After the release of the HMD Pulse series, the Nokia name carrier has subtly another own-branded device, the HMD Aura.
The HMD Aura is an even cheaper alternative to the HMD Pulse and has been introduced — possibly by accident — by an Australian-based retailer called JB Hi-Fi.
It has a decent 6.56-inch IPS display with a 1600 x 900 pixel resolution, a standard 60Hz refresh rate, and a waterdrop notch for the 5-megapixel selfie camera.
On the back, we have a clean camera layout that holds the 13-megapixel main shooter and a depth sensor. We also have the fingerprint scanner back here, something that we haven’t seen in years.
Under the hood, the device is powered by a UNISOC SC9863A1 CPU, with only 4GB of RAM and, another feature we haven’t seen in a while, a low 64GB of storage. The chipset also lacks 4G connectivity and is made of a thick 28mm process, but HMD did say it offers AI acceleration.
Sadly, the device ships with the old Android 13 operating system. There’s no mention of OS upgrades in the future, but they did promise two years of security patches, and, being HMD Global, it should still get at least Android 14. The battery has the standard 5,000mAh capacity and charges via the USB-C port using a 10W adapter.
The HMD Aura has a price of AUD180 (~Php6,900) in Australia. Official announcement from HMD Global should be made soon.
HMD Aura Specs
- Android 13
- Dual SIM, Dual Standby
- 6.56-inch HD+ IPS display
- 60Hz refresh rate
- 1.6GHz UNISOC SC9863A1 octa-core processor
- 4GB RAM
- PowerVR GE8322 GPU
- 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 256GB
- 5-megapixel front camera
- 13-megapixel + 2-megapixel (depth sensor) rear cameras, LED flash
- Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
- HSPA+, 4G LTE
- WiFi
- Bluetooth
- GPS
- USB-C
- Colors: Glacier Green, Indigo Black
- 5,000mAh non-removable battery, 10W charging