Potential Nokia 8.1 Plus appears in leaked renders and 360-degree video with punch-hole notch [Video]

Damien Wilde | Jan 10 2019 - 5:44 am PT

We’ve already had a glimpse of the Nokia 8.1 after being unveiled by HMD in Dubai last month, but the potential Nokia 8.1 Plus looks to have a few hardware tweaks not seen on the Nokia 8.1. We say potential as we are not quite certain what the device will actually be called. The most notable hardware change in the latest render is the very first punch-hole notch on a Nokia device.

The leak comes from none other than @OnLeaks and 91Mobiles, and to be completely honest, it looks pretty tasty from where I’m sat. There is very little bezel, although Nokia looks to continue with that horrible brand trend of adding an embossed logo to the bottom chin. We are pleased that the chin looks set to have had some serious surgery and is looking slimmer than ever — at least for a Nokia device.

The front of the Nokia 8.1 Plus will have a 6.22-inch FHD+ display with that 2019-on-trend punch-hole camera cutout toward the upper left. As for the entire device footprint, the handset will measure in at 156.9 x 76.2 x 7.9mm in size — with the thickness adding up to 9.5mm if you include the camera bump.

Naturally, the camera still retains the Zeiss branding and the exact same layout you’ll find on almost all of the Nokia lineup at this point in time. That means dual lenses, dual LED flash and a fingerprint sensor underneath. For anyone hoping for an in-display fingerprint reader, we are so very sorry to give this disappointing news.

What’s interesting is that this device still retains the Android One branding round back too, which in all probability means the Nokia 8.1 Plus will not be a “true” flagship device. We still expect the Nokia 9 PureView to be HMD’s top-tier flagship for 2019.

Around the sides of the device, you’ll see the various input ports, USB Type-C, a top-placed headphone port (still hate this positioning but love the inclusion — good job Nokia!) and bottom-firing speakers. Most of this is by-the-numbers Nokia, but that is not a bad thing by any means.

Specifications are a still a bit of a mystery so stay tuned for further updates should we learn more.