How about bringing the XpressMusic back? A smartphone targeted at the youth with dedicated medi keys like they were on the Nokia X series and XpressMusic phones? That would make Nokias look cool and will also attract millenials.
Will ASHA return? Will Nokia ever try a new OS? How about Sailfish OS on a Nokia Asha phone?
Thank you for the ideas. I was actually a big fan of ExpressMusic phones design. We are always looking into improving the use cases and user experiences. That is an interesting idea For OS, currently we are committed on using Android as our smartphone OS. And I am sure you have seen the new updates have started to roll out.
Hi Miika Mahonen! Once again a nice moment to have somebody from HMD to talk. I like the design of the Nokia 7.2. I do have a feq questions. I'll divide them to give some choice to those who might like em
Polymer composite: Is this a new material RnD under HMD (even partially?) or has it been used by others in the past? My memory reminds me of a very similar outer texture and feel of the chin on the Huawei Honor 6 which I owned several years back.
Also, where is the metal used and which metal (is it aluminum?)? Does the metal go 360-degrees underneath the polymer material? And is weight the only concern to go with the Polymer or were there other reasons? Does polymer offer more than the metal except for reducing the weight?
Polymer composite is an existing material that we have worked on improving from material and structural side. Many times in design we might find an existing material and find a way to improve it or use in in a new way.
In Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we have worked on improving the material quality and adapting it into a aluminum chassis by moulding the material to the metal directly. By moulding the polymer composite directly around the metal makes the structure more durable and rigid while still being light weight.
Metal chassis inside creates the structure for all internal components and extends on all sides. The polymer composite is directly mold around the metal to create the frame.
Polymer composite was to the way to achieve our design goals with Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2.
Almost seamless and solid construction. Simplified and having only the essentials for a comfortable user experience.
Thanks a ton for this opportunity to communicate directly with designer of new Nokia phones.
I'm Nokia 6.1 plus user which having similar glass at back like new 7.2 & 6.2 having. In terms of design, curv and durability is awesome and can't be compared with phones of other brands. But only one small problem I felt is the glass at back is too sleepery. Why don't team think about some changes with existing design?
And why Nokia is still stucked on 30fps and 60fps slow motion? And that too with poor quality of video. This must need to look for upcoming phones.
Glass is non-conductive which means it is
good for antenna performance. Also glass is more scratch resistant compared to
current plastics and aluminum. In Nokia 7.2 we introduce new satin glass finish which
will reduce visible fingerprints and feels great too. We are currently
developing new material technologies to improve experiences even more. As
always we welcome all the feedback and take it into consideration in new design
projects
By the way, have you thought about getting a
Nokia case, this could improve the grip even more and also protect your phone?
You reminded me of accessories. I am struggling to find good cases for Nokia 7.2. Please design some attractive but also rugged cases for Nokia phones.
Also, are you planning more accessories like speakers, power banks, etc?
Nokia Logo: I have my concerns about the
technology/process
used to imprint the Nokia logo. Both on front and the back. The logo
isn't the same great quality as I see on my Nokia 8.1, maybe due to me
not having a preference for that dual-material stuff used to crave the
logo . Are you trying
something different there? The front logo is also a bit extra visible
versus that seen on the 8.1 and it can interfere during media
consumption.
One more thing, is the back logo underneath the
glass? Or is it outside or is it somewhere in the mid? Rubbing my
fingers over the logo area gives a slightly different (smoother) feel as compared
to the rest.
The Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 logo uses same manufacturing method as in Nokia 8.1. For example in Nokia 7.2 the logo colours are matched to be same silver colour as in the silver diamond cut metal ring used in the rear camera. All the details are matched to be the same colour to look consistent and balanced.
The logo mirror silver material is under the glass (being protected by the Gorilla glass). But the logo area is left polished to give that unified premium look we have in our other devices also.
Why haven't you switched to small frames around the display and without a notch? There is no HMD product with such a display yet. Can we expect such a device in the near future?
In Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we use very powerful front cameras and currently the best way for us to to design the front and make sure we get the best experience out of it was to use notch design display. The notch was designed to be small and the symmetrical center camera placement makes it very balanced.
Would be great to share more details about upcoming products but we have to leave some surprises for the future
Do something experimental and exciting. How about a phone with some unique frame with built in LED's that light up as disco lighta. May be a cool feature phone. 😉
It feels nice to see you reply to everyone. Thanks for joining us all on the community. My wish of having members from the design team communicating with the forum members is now complete. Thank you so much for coming here and interacting with us. 😊
Do check out the Ideas section where you will find lots of interesting and qwirky ideas. 😁
Hi Miika Mahonen! Once again a nice moment to have somebody from HMD to talk. I like the design of the Nokia 7.2. I do have a feq questions. I'll divide them to give some choice to those who might like em
Polymer composite: Is this a new material RnD under HMD (even partially?) or has it been used by others in the past? My memory reminds me of a very similar outer texture and feel of the chin on the Huawei Honor 6 which I owned several years back.
Also, where is the metal used and which metal (is it aluminum?)? Does the metal go 360-degrees underneath the polymer material? And is weight the only concern to go with the Polymer or were there other reasons? Does polymer offer more than the metal except for reducing the weight?
Polymer composite is an existing material that we have worked on improving from material and structural side. Many times in design we might find an existing material and find a way to improve it or use in in a new way.
In Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we have worked on improving the material quality and adapting it into a aluminum chassis by moulding the material to the metal directly. By moulding the polymer composite directly around the metal makes the structure more durable and rigid while still being light weight.
Metal chassis inside creates the structure for all internal components and extends on all sides. The polymer composite is directly mold around the metal to create the frame.
Polymer composite was to the way to achieve our design goals with Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2.
Almost seamless and solid construction. Simplified and having only the essentials for a comfortable user experience.
Thank you so much for your reply. You are very nice, and from your replies, I do see your experience of working through the years. And yeah, probably the first time that somebody from HMD does mention Lumia. All the best for the future products.
One thing, though, you could have showcased a bit of the making in the product promo videos, like how the metal meets the polymer composite to make a structurally strong device. Maybe that's for the marketing department now?
One thing though - you are awesome. I appreciate your replies and I'd wish we see you here more often.
Do something experimental and exciting. How about a phone with some unique frame with built in LED's that light up as disco lighta. May be a cool feature phone. 😉
It feels nice to see you reply to everyone. Thanks for joining us all on the community. My wish of having members from the design team communicating with the forum members is now complete. Thank you so much for coming here and interacting with us. 😊
Do check out the Ideas section where you will find lots of interesting and qwirky ideas. 😁
Hi Kartik, Thank you for the comments! I love the disco phone idea Our purpose is that we can be more active with our Nokia users and community.
I'm so impressed with the Camera Design of NOKIA 6.2 and 7.2 but I was wondering that you will use a XENON FLASH with Red-Eye Reduction + LED Flash for the Flashlight separated.
Maybe Xenon Flash is more reliable source of light for Dark Environment when users are going to capture pictures in Dark Environment.
I have some questions, hope you could answer them all. About the polymer frame, so is it polycarbonate or aluminium, or is it hybrid? And, what inspired you to give the phones a circular camera module? Was it the Lumia 1020 and 830? And why no dedicated shutter button? Just intrigued by the fact that none of your phones have any
Polymer composite means it is a mixture of polymer thermoplastic together with fiber, making it a composite. Interior chassis is made out of aluminum. And polymer composite frame is mold directly around the metal chassis, you could say in its way it is a hybrid.
Miika: Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 are a bit inspired by Lumia designs, keeping the Nokia design heritage alive Also the round format was perfect fit for our triple camera set-up keeping it simple and refined.
How about bringing the XpressMusic back? A smartphone targeted at the youth with dedicated medi keys like they were on the Nokia X series and XpressMusic phones? That would make Nokias look cool and will also attract millenials.
Will ASHA return? Will Nokia ever try a new OS? How about Sailfish OS on a Nokia Asha phone?
Thank you for the ideas. I was actually a big fan of ExpressMusic phones design. We are always looking into improving the use cases and user experiences. That is an interesting idea For OS, currently we are committed on using Android as our smartphone OS. And I am sure you have seen the new updates have started to roll out.
Many of us on the community are really waiting for HMD Global to use Sailfish OS on their phones. Even a feature phone with SFOS would be an interesting phone.
Also, will HMD ever allow unlocking the Bootloader of Nokia smartphones. The dev community is important too and this will boost the sales of Nokia phones to some extent.
Besides Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 I was involved with Nokia 800 Tough and Nokia 105. Nokia 2720 Flip was designed by our industrial designer Jonathan Lister. I’m very happy you like our new designs Has been a very exciting year for us with all the new products.
Its very hard to pick my favourite from these projects as they are very different. I am very happy with all the designs. In Nokia 105 we modernized our most entry level classic phone and introduced two new trendy colors that definitely stand out on the market.
Nokia 800 Tough was a long and challenging project. How to create the most durable phone and still keep good usability and Nokia identity. We are very proud of the outcome as it is very unique and functional. Super tough structure took a long time to develop.
Nokia 7.2 with new satin finished glass and simplified Nordic design really shows our efforts and hard work that we have done during the past year.
Miika has to go back to work again . Thanks for all your questions and input and thanks @Miika Mahonen for joining our community. Hope to see you back soon.
Best regards, Laura
P.S. I will leave the comment section open for a while. We would be very interested in your feedback concerning this Q&A session. Did you like it? And do you have suggestions for the next one? Because we are planning to have this more regularly .
Miika has to go back to work again . Thanks for all your questions and input and thanks @Miika Mahonen for joining our community. Hope to see you back soon.
Best regards, Laura
P.S. I will leave the comment section open for a while. We would be very interested in your feedback concerning this Q&A session. Did you like it? And do you have suggestions for the next one? Because we are planning to have this more regularly .
SUPER LIKE! Thank you for making this happen.
This was great! I see @Miika Mahonen did answer some of the follow-up questions too and that's him getting involved!
I can't say no to more of these. Would always love to hear from different Nokia (Ok, yeah, hmd) employees from time to time. I'd wanna meet more awesome people who stay behind the scenes while being the biggest contributors in the creation of a new product.
Thanks for the replies! I was busy at work so couldn't follow live. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer as many of our questions as you could, even if you didn't answer all of them (I can almost excuse you dodging some of them, as you may not feel you are permitted or able to comment on things like not using the original PureView algorithms and the socio-environmental impact)
I hope you found the experience enjoyable? I know that we did! And I hope that you feel welcome to come here and chat with us from time to time (if your corporate masters allow it). You will find that we are an entirely friendly bunch.... well, >99% of us anyway!
Next time, maybe someone from the imaging/camera team?
Or someone who can answer the questions that Miika couldn't?
Someone from the mechanical engineering, software engineering, quality or market support teams which Miika mentioned? (now you know why I asked that question! )
But basically, anyone! (in fact, we could start with you? Or @HMD Global, or @jumble121 - wait! Another nick change? And who is @HMD_Franziska? Wow! So many community managers! )
Cheers
PS - Someone who is responsible for decisions about the software user interface would be interesting to talk to
@madbilly Is there anything you don't notice ? I changed the nickname actually just for a test and forgot to change it back - so don't get used to it @jumble121 had to do the same changes, poor kitty fell asleep after that. @HMD_Franziska will introduces herself pretty soon.
@Kartik Gada we actually had already 2 hours today instead of the planned one. Not always so easy to focus completely on the community when there is other work waiting as well but I will keep this in mind and try to have some longer sessions when possible.
@everyone else how gave feedback. Thanks a lot. We are very glad to hear you liked it and that you want to see more of that in the future. We definitely will be back with more
Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 belong to the same product family. They have
similar mechanical structure, with composite frame and glass covers. Where
Nokia 8.1 uses CNC machined aluminum structure. Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 have
internal aluminum chassis and polymer composite frame molded around it.
We selected polymer composite to create a design
that is solid and feels great in your hand. A material that would help to join
everything together seamlessly and support our beautiful Nordic minimalistic
design style. Goal was to deliver fantastically durable and smart devices.
Is there any particular any difference in the glass on the back of the
7.2 vs the 8.1? Or is is basically the same glass but the 7.2 has this
light frosting effect?
The
polymer composite is more rigid and stronger that basic plastics and together
with internal aluminum chassis it makes a very light and rigid structure. Now
in Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we have integrated glass covers directly in to the
frame, the basic structure is now very simplified having only 3 parts,
glass/frame/glass. Looks great and also feels good in your hand.
This is cool, lighter is good, but is it both lighter and stronger
than a 100% aluminium frame? Or does the composite frame require more
material, therefore it takes up more space in the overall volume of the
phone?
Does "simplified" structure mean the 6.2/7.2 is simpler
than the 8.1 and other glass-sandwich designs? Is it easier to repair?
(please tell me you use less glue than on the 9PV that
JerryRigEverything classed as a fail...!).
Just why bigger phone size? At this moment its not possible buy
small mid-range phone. I am happy with my Nokia 7.1. And why alu frame
anymore? I dont understand this trend...
We listen to consumers
while designing our phones – for us that is always the starting point.
Consumers across many markets want a large display size as the phone is their
primary medium for content consumption – they read, watch, share information
via their smartphone.
There are still many customers who want a smaller smartphone, so please listen to those customers too
Why did you use glass as the material of the back cover? As the crash
tests of a smartphone on Youtube showed, one not-so-high drop is enough
that it crashed to smithereens.
The benefit of using
glass is that it is non-conductive material. This helps us too improve the
performance of the antennas. From design
point of view glass is a great material as it is clean and has high surface
hardness. In 7.2 we use our new satin glass which even helps to prevent
fingerprints. Glass material feels good and natural in your hand, not cold or
industrial.
Yes glass is harder than aluminium or plastic (of various types) but it
is not tougher, which is why glass is more prone to breaking when
dropped than metal or plastic. If aluminium is not preferred because of
antenna performance, then why not use a "premium" plastic for the back,
like more polycarbonate composite?
I've read that the Google Assistant button can't be remapped
which seems strange when HMD seems to pride itself on giving users what
they want. Please can you explain this odd choice?
The Button is
specifically designed to support the Google Assistant experience on Nokia
phone. To make sure that it works the most optimum way offering an engaging
experience for the user the software and hardware is dedicated only for the
Google assistant.
I think is a case of giving the customer what Google wants, not what the customer wants
I don't understand the reluctance of HMD to provide mid and high-range phones with removable batteries, and the 6.2 and 7.2 continue this trend. If the battery was user-replaceable we'd be able to buy two batteries and be able to use our phones to the full, not try and run them economically in case we forget to charge them overnight. Please can you explain this strange design decision?
Cheers
So, as can be seen on the market not many smartphones with removable rear
covers exist anymore these days. This type of structure would create
limitations for the structural design and materials. Making the rear cover
not removable gives as that extra strength to make the structure very solid, a
true Nokia device.
Also luckily many options of extra portable
batteries exist on the market. We also have our own small portable battery the
“Nokia Portable Wireless Charger”which is a great accessory to extend use time.
I thought the trend for non-removable batteries was started by Apple to increase the revenue they get from service centres replacing batteries wasn't it
Portable battery packs are nice, but the cable is a pain and
unfortunately the only HMD phones which support wireless charging are
the Sirocco and 9PV.
I appreciate the desire to make the phone solid, because all customers appreciate durability, but if you make the rear cover from glass which is more prone to breaking than a removable plastic cover then that defeats the point of making the cover fixed, doesn't it? Surely the only sensible material to make a fixed rear cover from is metal, as it won't break as easily and still adds to the strength as well as being nice to hold (in some opinions), but as you say this will reduce antenna performance, so we end up with plastic as the preferred material, in which case we might as well have a removable cover.
I can see that there's no easy answer to this, no perfect solution. However please recognise that not everyone wants the same thing and sometimes doing things differently from your competitors might actually get you more sales from the part of the market that appreciates what you are doing, rather than fighting your competitors for a share of the market they are already entrenched in.
Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 MicroSD card slot support up to 512 GB memory cards.
You unfortunately missed my point. This is quite a technical question related to the filesystem used for the SD cards. I know that HMD phones support memory cards with very large capacities (SDXC range) but so far HMD phones have used the FAT32 filesystem rather than the exFAT filesystem which is the one approved for use by the SD association. Using FAT32 is actually not compliant with the standard. Many people have had problems with their SD cards in HMD's phone (including me, which is probably why I'm aware of this issue) and the performance of FAT32 compared to exFAT is poor, so poor that it can actually cause some cards to not meet the performance specs stated by their manufacturer. FAT32 can also only store files up to 4GB in size, so we can't film 4K videos for very long. Free space management for large SD cards is also very poor with FAT32, which may in fact be the cause of the problems I and others experience.
I hope that for the 6.2 and 7.2 you fixed this, or is the problem that HMD don't want to pay the licence fee for exFAT because HMD?
We work on material and colour design nonstop, we started the development of Cyan Green more than a year ago and Cyan Green is a result of our new material and colour design style. A colour that has been a part of Finnish design, architecture fashion for decades, Cyan Green was an obvious choice for us. Not just a basic green but a tone that creates a very powerful colour experience together with advanced materials and technologies we use. We target to design memorable experiences as part of our Nordic premium design. Like you mentioned the Cyan Green is beautiful and fits Nokia 7.2 perfectly. We are glad you like it
That's cool, I didn't realise that this colour was associated with Finnish design, please excuse my ignorance To me it reminds me a lot of the sea.
I'm very interested in the fact you started work on the colour a year ago. What does into the development of a colour, what do you have to do except get the pantone chart out and pick one? I presume you have to test the colour on the different materials you are thinking of using, and confirm that the manufacturing methods to get that colour are not cost-prohibitive and meet other quality criteria? What kind of criteria do they need to meet?
We experimented with lots of colours and styles when designing Nokia 7.2 and Nokia 6.2. Our colours take a lot of inspiration of Finland. We are also very sensitive on colours and decide them carefully to have something that is timeless and not just seasonal. When we are selecting colour options for a new mobile phone, it must fit the design and material technologies perfectly but also look consistent as a family.
I wish I could show you more of all the cool things we are working on now but we need to keep future designs as a secret and a surprise In the future you can see our new designs on our upcoming phone models
A video of a prototype 6.2 in copper colours was posted on Youtube I think. Personally I think that colour didn't work too well, it was a a little brash, but that may have been the colour saturation in the video. The polished copper models from 2017 were stunning, but the fingerprints were an issue... although personally one I could live with I think @Kartik Gada is right that metallic colours and the matte finish will work well - after all, the orange N8 was almost copper-looking, so a matte copper finish would be great!
Cheers
PS - you don't need to keep future design a complete surprise... you can show us some teasers to gauge our reaction before putting them into mass production
Comments
Thanks for your comment.
Polymer composite is an existing material that we have worked on improving from material and structural side. Many times in design we might find an existing material and find a way to improve it or use in in a new way.
In Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we have worked on improving the material quality and adapting it into a aluminum chassis by moulding the material to the metal directly. By moulding the polymer composite directly around the metal makes the structure more durable and rigid while still being light weight.
Metal chassis inside creates the structure for all internal components and extends on all sides. The polymer composite is directly mold around the metal to create the frame.
Polymer composite was to the way to achieve our design goals with Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2.
Almost seamless and solid construction. Simplified and having only the essentials for a comfortable user experience.
Also, are you planning more accessories like speakers, power banks, etc?
The logo mirror silver material is under the glass (being protected by the Gorilla glass). But the logo area is left polished to give that unified premium look we have in our other devices also.
Hi @petrus
In Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we use very powerful front cameras and currently the best way for us to to design the front and make sure we get the best experience out of it was to use notch design display. The notch was designed to be small and the symmetrical center camera placement makes it very balanced.
Would be great to share more details about upcoming products but we have to leave some surprises for the future
It feels nice to see you reply to everyone. Thanks for joining us all on the community. My wish of having members from the design team communicating with the forum members is now complete. Thank you so much for coming here and interacting with us. 😊
Do check out the Ideas section where you will find lots of interesting and qwirky ideas. 😁
Our purpose is that we can be more active with our Nokia users and community.
Maybe Xenon Flash is more reliable source of light for Dark Environment when users are going to capture pictures in Dark Environment.
Hi @abrahamp
Polymer composite means it is a mixture of polymer thermoplastic together with fiber, making it a composite. Interior chassis is made out of aluminum. And polymer composite frame is mold directly around the metal chassis, you could say in its way it is a hybrid.
Miika: Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 are a bit inspired by Lumia designs, keeping the Nokia design heritage alive
Also the round format was perfect fit for our triple camera set-up keeping it simple and refined.
Also, will HMD ever allow unlocking the Bootloader of Nokia smartphones. The dev community is important too and this will boost the sales of Nokia phones to some extent.
Hi @madbilly
Besides Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 I was involved with Nokia 800 Tough and Nokia 105. Nokia 2720 Flip was designed by our industrial designer Jonathan Lister. I’m very happy you like our new designs
Has been a very exciting year for us with all the new products.
Its very hard to pick my favourite from these projects as they are very different. I am very happy with all the designs. In Nokia 105 we modernized our most entry level classic phone and introduced two new trendy colors that definitely stand out on the market.
Nokia 800 Tough was a long and challenging project. How to create the most durable phone and still keep good usability and Nokia identity. We are very proud of the outcome as it is very unique and functional. Super tough structure took a long time to develop.
Nokia 7.2 with new satin finished glass and simplified Nordic design really shows our efforts and hard work that we have done during the past year.
Miika has to go back to work again
Best regards,
Laura
P.S. I will leave the comment section open for a while. We would be very interested in your feedback concerning this Q&A session. Did you like it? And do you have suggestions for the next one? Because we are planning to have this more regularly
Who's coming next? Juho? 😃😁
Thank you for your time and answers to our questions.
Is there anything you don't notice ? I changed the nickname actually just for a test and forgot to change it back - so don't get used to it
@Kartik Gada we actually had already 2 hours today instead of the planned one. Not always so easy to focus completely on the community when there is other work waiting as well
@everyone else how gave feedback. Thanks a lot. We are very glad to hear you liked it and that you want to see more of that in the future. We definitely will be back with more