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HMD Global teases phone you can #GameOn, but it’s probably the Nokia 5.1 Plus
- HMD Global has teased an upcoming phone you can “#GameOn” via a recent tweet.
- The tweet has been taken as evidence HMD is working on a gaming smartphone.
- It may simply refer to the recently announced mid-range Nokia 5.1 Plus, though.
The Nokia India Twitter channel has teased an upcoming device that you can “#GameOn,” sparking speculation that it is working on a dedicated gaming smartphone. Nokia hinted at the unnamed handset in a tweet yesterday (via GSMArena), though it’s probably just the Nokia 5.1 Plus.
HMD Global announced the Nokia 5.1 Plus (above) in India last month following a release in China as the Nokia X5 earlier this year. It features a mid-range, octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm chip, and we’re expecting to see hit the Indian market any day.
Stay tuned for a phone you can #GameOn pic.twitter.com/CiuxGbIvkR— Nokia Mobile India (@NokiamobileIN) September 18, 2018
The Helio P60 is a powerful SoC compared to what’s supplied with other popular Nokia phones in the territory, and it will no doubt be able to handle graphically intensive Android games; HMD would naturally be keen to talk it up in its marketing (which I believe is what it’s doing with this tweet). I suspect the Nokia 5.1 Plus won’t be in the same league as the ROG Phone or Razer Phone when it comes to gaming, though — neither in performance nor in any dedicated gaming related features or accessories.
HMD Global may have some unannounced feature up its sleeve to really sell this ‘game on’ idea, rather than simply the use of a quite good SoC, but I suspect this is just a marketing line. You can call any smartphone a gaming phone and get away with it. They all play games.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus features a 5.86-inch, 19:9, HD+ display (with notch), 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of expandable storage. There’s a 13MP + 5MP dual camera system on the rear, 8MP selfie camera, USB Type-C connectivity, headphone jack, and a 3,060mAh battery. HMD hasn’t yet confirmed the India price, but it started at 999 yuan in China, which equates to around 10,600 rupees (~$145).
We should have more information on this situation in the coming days. For now, where do you stand on the matter? Is HMD Global about to launch a previously unseen gaming smartphone in India, or is it going to be the Nokia 5.1 Plus? Let me know in the comments.