Android Nougat-powered Nokia D1C smartphone spotted on Geekbench; key specifications revealed

In August, Nokia confirmed to release Android-powered phone by the end of 2016. Now, a Nokia device running Nougat OS appeared on a benchmarking site, revealing key features ahead of the launch.

Device code-named Nokia D1C has made a stop at Geekbench and has been evaluated five times based on single-core and multi-core tests. It managed to score as high as 667 and 3,229 in respective tests.

In the system information section, Nokia D1C is shown to have 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core CPU powered by Android Nougat with 3GB RAM confirming that the device is a mid-range phone.

That said, Nokia will also be launching a high-end phone along with D1C. Rumours are rife that it will have top-notch hardware such as QHD (2560x1440p) screen, Snapdragon 820/821 quad-core processor, 4GB RAM, state-of-art camera components and high capacity battery.

Both the devices are expected to made available in China initially and released later in other regions.

For those unaware, the Finnish company, while parting the mobile division to Microsoft in 2014, had agreed not to launch a Nokia-branded phone until the fourth quarter of 2016. Nokia had only sold its smartphone division to Microsoft, while its Nokia-branded feature phone business was sold to HMD Global Oy and Foxconn.

With the period of the non-compete clause coming to an end in September, Nokia is legally free to launch a phone.

The company's affiliate HMD Global Oy in August re-hired ex-Nokia veteran Pekka Rantala (former Rovio CEO), as their new chief marketing officer to lead the mobile division.

Watch this space for more updates.