HMD Global may be busy preparing for the launch of its Nokia 9 flagship at Mobile World Congress, but it seems that the Finnish smartphone maker is not busy with this particular device alone. The rumor mill has also got to hear about a mysterious smartphone being developed by the company, which can give some serious camera goals to other smartphone makers in the world.
That’s right – if latest report from Chinese website Vtechgraphy is anywhere close to reality then HMD is also working on a flagship smartphone that will sport a five-lens camera setup on its back. The company will reportedly take help from the technology of its OZO VR camera to make this camera setup work, but in a form factor that can be installed inside a smartphone. You can see the OZO camera below, which comes with 8 lenses. The smartphone version of this camera will have a different form factor, but its technology will be same.
This information comes from a source who is familiar with Foxconn’s Research & Development business. And since HMD and Foxconn are working closely to build their smartphones, this rumor has some weight. The report also goes on to say that perhaps one unit of the device has also been developed for testing purposes, and if it works as expected, Foxconn will have to look for the ways to mass produce this thing. If they (Foxconn) can somehow figure out how to produce it in large quantities, the device may be launched sometime later in the year – probably by the end of this year.
About the form factor of lens, the report suggests that there will be a circular module on the back of device with 7 holes in the middle. Five of those holes will house camera lenses, and remaining two may be equipped with LED flash. Overall appearance of the module will be similar to that of Nokia Lumia 1020.
There’re no other details about the smartphone as of now, except for the fact that it will have Snapdragon 845 processor inside. We also don’t know what will be the use of these 5 lenses, and how they will collaborate with each other. Hopefully we may get to hear something later if this project is not nixed for some reason.