Renders of a Nokia 8.1 Plus show another change in
design direction for HMD – dropping the notch in favor of a punch hole selfie
camera. These come from the usually reliable @OnLeaks, but something’s not
quite right with the device.
Despite the “Plus” designation, the phone is
essentially the same size as the regular Nokia 8.1 – its screen measures 6.22”.
Dimensions are very similar too, the new phone will be 156.9 x 76.2 x 7.9mm,
the current non-Plus model is 154.8 x 75.8 x 8mm.
Sure, the punch hole selfie camera opens up a bit of
space on the screen, but it’s not a change that will make us go “wow”. Moving
on to the back, expect a dual camera with Zeiss optics here. No penta-camera
like the rumored Nokia 9, which gets spotted more often than Elvis and seems to
have similar chances of showing up.
There’s a regular fingerprint reader on the back
too, solidifying the position of the Nokia 8-series as a premium mid-ranger.
Maybe the Plus will feature a flagship chipset to help distance it from the
Snapdragon 710-powered Nokia 8.1 (we’ll have to wait for benchmark results to
find that out).
The renders show the Nokia 8.1 Plus will have a
USB-C port on the bottom with a loudspeaker to keep it company, while the top
side houses a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Nokia 8.1 was already a bit
of a disappointment – name aside, it’s really a 7.1 Plus. If the Nokia 8.1 Plus
is as pictured, it won’t fill the flagship-sized hole in HMD’s lineup either.
