Nokia could be one of the first smartphone companies to adopt Huawei’s HarmonyOS, according to Chinese outlet IT Home (translated).
Although HarmonyOS is not being billed as an Android alternative, it’s true that Huawei accelerated its development after the US government forced Google to cut ties with it. At its core, it’s a distributed operating system and has been designed to work on multiple products, including smartphones.
The operating system was officially launched at the start of the month and can now be installed on some older Huawei smartphones. The company also recently began selling a 4G-only version of its foldable Mate X2 with HarmonyOS 2.0. Prior to that, it had introduced its first HarmonyOS smartwatch.
Since Huawei still can’t legally install Google Mobile Services (GMS) on its phones, which are necessary for the Play Store and popular apps like Google Chrome, YouTube, Gmail, and Google Maps, HarmonyOS doesn’t really stand a chance against Android in most markets.
China-bound Nokia X60 and X60 Pro to run HarmonyOS
The story is different in China, where Google apps are blocked. That’s seemingly why Nokia allegedly only plans to use HarmonyOS for China-bound models. According to today’s report, the company intends to release the Nokia X60 and X60 Pro in China later this year and they will ship with Huawei’s operating system.The phones are rumored to feature a curved display and a hefty 6,000mAh battery. They may also flaunt a ZEISS-branded camera array with a 200MP main sensor.
Other possible specs include a refresh rate of up to 144Hz, fast charging, and a flagship Snapdragon chipset.
Chinese company Meizu also plans to use HarmonyOS and Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo are also allegedly in touch with the company in regards to the platform.
HarmonyOS appears to resemble Android and apparently uses the Linux kernel. A global rollout date hasn’t been provided yet.
