Those of you who have been following me for a while now how interested I am in design, in phones and in general. It played a huge role in why I became a Nokia fan in the first place. Nokia has always had the best phone designs. From the legendary N9 to the unforgettable Lumia devices, and even much earlier.
So I decided to create two sketches that illustrated my dream of a Nokia phone, obviously heavily inspired by my favorite Nokia devices of the past. My friend Jermaine you should all know and follow from the creator of his YouTube channel concept, he took my drawings and made them into amazing displays! Many thanks to him for making this video possible. He also has a new tech-focused channel worth checking out.
we
As for the name, I called it Nokia NX. N for the legendary N Series devices of the past, and X in line with the current X Series pointing towards the future. This will be a series that will focus on design and construction as well as shooting, in a more fun and youthful package than what we currently have.
form factor
As for the general form factor, it was between the 925 with a sandwich design and the N9 and its later developments, with a loose design, rounded edge, and flat top. I went with the latter because it looks cleaner and eliminates gaps between the different elements in a way that looks very flattering.
Samsung applied a very similar overall form factor btw but with a sandwich design to the galaxy ultra lineup. I’m a little biased, but of course I prefer my version!
Materials
For materials, I used an all-aluminium body, similar to the Nokia E7 which I believe is still one of the sturdiest devices you’ll ever get. I also love that cool metallic touch all over. I am not in any way against plastic, which has a lot of advantages, but the overall perception is very important, and using glass on anything other than a screen is just stupid in my opinion.
Hardware tour
I wanted to keep my concept a bit realistic, so the top and bottom of my device are made of matte plastic for antenna reasons. I understand that it might not be enough for strong reception of course, but I don’t like antenna lines. A moment of silence for the clown show we saw with the iPhone 6 and its hideous antenna lines.
You’ll also notice there’s a headphone jack on the top right in the middle, I tried to keep some symmetry with the microphone hole and the SIM card slot hole
At the bottom you can find the speaker grill, Lumia 1020 style, and lanyard port, which is an underrated feature on my phone.
Maybe I should have added another speaker grill at the top for a proper dual speaker setup… Hmm.
On the right are the volume control keys, the power button that integrates the fingerprint reader, and a two-stage camera shutter key for good old times. This button needs to be reprogrammed so that it can be used for games or whatever you want it for.
Display and glass
We now move forward. As for display size, I think the 6.3-inch screen for today’s standards hits the spot. It makes the device not comically large, while still offering plenty of screen real estate for content enjoyment. For such a device, a 1080p OLED panel would be more than enough resolution, and you can also expect a high refresh rate.
The screen glass needs to blend in perfectly with the frame of the device, something we’ve already seen with devices like the Nokia N9 and Lumia 930, so it curves slightly near the edges to melt with the rest of the body. The majority of the glass will be screen as you can imagine, but there is still a bit of a frame around it for drop protection. It’s a Nokia after all, even if it’s pretty.
camera board
I’ve left the best for last, and my favorite aspect of this concept has to be the camera bump on the back. You guys know how much I despise asymmetrical apps, including Nokia’s latest mobile design, so I’ve been rambling about whether to use a circular camera bump or a vertical bar similar to the N9 and 8 Sirocco. Because my dream phone would have a killer camera setup, it would have to protrude outside the body, so neither the Nokia 9 nor the Lumia 930 implementation was possible. I decided to go with a design approach inspired by the never-released Lumia McLaren. It’s a really neat way to create a camera bump that doesn’t look like it was added at the last minute, with cheap plastic rings around it. No, here the metal back curves upward almost like the vent of a volcano, and the camera panel is glass that hides all the crowded lines and elements, unlike the asymmetrical mix of shapes we see emphasizing on today’s phones that looks unsettling at best, grotesque at worst.
Camera features
I wanted to implement a feature that I miss so much on today’s smartphones, which is the Xenon flash while keeping the design as symmetrical as possible. So it goes right in the middle of the quad camera setup.
As for the technical aspects of the camera, it should either be a dedicated sensor with the latest and greatest or a better off-the-shelf option for the main camera and ultra-wide camera. I’d also like to add a monochrome sensor to help capture more light and get the Nokia 9’s lit setup by combining the output of several cameras, and possibly a Zoom lens.
The rest of the specifications
The rest of the device specifications do not interest me much and will change year after year. It just needs to be able to deliver excellent performance, battery life, and be up to date.
Programming
For software, as much as I’d love to see MeeGo or Windows Phone again, both are unrealistic options, unfortunately it’s Android. I’m not going to keep it in stock, because I’m going to create a Nokia-inspired design and look forward to it at the very least.
Anyway, this is… What do you guys think of my dream Nokia phone? Would you like to see something like this become a reality? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below. I’d also like to hear what kind of design or spec features you’d like to see or change.
English
French
Spanish