Top 7 Nokia smartphones to watch out for in 2014

Nokia has been in the spotlight of rumor mills for its upcoming phones off late. We round up some of its highly anticipated handsets

Nokia is working on a slew of next generation phones for the new year, hoping to get back into the fierce smartphone competition that is currently dominated by Android phones. The streets across the tech world are buzzing with rumors of several exciting Lumia and Asha phones in line for a 2014 release. Have a look at them below:

1. Nokia Normandy: Nokia is believed to unleash revamped Asha phone models in 2014 with one of the phones resembling the Lumia handsets. Codenamed Nokia Normandy, the phone got leaked with a vivid, sharp red case. The handset is said to have a back button placed below the screen as in Asha 501. Nothing much more about the phone is known at this point of time.

2. Nokia Lumia 1820: The Nokia Lumia 1820 will be the next camera-centric Lumia phone, replacing the current Lumia 1020. Featuring a metal uni-body design, the phone will offer a Lytro-style camera on the back, which means that users will be able to change the focus after taking a photograph. The phone is expected to be the first Lumia branded device to arrive with the Windows Phone 8.1 platform on board.

3. Nokia Moneypenny: Nokia Moneypenny is also said to come with the Windows Phone Blue or Windows Phone 8.1 platform. Interestingly, a latest rumor has it that a variant of the phone will support dual-SIM card slots. This tips that Nokia will be launching two variants of Moneypenny targeting different markets.

4. Nokia Goldfinger: Nokia is planning two handsets for Windows Phone 8.1 - Goldfinger and Moneypenny. Of the duo, Goldfinger is believed to be the flagship model with rumors suggesting that the phone will ship with an innovative technology. Described as ‘3D Touch’, this Nokia technology basically makes use of the hardware sensors to detect interactions that are off-the-glass. That is, users can interact with the phone simply by hand gestures instead of touching the screen.

5. Nokia Lumia 929: Rumors suggest that Lumia 929 will feature a 5-inch Full HD 1080p display and a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset paired with 2GB of RAM. Also on board could be 32GB of native storage that can be expanded using a microSD card slot. The phone is said to come with the Windows Phone 8 GDR3 update. There are speculations that it will include a 2,510 mAh battery and will arrive in matte white and black variants.

6. Nokia Spinel: Besides the leaked Goldfinger and Moneypenny codenames, an interesting Spinel also surfaced online. Spinel means a combination of magnesium and aluminum hinting that the phone could be a metal-clad one, just like the Lumia 925. 

7. Mysterious Nokia Asha: Alongside Nokia Normandy, an oddly sized handset that resembles the brick sized LG Optimus VU got leaked. Probably, this one is also a part of the Nokia Asha line up. From its looks, the mysterious Asha phone seems to come with a widescreen display and the tech giant's usual design.