Nokia Lumia 800 in 2011, which was the first of a new generation of Windows Phones.
We all know how that ended (with Microsoft buying Nokia's devices, Windows Phone collapsing and HMD Global picking up the Nokia devices licence), but through the early 2010s it was glory time for Lumia. The Nokia brand launched a huge number of phones and some tablets, all based on the fabula design language.
Bringing it back would certainly catch the eye of many and carry on that nostalgia that company has been so good at invoking.
HMD's mid-range phone (Tomcat) specs
This rumoured phone doesn't have a name, but recently a device surfaced with the Tomcat codename, which aligns with the leaked specs that have been shared. So let's examine those specs.
Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is said to sit at the core of the phone, although this hardware was announced in September 2023 and has subsequently been updated in the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. The hardware positions this as a solid mid-range device, much closer to the flagship end of the spectrum than the Pulse models previously announced.
There's no word on the size of the display, but it's AMOLED with a full HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, so again it's competitive. The battery is said to be 4,900mAh with 33W charging.
The HMD Tomcat could have a 108-megapixel main camera, supported by a second 2-megapixel sensor. It's not clear what the second camera would be, at that resolution, likely a macro lens. There's mention of PureView too.
When PureView first appeared on the Nokia 808 PureView it was all about oversampling and using a high-resolution sensor to enable better zoom and increase detail – which is exactly what everyone does these days.
The new HMD phone is said to run on Android 14 – sorry if you were expecting Windows 11 to suddenly appear on a – but this looks like a more exciting device from HMD. Certainly, if the company is going to use the old Lumia design, a lot of people will be interested.
