The Nokia 6 was unveiled a little over a week ago. It’s the first Android phone from Nokia since the company’s mobile division was bought by Microsoft in 2014. The handset is designed and manufactured by Chinese firm HMD Global with limited input from Nokia. Nokia has granted exclusive brand licensing rights to its name to HMD.
The 6 went on sale this week at a retail price of 1,699 yen, around $250. It is sold exclusively by Chinese retailer JD.com. The phone had accumulated one million registrations of interest from people intending to make a purchase before the sale started. JD ran out of stock just one minute after enabling orders. It isn’t clear how many phones it had available.
The Nokia 6 is a competent mid-range phone designed to appeal to a variety of buyers. Crafted from an aluminium chassis, it features a 5.5-inch Full HD display powered by Qualcomm’s efficiency-oriented Snapdragon 430 processor. There’s 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 16MP primary camera and supporting hardware including Dolby Atmos speakers.
The phone includes a 3,000mAh battery and Android 7.0 Nougat software. All the features considered, it’s a competitively priced debut handset that doesn’t look out-of-place next to its contemporary rivals.
Stock of the Nokia 6 will be replenished but there’s currently no indication of how long it will take. The immediate sell-out will be reassuring to HMD, a young company that’s using the reputation of Nokia to get its devices into the markets. Although sales of the 6 will be confined to China, an international expansion is due within the next month.
HMD said it’s started in China because it’s the world’s largest and most competitive smartphone market. This makes it an ideal testing ground for a new company’s first device.
“China is the world’s largest smartphone market. It is also the most competitive one,” Nokia said in a reply to a user on Facebook. “This makes it the obvious choice for us. Our ambition is to set a new standard in design, material quality and manufacturing innovation across every tier of products by continuing to build on all the hallmarks of a true Nokia phone experience.”
HMD Global has been regularly teasing new announcements on its Nokia Mobile Facebook page, promising the “next chapter” in Nokia’s smartphone story at next month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The company is widely expected to unveil its first Android smartphone destined for international markets.
HMD will target flagship fans with its debut phone outside of China, according to recent reports. The Nokia P1 is said to use Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB of RAM, a 23-megapixel camera and a large 3,500mAh battery. With up to 256GB of storage on offer, the P1 will be one of the most powerful phones available. As such, it’s expected to boast a top-tier price tag of around $800.
