While HMD Global has been pretty busy during the first six months of 2021, releasing quite a few new Nokia-branded devices around the world, that high-end smartphone we’ve been waiting for since 2019 is still nowhere to be found… both on actual store shelves and even in the rumor mill of late.
The painfully long wait for a handset successively expected to be called Nokia 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 PureView could finally conclude in the (relatively) near future, although the official marketing name of the company’s next flagship remains very much up in the air.
Given that the upper mid-range Nokia 8.3 5G is unlikely to receive a similarly branded sequel after the recent introductions of the X10, X20, G10, and G20, it makes sense for HMD to adopt an X60 (or X60 Pro) moniker soon.
This could designate a China-first iPhone 13 alternative seemingly confirmed for a regional debut “before” November 11. According to a new IT Home report (via Gizchina), said confirmation comes directly from a top HMD executive, who unfortunately has no additional information to share on this long overdue Nokia-branded Android flagship right now.
Although a wild recent rumor hinted at the possibility that the Nokia X60 5G could run Huawei’s HarmonyOS instead of the world’s most popular mobile operating system, the latter company itself refuted that speculation.
Of course, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that would have been a completely unnecessary risk for a not-very-successful smartphone brand looking to get back in the high-end game nearly three years after its previous losing bet.
It remains to be seen just how much this X60 will end up resembling the ill-fated Nokia 9 PureView, with existing rumors calling for some pretty crazy specs, including a 200MP (!!!) primary Zeiss camera, 6,000mAh battery capacity, and silky smooth 144Hz display refresh rate technology.
In case you’re wondering, the aforementioned November 11 date was not chosen at random for this confirmation, representing a very important deadline as the single largest physical retail and online shopping day in the world.
Granted, the 5G-enabled Nokia X60 could technically arrive anytime between now and China’s Singles’ Day, but something tells us we’ll at least have to wait until fall to see HMD try its hand at a truly high-end phone again.
