Yes, it’s official, new Nokia Android smartphones are coming in early 2017

By Andy Boxall December 1, 2016

hmd global ceo departs nokia 216 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

New phones are coming from Nokia. We’ve known it was happening for a while, but official information was always lacking, until now. The agreement between Nokia and HMD Global announced in May 2016 has been finalized, and is in effect. It means HMD Global can use Nokia’s brand name and designs on smartphones it commissions Foxconn-owned FIH Mobile to build for it over the next ten years.

HMD Global calls itself “the new home of Nokia phones,” and promises we’ll get a range of smartphones and tablets, which will be announced soon. When will this be? Speculation has been growing at least some announcements will come at Mobile World Congress in February 2017, and taking a look at a newly updated Nokia website goes some way to back this up.

Recommended Videos

The site says Nokia is, “busy working on smartphones running Android,” and that it’s, “just getting started, with new smartphones coming in 2017.” HMD Global’s press release on the subject makes things even clearer, confirming Nokia Android phones will be here during the first half of next year. The smartphones will sit alongside the current Nokia feature phone range.

Up to four smartphones are rumored to come during this time, spanning a wide range of prices and technical specifications, but we’ve yet to hear rumors about new Nokia tablets. Previously, Nokia made a brief return to hardware branding with the N1 tablet, which used Android and came with Nokia’s Z Launcher user interface over the top. Very little is known about the devices it will produce with HMD Global, outside of speculation, and confirmation Android will be used as the operating system.

Expectation is high. The Nokia name is hugely recognizable — global awareness reaches 95 percent, according to HMD Global president Florian Seiche — and fans disappointed by Microsoft’s treatment of the company following its acquisition, will be keen to see those ghosts exorcised with some strong new products. Now we know the wait for them is almost over.

Topics

Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Mobile

Samsung just killed one of its most important Android phones

Galaxy Fold open.

Today marks a milestone in the era of foldable smartphones as Samsung officially puts its legendary first-generation Galaxy Fold out to pasture.

After four years on the market, the original Galaxy Fold will no longer receive regular security updates. To be fair, the first Fold was already living on borrowed time, as it was left out of last year’s Android 13 update. However, when Samsung launched the expensive foldable, it promised a full four years of security updates for the device.

Mobile

Nokia’s newest Android phone has an unbelievably cool feature

The Nokia G42 in purple.

HMD Global’s newest Nokia phone is one you can repair yourself if key parts of it get broken. The Nokia G42 is the second device from the company in its QuickFix lineup and the first with 5G connectivity, but the level of quick and easy repairability is the same as the 4G Nokia G22 announced earlier this year.

This means you can replace a cracked screen, a dead battery, a broken USB Type-C charging port, or a damaged rear cover yourself. There’s no need to throw the phone away, visit a repair center, or pay someone else to do the work. HMD Global has a partnership with iFixit, where you can order the replacement parts and follow the simple instructions to fit them at home. It's something we rarely see in the smartphone world — even from the best smartphones from Apple, Samsung, and Google.

Mobile

Nokia’s new phone is so tough, you can almost pressure wash it

Nokia XR21 in green, in water.

The Nokia name has long been associated with tough phones, but HMD Global’s new Nokia XR21 goes a step beyond what we’re used to seeing. It has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, which joins a MIL-STD-810H toughness rating, but it also adds IP69K to the list. This unusual rating, which we can’t recall seeing on another phone, means the phone can resist very high-pressure jets of water, dust, or steam coming at any angle.

How much pressure are we talking? The company says you can hit it with a 100-bar pressure stream of water at up to 80 degrees centigrade, and it’ll carry on working. To put that into context, most home pressure washers operate at around 100 bar, so you should be able to give it a very thorough cleaning under a tap without concern.