Image: Nokia

Details have surfaced on a benchmarking site that suggest Nokia may have a new mid-range phone waiting in the wings.

For Nokia, IoT tech is firmly in its future plans, while smartphones are out. But die-hard Nokia fans may still be able to get their hands on a Nokia smartphone thanks to a little-known Finnish firm called HMD, which has a license and $500m to design, make, and market Nokia-branded smartphones running Android.

The licensing deal was signed in May, but HMD has yet to announce its first phone, leaving fans with little more than speculation about future launches.

So far, reports have pointed to two possible high-end smartphones in the works. However, now details of a third mid-range Nokia smartphone have appeared on benchmarking site, GeekBench.

The mystery handset, codenamed Nokia D1C, running Android 7.0 Nougat, features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 system on chip with 3GB RAM. That's not enough detail to judge the final quality of the phone, but it signals HMD's Nokia phones will include a mid-range device to cater to constrained budgets.

As noted by Nokia fan site, Nokiapoweruser, it's the first time one of HMD's next-generation Nokia devices has appeared on the site.

The two higher-end Nokia smartphones running Android Nougat that the site has previously reported will supposedly have a metal finish and be water- and dust-resistant, while carrying on Nokia's tradition in camera innovations. The pair are said to have a 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch display.

Exactly when the new Nokia phones will be available isn't known. HMD hasn't offered a firm date, but Nokia Networks' president of China, Mike Wang, reportedly told Chinese press that three to four Nokia-branded devices would be unveiled before the end of 2016.

Although Nokia isn't involved in any way in the making of HMD's Nokia phones, it does have a seat on the company's board and can set brand guidelines covering quality, design, and consumer-focused innovation. The devices are being manufactured by FIH Mobile, a Foxconn subsidiary.

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