Nokia X7 likely to launch globally as Nokia 8.1 and not Nokia 7.1 Plus: Report

tech2 News StaffOct 23, 2018 16:30:22 IST

The Nokia X7 launched in China with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 710 SoC, 3,500 mAh and was expected to sell globally as the Nokia 7.1 Plus.

Renaming a Chinese X series phone to something else outside China has become something of a habit for HMD. Like the Nokia X6, which was sold as the Nokia 6.1 Plus, and the Nokia X5, which was sold as Nokia 5.1 Plus it should come as no surprise that the X7 will be renamed.

Nokia X7. Image: Nokia

The only surprise is that the X7 might not be called the 7.1 Plus. A few days ago, the Nokia 8.1 was spotted on Geekbench without any codename.

This was assumed to be the successor of Nokia 8, as per recent tweets by 'Nokia anew', the Nokia 8.1 is the Global version of the Nokia X7.

Sorry, more correct and up-to-date information about 7.1 plus. The announcement will not take place before MWC.
Also, initially Nokia X7 was supposed to get the name Nokia 7.1 plus, but then Juho decided to give another name - Nokia 8.1.

— Nokia anew (@nokiamobileru) October 21, 2018

As per the tweet, the decision of this name change was taken by Juho Sarvikas, who is the chief manager at HMD Global. Also, the tweets say that Nokia 7.1 Plus does exist, but it won't be up for launch until next year, during MWC 2019 in February. The Nokia 8.1 is expected to launch before the end of the year.

Nokia 8.1- this year. Nokia 7.1 plus - not before MWC 2019. — Nokia anew (@nokiamobileru) October 21, 2018

According to Phone Arena, the Nokia 8 series might come with an upper-midrange lineup which will position the upcoming Nokia 9 PureView as the flagship model.