Budget smartphones with a rear display might be the new meta. Honor’s X5d s was the latest to hop on the bandwagon, and a new leak suggests HMD (you might know them as the producers of Nokia phones) is doing the same. It’s not yet official, but a usually reliable HMD source has spilt the beans about the upcoming HMD Pulse 2T Pro (via GSM Arena).
HMD’s got a Pulse
We’ve even got pictures of the thing, courtesy of @smashx_60 on X. What we don’t have is pricing, but with the swathe of leaked specs, it’s easy to see this will target a more budget-conscious clientele. That also makes it a worthy device to send South Africa’s way. The biggest tell is the Helio G100 SoC powering the device.
Even if the device lands in South Africa at a R5,000-ish price, you’ll likely still get your money’s worth. The 6.78in FHD+ Rigid OLED seems decent enough, as does the 120Hz refresh rate. Flip the device over, and you’ll find a dot matrix display on the rear. It won’t be much use for taking selfies, but it’ll alert you to a new message.
The biggest boon to HMD’s budget plans is the 6,000mAh battery, paired up with 33W wired charging. It’s also said to feature a 50MP main camera with OIS, with another 50MP — maybe an ultrawide — shooter backing it up. On the front sits a 50MP sensor that will help with selfies. It’s a respectable trio that may bump up the price.
Still, we don’t see it straying too far from our initial prediction of a R5,000-ish price point. Last year, the still-unreleased Pulse 2 Pro (without a ‘T’) leaked with a price of around €180, or R3,300. With a bigger battery, better chipset, and an OLED display, the Pulse 2T Pro could make a case for being a new budget champ.
