Cancelled Nokia Ion Mini (RM-1028) from 2014 resurfaces

When Nokia announced its switch from Symbian and MeeGo to Windows Phone, there were still teams working on Android OS powered devices. We finally got to see the final resistance to Microsoft inside Nokia at MWC2014 when the Nokia X family of devices was announced.


Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL were running the Nokia X Platform, an AOSP version with WP tiles and some Asha OS elements on which you could install Google apps.

Those phones were designed interestingly, with a vivid colour scheme. It was a good experiment for the affordable lineup but we know how it ended. Nokia was planning on introducing new Android-based devices later that year, but Microsoft took over the Devices & Services department, and whatever was being developed, got cancelled.

One of those devices with code name RM-1028 resurfaced thanks to Dimitrios Vlachos who selflessly shared photos and video of the device. Evleaks announced Nokia RM-1027 in July 2014, and since Nokia XL was RM-1028 many were expecting another Android based device.  Its name was Nokia Ion Mini, and it got cancelled in 2014. The device didn’t have a classic design since its body was thicker in the upper part, but it looked simple, with clean lines, a small display and one camera at the back.

Nokia Ion Mini was running nauOS, which is an Android-KitKat-based Nokia OS, probably meant to succeed the Nokia X platform. Interestingly, Nokia nauOS user interface was based on Z Launcher which was later used in the N1 tablet. The phone was using Qualcomm MSM8226 chipset or SD 400, which was also utilised in Lumia 630 and Lumia 640 XL.

Here is the short video that demos Nokia Ion Mini and its UI.

Thanks, Dimitrios for sharing this and I look forward to more Nokia cancelled phones. This one could also be deeper investigated by Michael Fischer who likes phones that look strange and fun.