HMD - Vibe 128GB (Unlocked) - Charcoal

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The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Great value with some caveats

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 100 Contributor

  Really nice phone. It came with an AC adapter (not a common thing these days), a type A to C usb cable, a SIM card tool and a quick start guide. The phone itself is very compact and feels sturdy and with a nice texture on the back, kind of grippy. The phone is unlocked and should work with most carries, but I double checked and it worked fine with mine. It’s max mobile radio speed is 4G LTE, so no 5G, but that is plenty fast for me, since most of the time on Wi-Fi anyways. Once fully charged I turned it on with my SIM card (the phone does support micro SD cards too, so one can expand its storage) I was greeted with the option to login my Google account and it gave me the option to transfer all my stuff from my old phone (photos, messages, apps, accounts etc). I told it yes and here I encountered a little snag. Since my older phone is also type C usb and this new phone is also type C but the included cable is type A to C, I could not use that cable. I had to look for a type C to C cable to be able to plug both phones and start the transfer of data. After this I was up and running. The screen is large and with good resolution. High refresh rate of 90hz can be enabled and feels buttery smooth. It has plenty of RAM, however in the settings you can expand the RAM (I think it uses some of the internal storage to expand it), that way you can multitask better. The only cons I could find was that it does not have NFC, wireless charging and 5G. However for the value you get for its price, I can live without those. Camera is decent and takes good quality fotos and in low light too. If you are looking for a value phone, or maybe a second phone you can take while traveling too (this is a great idea) with really nice features like high refresh rate on the screen, large battery life and expandable storage, this is the one for you. It’s build quality is great for its price!

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  Posted 9 months ago by JamexRZ

• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  Decent Budget Smartphone with room for Improvement

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  Yes! It’s true – a Reliable Budget Smartphone! The HMD Vibe is a budget smartphone made by HMD Global, a.k.a. Human Mobile Devices, a Finnish independent mobile phone manufacturer. HMD is made up of the mobile phone business that Nokia Corporation sold to Microsoft in 2014 and then bought back in 2016. HMD holds the exclusive rights to Nokia smartphones via a licensing agreement. I find the idea of a reliable budget smartphone very appealing as several years ago I decided to stop “keeping up with the Jones” concerning the need to purchase the latest and greatest smartphone. Since July of 2021, I have been using a refurbished Galaxy S10 as my primary phone. The HMD Vibe is a nice entry-level smartphone. This is especially true when you consider its price point. The device features a Snapdragon 680 processor with a total of 8 cores, 6GB of RAM, and 128 GB of Storage in the model I evaluated. It will also support microSD, microSDHC, and microSDXC memory cards up to 512 GB to provide more storage. The screen is a 6.56 in, 20:9 aspect ratio screen with a 720x1612 resolution that is bright and crisp and has adaptive backlighting. The screen also supports an adaptive refresh rate that can adjust the screen anywhere from 60Hz to 90Hz. This adaptive refresh rate aids in smoother visual effects and scrolling but does come at the expense of a larger drain on the battery but it does not seem to be a large drain. The device supports several network frequencies, but none are 5G. For my carrier 600Mhz support is key for the best capabilities in both 4G and 5G and this device does not support that frequency. Thus, I get a limited compatibility rating. I have included a copy of a frequency chart I found online in the images. Finally, this phone is an Android 14 device with no plans for any OS upgrades and only 2 years of Security updates. Speaking of battery – the device contains a 4000 mAh AI-assisted battery, UISB-C Charging. One item to note is that while the phone does include a USB-C cable for charging, a power block is not included to aid in keeping the price point lower. The battery is rated at an “up to 2-day battery life”. The cameras on this device are ok but are not the best. The rear camera is a 13MP+2MP dual camera (with the 2MP camera providing depth). on the rear and a 5MP selfie camera on the front. The rear camera has HDR and AI imaging built in. An added feature is night mode on the camera to take night shots. The two sample shots included in the images has one in night mode and one not in night mode My experience using this device says that it performs ok, and the battery has lasted for longer than the listed time, but I had lighter usage during my testing. I would imagine under more rigorous usage that the battery would not last nearly as long. Web browsing was just as good as my current phone and got me to the page/articles/messages I was looking for. The pictures I took were not great with graininess noted. Since this is a newer phone manufacturer, I decided to see what the case and holster market was for this device and found it to be quite lacking. While I found many cases the only one, I found close to being in my preferred holster style was a case with an integrated belt clip and case and not a true holster style. Pros: Performance, Affordable, wide US network compatibility, headphone jack Cons: Incomplete network compatibility on my preferred carrier, cameras are lacking

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  Posted 9 months ago by dnottingham4

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Quite good for a budget phone

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  For a budget smartphone that retails for $150 unlocked (often cheaper due to sales, or activation deals through carriers or MVNOs), the HMD Vibe is a very pleasant surprise. The Finnish manufacturer HMD is mostly known for carrying on the Nokia name, but has recently been coming out with its own branded phones (mostly budget to midrange). Based on the price, I was expecting this Vibe to be a sluggish, bloatware-filled mess, but it has really surpassed my expectations. The SoC is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 (no Mediatek here!), which provides pretty snappy performance paired with the 6 GB of RAM -- both fairly impressive for a sub-$200 phone. Asphalt Legends Unite, which is my usual benchmark when testing a device, performs quite admirably (see attached video). Widevine is only L3, though, which means Netflix will only play in 480p resolution. My phone came with 128 GB of storage, which has always been plenty for me, but there’s a microSD slot for anyone who feels the need to carry their entire photo and/or music library with them at all times. The modem only supports up to 4G -- no 5G on this phone. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people, though, since 4G LTE isn’t going away any time soon, and 4G download speeds will still be adequate for the average user. Supported 4G bands are 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, and 66, so double-check that it’ll work on your carrier. (Since I’m using this phone as a backup, I haven’t tested it with a SIM inserted -- only with wi-fi.) The display is 720p (1612x720), with reasonably vivid colors and brightness. Refresh rate is up to 90 Hz, but that can’t be set manually by the user -- you can only select either Standard (always 60 Hz) or Adaptive (which will increase to 90 Hz when needed, like when scrolling). There’s a fairly small chin, but the bezels are generally minimal. Sound is only mono. The speaker is moderately loud, with predictably little bass. There is a headphone jack, though, which many will consider a big plus. The dual camera setup includes a 13 MP wide angle and 2 MP depth sensor. Photos are decent, but zoom is limited to 4x. The selfie camera is 5 MP and adequate. Video can be captured at 1080p 30 fps (no adjustment possible). Overall build quality feels quite good. The back is plastic, but with a pleasant grainy texture that should help somewhat with grippiness. The camera bump protrudes a small amount, so there’s a tiny bit of wobble when lying on its back, but it’s hardly noticeable. The frame is metal, lending a nice bit of heft. The battery is 4000 mAh, and overall battery life seems very good (although I can’t say what it’s like with a SIM inserted). In my initial testing, it lasts a good 2-3 days with moderate use (browsing, watching videos, reading on Kindle) without having to charge. Maximum charging power is 10W, so no quick charging available (and no wireless charging either). Other features that aren’t available are NFC and fingerprint sensor -- not surprising given the price. The phone comes with Android 14, with a pretty standard Pixel-like interface. As far as I can tell, HMD will provide periodic security patches for 2 years, but there will be no OS version upgrades, which is disappointing, but again not surprising given the price point. The phone did come with a number of preinstalled bloatware apps, but they’re mostly uninstallable. While you’re setting the phone up, watch out for the system asking if you want to install certain “recommended” apps -- I would skip all of that, since those apps are junk. In summary, this is a surprisingly good value that doesn’t compromise much on performance. For those who find it challenging to afford flagship devices, or are looking for a cheap starter phone for a kid, or who have a flagship already but are looking for an economical backup device, the HMD Vibe would be a good choice.

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  Posted 9 months ago by William C