2018’s Nokia 6 could be Nokia’s first ever bezel-less phone

The recent Nokia phones have been decent Android smartphones, but they’ve failed to set the world on fire. We liked the high-end Nokia 8, and the variants like the Nokia 6 were good phones for their market. And while the Nokia 6 launched Nokia’s new foray into smartphones, and was only released in January 2017, we’re already hearing rumblings of an upgraded version of the Nokia 6, ready to launch in 2018.

Among other issues the new Nokia smartphone range had, the look was one of the most glaring, as it was rather aged when compared to others in the same field. We recently saw Honor bring the bezel-less future to the budget market with the Honor 7X, and midrange phones like the OnePlus 5T have seen the bezel-less trend expand beyond flagship phones like the LG V30, the Galaxy S8, and the iPhone X.

The Swedish company is likely hoping its time in the shade is over, thanks to leaked images of a 2018 model of the Nokia 6, obtained through the TENAA certification required to launch phones in China. The biggest change seems to be the inclusion of a 5.5-inch display, which while the same size as the last Nokia 6, is outputting an 18:9 resolution of 2,160 x 1,080. Since that screen size is the same as its predecessor, and the pictures imply a larger screen-to-body ratio, it’s a safe bet the new Nokia 6 will also be significantly smaller than its big brother.

Internally, it seems a lot has changed. The Snapdragon 430 core in the last Nokia 6 has been upgraded to a Snapdragon 630, and while the RAM is listed at 4GB with 32GB of storage, this odd configuration could simply be one of the models on display for the phone. Unfortunately for fans of the front home button, that button on the Nokia 6 has been shifted around to the back of the device, now a common move for phones expanding into the bezel-less and edge-to-edge market. It’s also rumored this device will be dual-SIM, perfect for anyone who needs their device to have dual-SIM functionality.

A release date for the Nokia 6 isn’t currently known, though rumors from earlier this month do point at a January release for new Nokia devices. Whether or not we’ll see the missing Nokia 9 remains to be seen, but if the Nokia range is really getting a makeover, this could be the Swedish company’s chance to get back atop a market it used to rule.

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