A few days ago, it was rumoured that HMD Global would not launch any new Nokia smartphone in 2017, but the first smartphone from HMD Global next year was said to be a flagship smartphone. Confirming the same report, it is now stated that the company will launch two new flagship smartphones, allegedly termed as Nokia 8 (2018) and Nokia 9 as soon as in January 2018.
The Nokia 9 smartphone has been in the news for quite some time now, while this is the first time we're hearing about the Nokia 8 (2018). The Nokia 9 will be HMD's true flagship smartphone with all the current generation flagship smartphone features, whereas the Nokia 8 (2018) will be an incremental update to the already existing Nokia 8.
Recently, few images of the Nokia 9 were posted online by a casemaker, suggesting the design of the smartphone. The Nokia 9, much like several other flagship smartphones will come with an 18:9 display. And yes, the Nokia 8 (2018) will most probably also come with an 18:9 screen, which would be the major difference between the Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 (2018).
Both the smartphones are reported to come with the Snapdragon 835 chipset, which would be underwhelming in 2018 as other companies will power their smartphones with the Snapdragon 845 SoC. The Nokia 9 is said to come with 6GB of RAM, while the Nokia 8 (2018) might arrive with just 4GB of RAM.
They both may boast of the same Leica-certified dual camera setup at the back and the front, but there are not many details about the camera implementation though. Both the phones will come with a USB Type-C port at the bottom along with fast charging support. And yes, they're expected to come with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.
A leaked screenshot spotted on the Chinese portal news.mydrivers revealed the prices of the Nokia 9 and Nokia 8 (2018) smartphones. Both the devices are expected to be unveiled on January 19. The Nokia 9 with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage likely to cost CNY 3699 in China (approx. Rs 35,900) and the premium 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage variant might retail for CNY 4199 (approx Rs 41,000).
Also, the report states that the devices will run a customized version of Android Oreo, which would be exclusive to the Chinese market. They may not come with Google Play Services. After the launch in China, HMD Global will likely make the devices global at the MWC 2018 show.
