Nokia 9 hits GFXBench with Snapdragon 835, Android O

HMD Global seems to be managing the resurrection of the Nokia brand rather well so far this year. The low-end Nokia 3 and 5 were received with positive reviews and sales numbers and the mid-range Nokia 6 is currently the best-selling smartphone in India. The highest-end phone HMD is selling currently, the Nokia 8, does sport flagship specs and premium materials — but its somewhat uninspiring design (and later release date) has meant that it played second fiddle to other flagship phones such as the G6 and S8. A more premium Nokia flagship from HMD has been rumored to be in the pipeline for sometime now, though, and that so-called Nokia 9 has just been spotted on GFXBench with a Snapdragon 835 SoC and the latest version of Android, Oreo.

Spec-wise, the Nokia 9 hits the right notes with its Snapdragon 835 SoC and 4GB of RAM. The 835 is de rigueur for flagships these days, but the recent news of the rumored Snapdragon 836 being non-existent means that it's pretty much the best we can expect in a flagship smartphone for at least a little while.

Probably the greatest factor that will help the Nokia 9 distinguish itself will be a sleeker design with much smaller bezels than the current new Nokia lineup. Leaks and teasers suggest a 5.9-inch QHD display with only the smallest strip of bezel at the top to house sensors and cameras. It should also be noted that the Nokia 9 appears to have the same "bothie" camera configuration of the Nokia 8.

The GFXBench listing showing the Nokia 9 with Android 8.0 Oreo is another positive sign for the soon-to-be-released phone, as other flagships, such as the G6 and S8, have yet to be updated to even Android 7.1. Releasing with Android 8.0 out of the gate will certainly help the Nokia 9 compete in such a crowded market.