Nokia's re-entry with Android imminent?

The return of Nokia to the smartphone fray looks imminent as a report in Nokia Power User indicated that two Nokia-branded Android handsets with the new Nougat version are bound to hit the market in late 2016 or early 2017.

A leak also made its way online, which revealed the possible features of the phones. The phones will be in two different sizes—5.2-inch screen and a bigger one having a 5.5-inch display—both with 2K resolution.

The devices are expected to come with the Z-Launcher System user interface (UI) on top of Android Nougat. According to sources, both will also sport an IP68 certified all-metal casing. The larger phone will be equipped with a 22-megapixel rear camera, although camera specifications for 5.2-inch Nokia phone are unknown.

The handsets may also imbibe the cool innovation of a “touch & hover” interaction that might, much like Microsoft’s scrapped McLaren project, use a combination of sensors to respond to finger gestures.

These two devices will be the first ones to be released by Nokia after it was sold to Helsinki-based HMD Global Oy and Foxconn. As for pricing, the 5.5-inch model is expected to sell in China for 3,000 yuan.

Availability to other parts of the world is expected, but it is unknown if it will be sold at the $500 equivalent of its yuan price. Some say that it will be sold higher at around $600 once it lands in the United States, but some argue that the Chinese company Huawei is known to keep their prices the same for every country.

In recent years, Nokia has struggled to gain a foothold in the high-end mobile market. Following the company’s adoption of Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system in 2011 and its acquisition by Microsoft in 2014, sales of its handset suffered—shipments in 2013 alone were down 22 percent year on year.

And following Nokia’s divestiture from its parent company earlier this year, the company announced 900 million euros in downsizing measures—a plan which partially involves the layoffs of 1,400 staff members in Germany, 1,300 in Finland, and 400 in France.