HMD’s First Phone in India May Debut on July 25; Arrow Moniker Dropped Over Legal Reasons

HMD Arrow has been in the rumour mill for quite some time now. The Finnish brand was preparing to launch the device under its own brand in India. Now, HMD officially confirmed that the handset will be unveiled with a different name. While HMD remains tight-lipped about the launch timeline, rumours suggest that it will be unveiled on July 25. The upcoming smartphone could debut as a rebranded HMD Pulse that has been available in Europe since April.

HMD Arrow Moniker Dropped

Through its social media handles, HMD revealed that it selected the “Arrow” moniker for its forthcoming smartphone, but legal reasons are preventing the brand from using this name. It confirmed that the final name of the phone will be disclosed in a few days.

HMD selected the name Arrow for the upcoming phone based on a user contest on X. The brand clarified that the contest entries are still valid and winners will receive the prizes soon.

While the launch date of new HMD handset remains a mystery, a 91Mobiles report hints that the company is planning to host an event on July 25 in India to launch its first smartphone. The purported phone could offer 5G connectivity.

HMD’s First Phone in India: What we know so far

HMD’s forthcoming offering could be a rebrand of the HMD Pulse. The latter was launched in Europe in April this year with a price tag of EUR 140 (roughly Rs. 12,460). It is sold in Atmos Blue, Dreamy Pink, and Meteor Black colour options.

The Pulse runs on Android 14 and has a 6.65-inch HD+ (720×1,612 pixels) LCD screen with 600 nits peak brightness and a 90Hz refresh rate. It is powered by an octa-core 12nm Unisoc T606 chip. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The phone houses a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and has up to 128GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded up to 256GB. It is backed with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 10W charging.