Customer Ratings & Reviews

I've been​ a smart phone user for 20 years and a​n iPhone user for 18 years. I've moved back and forth from Android to iPhone several times. Each excels for a while and each falls behind in various areas time and time again. In specific terms Android phones (specifically w/Snapdragon CPUs) have had better BT audio capabilities than iPhones. Qualcomm's aptX audio is a game changer for wireless audio (BT) (IMHO it passed Apple's BT audio quality several years ago, and Apple is still playing catch​-up). The same can be said for camera quality, although lens implementation varies widely across Android phones, there are multiple Android phones that offer +100 megapixel cameras. Apple has none. Android phones have offered pro camera modes for years (including RAW images and AI editing), Apple cripples the cameras on their phones, behind their "Smart" processing, which prevents 'pro' photographers from using the full range of the camera's functionality. I have an iPhone 15 ​Pro and my wife has an iPhone 15​+, the Skyline's weight and size is more similar to the 15+ so I will compare it to that model. So let's look at some of the specifics behind the Skyline 5G. The Skyline 5G has a OLED display with a fast 144Hz refresh rate and up to a 1000 nits peak brightness. It supports Miracast and Google casting with a 20:9 Aspect ratio with Gorilla Glass 3 with a 6.6" screen size and a screen resolution of 1080x2400 (406 ppi density) versus the 15+'s 6.7" OLED screen size and 1290x2796 pixels, (~460 ppi density) with a similar peak brightness. The HMD has a 4600 mAh replaceable battery supporting 33W fast charging (charger not supplied) (QC4.0 and PD3.0 PPS compatible) versus the 15+'s 4383 mAH non-user replaceable battery supporting 30W fast USB C charging (charger not supplied). The Skyline 5G weighs 208g vs a 15+ weighing 201g. The size and weight of the two are almost identical. The Skyline 5G supports Bluetooth® 5.2 with LE Audio and 15+ has BT 5.3; neither supports the more advanced BT 5.4 supported by newer earbuds/headphones. The Skyline's display is very crisp and bright, indoors I can't say that it's any better or worse than the 15+. Outdoors in the shadows it's not as easy to see as the iPhone. In bright sunlight both have equal difficulties being read easily. The 15+'s greater DPI density is not obvious, perhaps the Skyline's faster refresh rate helps it here. I listened to music from both phones with the excellent 1000XM5's over the ear headphones. The Skyline's sound quality won playing my own HQ MP3's and with FLAC streaming. The sound had better depth and seemed to cover the full spectrum better, lower lows and higher highs. I expected a difference but the difference was greater than I expected. The quality out of the phone's speakers from the two phones was similar, with the 15+ being slightly brighter and louder. The 2 phone's focal lengths are different, a 3x zoom is closer to a 2x zoom on the Skyline. But comparing 2 images from the two the general colors captured are similar, the Skyline probably being a little brighter. When zooming in the Skyline has significantly greater detail (std res not High Resolution mode (50MP)). From 25' I could clearly determine the color/shape of a Christmas light on the Skyline, whereas on the 15+, I could just tell there was a bulb. But in low light the 15+ captured much better images, its handheld stabilization helped significantly. When taking the same picture on a tripod, the Skyline again had better detail but the brightest areas were washed out, but its general colors were more natural. I attempted to take some pictures of the full moon (on a tripod) and both cameras were unsatisfactory. The 15+ captured a huge glow around the moon (no matter what I did), and the Skyline gave me a crisper edge but insufficient detail (sort of fuzzy). I took some long exposures of stars, and got good results from the 15+ (handheld and on tripod) with a 5 second capture. And the Skyline was useless with a zoom handheld. But in astro​mode on a tripod it did a very good job, great sharpness, but I had to trigger the shutter remotely (BT Trigger). So the quality of the Skyline's images seems to be highly dependent on the phone being stabilized​ (its internal stabilization is not very effective). The 15+ has some form of digital stabilization that works very well, something missing from the Skyline. I did find the Skyline's case to be pretty slippery (as is the 15+), I was able to find a clear case for it (problem solved). The Skyline's fingerprint sensor works very well, it can also be programed to serve other functions (like to take a picture in landscape mode). It also supports unlocking via facial recognition. I use my phones for streaming videos quite frequently and the Skyline's quality was excellent and very stable. Casting to one of my televisions or to my projector worked very well. The phone handled my 6G WiFi very well, getting 345 mbps down and 95mbps up (and 15+ is getting 390 mbps down and 8​0 mbps up) using Speedtest. I installed multiple apps through the Google Play store without any problems. Placing calls via BT worked very well. And using the phone as a speakerphone worked very well.. After using the Skyline for about a week it occured to me that it looked a lot like the old Nokia Lumia 1020 only a little bigger and thinner. At the bottom of the phone there is a tray for 2 nano SIMs and a nano SIM and microSD card (it can also support a or two eSims). I added a 400Gb SD card (spec says it supports up to a 1Tb card) and put my MP3 collection on it (280Gb). This is my favorite feature of Android devices, inexpensive expandability!​ I initially started to transfer my MP3 collection via a USB connection to my computer. But the SD card was not displayed. Turns out there is a USB setting called "USB Preferences" that must be changed to "This device" and "Use USB for "set to ​"File Transfer​". The phone does not ​'remember​' this setting; you have to set it every time you attach the device (BAD). Once I discovered this I tried dragging my collection to the Music folder, but it copied very slowly. So it seems even though it's a USB C port, it's still using USB 2.0 technology (BAD). ​This is very disappointing for a new device. (Copying via USB 2.0 would have taken over 14 hours; doing it over USB 3.0 took less than 2 hours). I connected a USB 3.2 Gen 2 SSD, the device was recognised and worked but it was so slow. I also tested charging the Skyline via a​ new "magsafe" charger, it worked fine (supporting Qi2), but it charged at 1/2 the speed as ​a wired ​connection would (normal). The phone comes in 2 versions, 8GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. But the phone allows you to create up to 8GB of virtual memory (using storage space). This works very well in improving performance when running multiple apps/browser tabs. I don't see why the 12GB version is necessary at all.​ I suggest enabling the "memory extension" and "Auto Cleanup" when you set-up the phone. The phone comes with the Google Suite of tools/apps installed. If you've been using Chrome on any other device many of your settings/contacts can be imported. The phone performs very well, it supports Qi2 wireless charging and repairability (easy screen repair and battery replacements). The Skyline is not water resistant (IP54 vs IP67/68 being better). The Skyline runs a pretty clean install of Android 14. One of my problems with the phone is that HMD only provides 2 years of OS upgrades and three years of security patches for the phone. On the other hand Google promises 7 years of software and security updates for its phones. HMD's limited software support is at odds with the very idea of user-replaceable parts, which are intended to help keep the phone in working for a longer time (BAD). The Skyline build quality is superb, it is a beautiful phone, rivaling that of the 15+. And it is repairable! Given it's not waterproof, I do wish it had a user removable battery and a headphone jack. I used it as a camera and MP3 player for a week and the battery still had a 10% charge.

I’m always hyper-careful to recommend a product when on paper it has a lot going for it and comes in at a great price. The more I’ve used and played with the HMD Skyline, my flags are coming down. The phone isn’t perfect, but there isn’t a flagship phone that ist perfect either and at a half to a third of the price of a flagship (and even cheaper with the current sale price) the HMD Skyline definitely is not half the phone! If you are not aware, HMD bought the Nokia brand over a decade ago, and is now pushing the HMD brand in favor of Nokia. Given the spec sheet, it seems HMD Skyline is trying to be a mid-range gaming device. OLED 144hz panel, 256GB storage, MicroSD slot. HMD is also pushing the right to repair which definitely makes it better than the best phones on the market that are some of the hardest to repair, especially the Android models. If you are curious just how easy it is, head over to ifixt.com, whom HMD partnered with to make sure supplies and “How-to’s” were available for screen replacements. In daily use, I didn’t really have any complaints. The first few hours there was settling in of the hardware and apps downloading that made the phone a little jumpy when navigating around the Stock Android UI, but it is starting to settle in. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is thankfully battery efficient and can handle some light gaming. The screen size and RAM maybe your only real limitation, but the 120hz and 144hz OLED panel won’t. The action button is a nice feature and has two programmable options for long press and double tap. Single tap is not an option which is for the best so there are no accidental launches. The build quality of the device feels on point, not a fan of the chamfered corners, and the SIM card tray doesn’t sit all the way flush, but that’s really all I can say about that. HMD thankfully chose to not load up the phone with many bloatware apps…only six were installed: LinkedIn, HMD My Device, Booking, Facebook, Kindred, and Amazon Shopping. Of these, HMD My Device and Facebook cannot be uninstalled, but they can be disabled. The HMD My Device is if you want to use the fasting options available with most phones these days to set limits on app usage for different categories. My personal nitpicks with the device are as follows in no certain order: -I give the bloatware a pass since there are only six pre-installed and 4 can be fully removed. -Camera pics are fine in good lighting like pretty much any phone these days, but the Rear Camera cannot record in 60FPS in either 4k or 1080p, but the front camera can!? -Design…square corners, round screen, chamfered corner edges on the front and back, which translates to not being able to set the device screen down, which is normal. -NO FINGERPRINT SECURITY…PIN/SWIPE Lock only -Accessories, in particular cases, there are none to be found on BestBuy website and HMD’s website has a single case available for $39.99. I bit high priced for a silicone case, but it is Qi2 wireless charging compatible. -Security Update is on Nov 5th, 2024. Phone was released in USA July 2024. Time of writing Jan 25th, 2025 and no Android 15 that was released in Oct 15th. -NO VERIZON Support; I don’t user Verizon anymore, but it no longer uses CDMA so it doesn’t make since why they don’t have support for the carrier. My testing is on Mint Mobile. After purchase support for smartphones is a huge selling point with the cost of devices consistently rising and that puts the mid-range market in a peculiar spot as that is the one area that suffers with the cost cutting corners necessary for the price range. As the prices climb, not sure the mid-range market can afford to be too slow to bring the software updates. At the sale price…I can definitely recommend this phone; at full price it gets a little more difficult just given what is in the market. HMD promises two Android OS updates, so it will at least get Android 16, but 4 months after Android 15 being released and 8 months since the phone was released, it will be interesting to see when the Android 15 update will roll out. If you don’t have much money and see what all BestBuy has to offer in this price range, the HMD Skyline definitely stands out with the feature set it brings and is one of the better looking devices. I’ll give it my stamp of approval, but depending on price at time of purchase, there may be an older flagship or better midranger that could work for you and work with any of the carriers offered in the USA.

Unique design, repairability, and the introduction of Qi2 wireless charging to the Android ecosystem set the mid-range Android smartphone HMD Skyline apart. Designed in an homage to the Nokia Lumia era, the HMD Skyline stands out from the usual slab-like cellphones with its squared corners, curved sides, and unique style. The Twisted Black hue looks absolutely fantastic. Thanks for its recyclable aluminum frame and matte-finished tempered glass back the phone feels robust in hand. For some consumers, nevertheless, its 8.9mm thickness and 209.5g weight could feel a little heavy. With pieces including the back, display, battery, and charging port user-replacing, the design not only looks distinctive but also promotes simple repairability. With a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz and a 6.55-inch pOLED display spanning 2400 x 1080 pixels, The Skyline boasts Although the screen provides vivid colors and smooth scrolling, its peak brightness of 1000 nits is considerably behind the curve, particularly in relation to more recent models with far higher brightness levels. Though not the newest in screen protection technology, the Gorilla Glass 3 protection of the display is sufficient. Driven by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 CPU with for 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the Skyline excels for regular use. It manages multitasking well, however in intensive games its performance could cause warmth and battery waste. The average Geekbench score of the phone for its class indicates it is not a powerhouse but enough for most users. Though not the biggest, the 4600mAh battery runs through a day with reasonable use. For those committed in the Qi2 ecosystem, the phone is one of the first Android handsets that have Qi2 wireless charging at 15W so u can use a magsafe charger and supports 33W wired charging. The battery life, meanwhile, might not last two days without a charge, and some might find the absence of a charger in the package to be a drawback. The camera system consists of a triple arrangement whereby the main camera can capture decent images. Though it includes features like focus peaking, performance can vary and it does not match the photography capabilities of more expensive phones. Running on Android 14, the Skyline guarantees only two years of OS upgrades and three years of security updates—which feels inadequate, especially considering its emphasis on repairability and sustainability. This limited support partially compromises the lifespan proposition of the The HMD Skyline stands out in part for its repairability. Users of iFixit can change parts including the screen, battery, and charging port themselves, therefore lowering electronic waste and maybe saving money on repairs. In the middle range segment, the HMD Skyline presents an intriguing offer. Its design, repairability, and Qi2 charging are excellent; they provide something unique among sea of like-looking devices. For people seeking long-term value or top-notional performance, its performance, camera unreliability, and limited software support could turn off them, though. Should you appreciate sustainability, original design, and phone repairability, the Skyline might be a suitable fit. For people giving performance, camera quality, or long-term software support top priority, other choices could be more appropriate.

HMD Global Skyline Review Introduction ======================== HMD Global may not be the most familiar name, but Nokia still rings a bell for a lot of people. The Nokia brand is licensed and the design team is in Finland with a goal of more friendly, sustainable phones like this new Skyline. Besides being a solid mid-range phone, it was made to be easily repairable so you can replace a cracked screen or dead battery with little effort. They've partnered up with well-known repair company iFixit to stock kits, parts, and documentation. Setup and Build Quality ======================== First impression: This is a sleek and eye-catching phone! The topaz colorway is brilliant and the rounded edges make it easy to fit into your hand. Having said that, the recycled aluminum frame and glass back make it slippery so you may need a case for some grip, but try to get something that lets the color shine through! A 6.6" 1080p OLED sits front-and-center and it looks good and can get decently bright in sunlight. The design really reminds me of the ill-fated Windows Phone days when Nokia made some of the best versions along with nice cameras. But I mean that in a good way, since that phone felt great and looked great! This phone is more solid and less plastic-like than the old Nokia units I mentioned. Aluminum, rear glass, and a Gorilla Glass screen make for an overall very solid build. There's a raised camera bump on the back and a volume rocker on the right edge. Below that volume control is a power/fingerprint sensor that works quickly. On the other side is a customizable button that you can hold to mute the phone, press twice to turn on the flashlight, or program it to something else entirely. The bottom has a sim/microSD tray, a USB-C charging port, and speaker/mic. Make a note of that single Torx screw... Phone - Overall Usage ======================== Let's be honest, most people don't need a flagship phone for everyday usage. With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen2, launching in late 2024, this is a mid-range phone but that's not necessarily a bad thing! The main display is a nice OLED with 2400x1080 resolution and up to 144hz refresh rate so everything is smooth. Colors look great as expected, and I didn't have any trouble using the phone out in the bright southwestern sun. Connectivity on Tmobile and ATT via physical sim cards was great with no issues. There is an eSim option as well. Comparing this to my daily drivers from Samsung and Google, there was no discernible difference in coverage or handset call quality. From a Wi-Fi perspective, I was pleased to see it supports 6E which allows for faster wireless connections if you have a supported AP (which I do!). Solid Wi-Fi connectivity throughout the house and out to the edges of the home mean you can easily limit your cellular usage while at home. Wireless Qi charging works as expected, but we get a big bonus - magnetic attachments work just fine! The charging coil is right under the HMD logo on the rear and magnetic charging accessories for other phones work just fine and hold solidly. The battery is listed at 4600mAh and should be plenty for most users. I was able to use it for about a day and a half of normal usage. You could push it more with less gaming and video watching, though. Software-wise, it ships with Android 14 and they've guaranteed two years of OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates. Yes, this is way less than other manufacturer's flagships, but again, this is a mid-range phone. For a phone with repairability in mind, you'd think they'd support the OS longer. Detox mode, should you have the strength to enable it, works well! You can identify which apps you want it to block like Instagram, Facebook, and other messaging or social media apps. Once you enable Detox mode, you have to disable it manually or schedule it to disable. While it's enabled, you won't get any distracting notifications, allowing you to get your work done. Phone - Media and Games ======================== Movies and pictures look great on the OLED and remember, this is a smooth 144hz screen. The speakers are surprisingly good for a mid-ranger. It can get very loud for speakerphone usage or filling a small room. Instead of sounding either tinny or boomy, the speakers are actually quite full-range. Gaming-wise, the 7s Gen2 has an Adreno 710 GPU, so it can play most games just fine. Will it drop some frames in the most demanding games? Yes, but I didn't experience anything terrible in Honkai Star Rail or Genshin Impact. Anything graphically easier than those games will run fine. The phone did get a bit warm, but I don't think it was anything out of the ordinary when gaming on mobile. Phone - Camera ======================== It's got an array of cameras on the rear including a 108mp main shooter, 50mp telephoto, and 13mp wide angle lens. Most of the photos I took looked good, but as always, these non-top-of-the-line cameras will need good lighting. Mixed lighting seemed like a pretty tough challenge compared to my Pixel. The front-facing 50mp shooter may seem like complete overkill for a selfie camera, but it does focus quickly and performs well. For a bit of fun, HMD allows you to flash the "peace sign" or "V" to take a selfie. Phone - Repairability ======================== HMD is serious about sustainability and repairability and this Skyline is a Gen2 repairable device. With an iFixit partnership, you can find replaceable parts like screens and batteries along with all the documentation you need to replace them yourself at home! With just one Torx screw, you can pop the covers off and get into the insides without voiding the warranty. I didn't get a chance to replace anything on this brand-new phone, but I did check out iFixit's website with parts and they will sell you just the parts you need, or include the tools so you can do it all yourself. I don't know about you, but I've had a few phones get the "spicy pillow" when their internal, glued-in lithium battery swelled up. If I could have easily replaced it, the phone would still be working! I love the idea of this and I wish more phone manufacturers got onboard with it! Conclusion ======================== This is a great-looking phone with more than enough performance for 90% of people. It has a great screen, strong Wi-Fi connectivity, and can easily be repaired in case something goes wrong. I really love the phone and the idea behind it. I hope we can see more manufacturers making their devices repairable too!

I have been using smart phones since the early days of iPhones, then eventually switched to Android and never looked back. In recent years I’ve owned flagship phones but I have plenty of exposure to other family members and friend’s lower end or mid-range phones. I had never heard of HMD before I had this opportunity to review the Skyline model and I am pleasantly surprised. The HMD Skyline 256 GB model (TA-1600) is not a high-end phone by any means but it functions quite well with most tasks. It is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s gen2 processor which offers efficient power savings, smooth performance and even decent gaming, mostly found in last year’s mid-range phones. It comes with 8 GB of RAM which helps with loading apps quickly and multitasking. With a 4600mAh battery, it will easily last a whole day with moderate use. I had a difficult time getting it to work on a wireless charger, even though it is Qi2 compatible. It must be more picky than other phones in terms of placement on the charger. With an FHD+ 144Hz OLED screen of 6.55” at 1080x2400, this phone displays sharp text and vivid colors, fairly bright even in sunlight. It does want to dim quite frequently to save power. It does not have much bloatware installed from the factory since it is an unlocked phone not tied to any carrier. Camera specs are pretty good with a 50 megapixel selfie camera and rear 108 megapixel camera as well as a 50 megapixel telephoto and 13 megapixel ultrawide cameras. Picture quality is average, but not great at night or lower light conditions. Also not sure if it has optical image stabilization since I noticed pictures can come out blurry without a steady hand. I have used the HMD Skyline with a Verizon SIM card, as well as AT&T, both worked well on 4G LTE and 5G data, voice and texting. I could not find a way to use Wi-Fi calling, but I can’t say with any certainty it is not available, I’m just so used to top brands UI’s that have a convenient icon for WiFi calling. What I really appreciate about this phone is its Repairability (removable battery, and screen) which is one of its main selling points, along with the expandable storage up to 512 GB with a microSD card that can be installed on the other side of the SIM card holder. My use case for this phone is mostly going to be international travel, since it is unlocked and works with most carriers, especially GSM that’s most popular outside of the US. At this affordable price point, the HMD Skyline is a solid mid-range choice.

The HMD Skyline is a remarkably great phone at an excellent price. Don’t be concerned because you are probably not familiar with the HMD name. This phone performs as well as it looks. It is first and foremost an Android Phone. So if you are an Android phone user you will be right at home. The necessary first step is to establish cellular service. This took a few days for me because my carrier, Spectrum Mobile, does not support this device. I was able to order a compatible sim card from Boost Mobile. I received the sim card from Boost in about 4 calendar days. Once I inserted the SIM card into the phone, I was able to easily establish cellular service. The next step was to sign in to my Google account. This version of Android offers the ability to copy all of your previous files, settings, and Apps from an old phone to this device. This can be done with a cable or wirelessly. I chose to use a cable to do this and the copying process took about 15 minutes. I was very pleased with the transfer process and found that everything was copied flawlessly. Some Apps were even already signed in. The only thing that did not copy over was the Bluetooth connections. Under any metric this phone is powerful and capable. But for the price, it punches way above its weight class. The performance, storage, and processing power puts it in the range of flagship models from the more established manufacturers. The 256 GB storage is especially notable. This extra memory alone is $100 more from most other manufacturers. Like I mentioned previously, this is an Android phone at heart. The Android ecosystem controls everything that this phone has to offer. I had no trouble using and navigating the phone layout. This phone looks great in topaz blue. The hue is rich and noticeably attractive. It is manufactured from aluminium, which is unusual in this price range. The phone looks, feels, and handles like a flagship model. The blue is so striking and luxurious that it is likely to be noticed and attract compliments. The phone is designed to be environmentally friendly and user repairable. I hope this is a feature that I never need to use. The Gorilla glass screen should provide extra protection. The only case that I could find that fit was available directly from HMD. I ordered a matching blue case which took a few days to arrive. Thai is my first HMD device and I am suitably impressed. This device performs as well as it looks. I would not classify it as a budget phone despite the price. I would classify it a mid range phone that provides upper range performance. If you need an Android phone that performs above its price range then look no further. I am expecting to get a few years of excellent performance out of it. I am looking forward to seeing what else HMD has to offer in the future. As of now, I am impressed.

Quick and Dirty: Excellent Android phone and feature set for this price. Runs a slightly older (not outdated) QUALCOMM snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip (snappy and responsive), 8GB RAM Memory (plenty for multitasking) and 256GB storage (tons of apps, music, pics and video) and the screen is 144ghz OLED (butter smooth scrolling). Dual sim tray (eSim capable) or 1 sim and 1 Micro SD card (up to 512gb). Two OS updates (it is on OS14, 15 is current) and 3 years of security. The cameras are flagship level. 108MP/50MP/13MP. For everyday pics and video, this phone does extremely well. Major bonus, you can repair the screen, back panel and other parts at home if you are clumsy or have unfortunate events. Sadly, not waterproof enough, IP54 is only adequate. You do get Qi2 wireless magnetic charging, so it is nearly all positives for the Skyline. Is Skyline any good: Over a week+ using the Skyline as my new phone. It has been great. Visible/Verizon 5G connection at home has been very strong and without hiccups. Stereo speakers sound clean at all volumes and calls and notifications are easy to hear. The OLED screen looks great, day or night inside or outdoors. The only negative I have is the flush mounted power button/fingerprint sensor. It works very well for a guy with rough fingers, but it is often triggered just picking phone up as finger slides across button stopping at volume rocker. The senor triggers haptics and keeps looking for fingers just holding it till it locks you out to pin on next time you use the phone. A raised button might have been better. Maybe a case would help, there just not a lot of case options yet. Its a minor niggle for me, but a daily occurrence others might also encounter. Overall a very good stock android experience if you want it. Setup: Basically just swapped my old phones sim to this phone and a bit of tinkering with Visible (Verizon) to get RCS messaging working correctly. Of course this was after using the included USB-C to USB-C cable and sim ejector tool for initial migration process. Minimal bloatware to remove, only 3 apps I don't use. Tweak a few settings like refresh rate and bring the screen brightness up and off adaptive (screen was at lowest dim setting out of box). Setup done, time to choose the custom button function settings. You get 2 function choices for the button, press and hold and double tap, many options to choose. Another selling point was Zen and Detox features. I don't use social media on my phone and reverted to full color app icons, so these were not tested. Cameras: Unless you are a photo snob. I think the pictures taken with the Skyline look good to excellent. It works best in daylight, although even in a dim room my black and white dog is still very easy to identify. You get plenty of good auto, pro and scene settings (night, portrait, plus others and digital zoom up to 20x). Optical 2x zoom is minimal but more than enough at this price tag. Image stabilization is adequate for pics and video, still best to have a steady hand. Camera function is not a complaint for me. Some of the trick shots are worth a try, like Dual Sight and Flash Shot. Battery, Qi2: Battery life is great. I could likely go 3 days if the work load was minimal and didn't need to call too often. Standby life over the weekend proved to me how 3 days on a single charge was not impossible. This phone just sips power with the right settings. Of course lots of calls and doom scrolling with have opposite effect. It charges quickly with cord, but magnetic Qi2 is great. Quick enough charge and the magnet just locks the phone exactly where it needs to be. Original Gen 1 Qi chargers were a bit of hit or miss unless it was just a flat disc Qi. The magnetic ones were mostly a bit out of alignment. Both of my newer Qi2 chargers were spot on everytime. If you buy the phone, put a Qi2 stand charger in the cart with it. Also look at magnetic phone accessories you might like (magnetic rings/pop socket and wallets). They work on this phone similar to Apple phones. Repairability: Youtube's JerryRigEverything summed this up the best. Phones should not be disposable. His video on the HMD Skyline is worth a watch if still on the fence for this phone. Being able to repair your own phone with easy to source parts and instructions is a valuable asset to this phone. Granted it looses some water ingress rating for this feature. But I find water far easier to avoid than gravity. Parts seem to be $99 (OLED screen) or less. And it seems it is just the most common parts that can be repaired/replaced. While three years of security updates might be enough for most before moving to a new phone. It would be interesting if HMD could sell addition updates for a phone that could theoretically be repairable and used beyond 3 years. An idea for HMD and Google. HMD might be new to Americans, but seems they have been around for awhile with Nokia phones. At this price and feature set. The HMD Skyline should very much be in contention to new phone shoppers. Best Buy even just had it on sale to give you more reasons to buy. HMD Skyline is not a cheap throw away or "you couldn't afford better phone". It is an honest phone with reliable proven parts. Pick one up, you'll see.

I’ll start by saying that I have been using cell phones from the same manufacturer for over a decade. Throughout that time, I haven’t seen the need to give anyone else a shot, until now. While I have been ultimately very happy with my previous smartphones, there always seems to be features that are omitted for one reason or another. This inadvertently keeps our eyes and ears as consumers wide open for a device that has all of the features we need for daily life. For how I personally use my phone, one such feature is the inclusion of not only a great full featured camera, but also a microSD card slot to keep up with the amount of content I create with my phone. It has been said that the best camera is the one you always have with you, that’s why the HMD Skyline was intriguing to me, and that’s precisely why I wanted it. ***THE CAMERA*** For me personally, the inclusion of a microSD card slot that is capable of storing up to 512GB, as well as the camera specs are the star of the show with the HMD Skyline. The display is also very nice, more on that later. I haven’t upgraded from my last phone since 2020, which was the last model from that company equipped with an optional microSD card extension. The backlash has been fierce for the other guys to reintroduce this feature, but that’s a different story. HMD have not only alleviated that issue, but have done so with some impressive camera specs and features built right in. The main rear facing camera is a whopping 108MP shooter. What this actually means, is that your photos will print larger if you choose to do so. You will also be able to crop in more than say a 24MP camera. While that is a good feature and great selling point, having more megapixels isn’t necessarily everything when it comes to image quality. Cell phone cameras do well in bright lighting and even better outdoors in sunny weather. The problems are always in low light situations. Camera sensors in smartphones, just aren’t big enough, or advanced enough to combat low light sensitivities like mirrorless or DSLR cameras. That said, there is a night mode feature built into this camera software that takes a low light photo and does its best to process the photo after it is taken to remove unwanted noise and to brighten the image. While it does a decent job and will work for most casual shooters, I still choose to only use my phone in well lit environments, and it does a great job in those situations as expected. The colors are realistic, not over-saturated. Skin tones look correct. The detail is crisp, but not overly sharpened. Perhaps one of the most surprising photo features I found was the inclusion of eye auto focus tracking built right into the camera modes. I am used to having this feature on my mirrorless cameras when shooting portraits, so when I found this built into the phone, I was pleasantly surprised. It works absolutely awesome and you can tell it is on because you will see a little square hovering over your subject's eye on the screen indicating the sensor is focusing on the eye for you. This is a feature I would like to see as standard built into every camera on the market in the near future. Not to be outdone by the giant 108MP main camera, the HMD also includes a 50MP telephoto lens for up to 4x lossless zooming, as well as a 13MP ultra wide angle lens for tight situations. If all of that wasn’t enough, the HMD camera also includes OIS, or optical image stabilization. All in all, a very compelling package that can easily compete with any smartphone on the market today. ***DISPLAY*** The HMD’s pOLED display is as good as any I have seen. The details are sharp and crisp. With a peak brightness of 1000 nits, it ensures you can see and read this display clearly in bright sunlight. This is imperative for capturing good photos in bright environments. Initially, I wasn’t sure what the “p” was before the OLED, so I looked it up and found out the p stands for plastic. In technical terms pOLED is (Plastic Organic Light Emitting Diode). Apparently by using a plastic base instead of glass, it makes technology like smartphones, and wearable devices lighter and more durable. My last phone was an OLED and while both look great, the pOLED is visually the same to me. All of that said, with the newer pOLED being more flexible and lighter weight, and with no perceptible visual difference (at least to my eyes), it's ultimately just another tech upgrade that benefits all of us. ***DESIGN*** I am really impressed with the styling and design of this phone. It is squared off on the corners, but has rounded edges on the display which I personally think looks and feels great. Being made out of aluminum adds to the premium feel when using the phone. HMD has marketed this phone as having user replaceable parts, including the charging port, and both the front glass and back aluminum cover. While it’s nice to know these features exist, I hope I never have to have a screen replaced! Ultimately, the HMD Skyline is a very solid and nice looking phone. The color selections are unique and they all look great. If there was one thing I could complain about regarding the design, it's the fact that (as of writing this review) available case options are VERY limited. I had to settle for a clear silicone case with bubbled corner bumpers (see my review photos), but I would much rather have a rugged case option available. Perhaps in the near future someone will design more cases for this model, but as of now, options are limited at best. ***PERFORMANCE & BATTERY*** In my daily use tests so far, using several apps, I am experiencing excellent battery life. I usually end the day with above 50% left, which is by far better than my previous phone. This could also be because my previous phone is older and the battery is degraded. Still, knowing that I can run all day with a normal routine and have plenty to spare is a great thing. Performance has been perfect so far. I haven’t experienced any hiccups with any software and every app that I use daily has performed quickly and flawlessly. While I am not a huge mobile gamer, I do use graphic intensive applications for my mobile photography and video. The Gen 2 Snapdragon 7s is rendering my videos without issue, leading me to believe that it should work well for the mobile gaming community. ***CONCLUSION*** The HMD Skyline has been a joy to use. Android 14 is new to me since my older phone isn’t compatible. I am enjoying the updates and differences I have seen in the OS upgrade so far. The pOLED display is beautiful, sharp, bright, and vibrant. The camera app has all of the bells and whistles included. The camera hardware itself is among the best I have used in a mobile device to date. The device is fast and the software works without any interruption. All in all, the HMD Skyline is a solid and very affordable choice for mobile enthusiasts of all types. My only con is that there are no good case options available as of writing this review. With all of that said, I can highly recommend taking a look at this fun new phone from HMD!

With a premium build quality, the HMD Skyline phone feels solid and comfortable in my hands. Aesthetically, I think it looks elegant with its unique squarish design and Blue Topaz metal and glass body. On the right-hand side is a volume rocker and power button with fingerprint reader. The fingerprint reader was very fast and accurate. On the left-hand side is a custom button that you can customize its actions. For example, you can use it to launch an app or turn on the flashlight. On the bottom is a USB-C port for charging and a combo Nano SIM and micro-SD card slot. There is no headphone jack, but the USB-C port supposedly supports analog audio output and OTG. The back is covered with a tempered glass panel and the phone is very slippery as placing it on a surface with even a slight incline can cause it to slide off the surface. There have been multiple times where I laid the phone flat on a table and later heard a “clunk” as it slipped off and fell to the floor. Luckily, the table wasn’t high, and my floor was carpeted so there was no damage. The display is a beautiful OLED screen offering rich and vibrant colors making it an excellent phone for media consumption. The speakers are good, producing clear vocals and satisfactory volume for phone calls and casual media consumption. Package Contents HMD Skyline Phone USB-C charging cable Sim Ejector Tool Get Started Pamphlet Brief Specification Qualcomm SM7435-AB Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SOC Android 14 8 GB ram and 256 GB internal storage Supports Wi-Fi 6e, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.2 with LE Audio 6.55-inch OLED display at 1080 x 2400 144Mhz refresh rate and 1000 nits Supports Qualcomm aptX and OZO audio playback and recording 2x microphones and 2x speakers 4600 mAh replaceable battery (up to 48 hours) Qi2 certified. Supports 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging USB-C port. Supports 33W charging Supports microSD up to 512 GB Front-Facing Camera 50 MP with autofocus and eye-tracking focus Rear-Facing Camera 108 MP AF with OIS Telephoto Camera 50 MP with capture fusion technology Ultrawide Camera 13 MP with capture fusion technology Setup Overall, it was fairly easy. I swapped out the Nano SIM card from my old phone and put it into the HMD Skyline. I found the instructions for installing the Nano Sim card a little too brief, but I was able to figure out which side of the card goes up when installing it into the phone. Phone Usage The HMD Skyline was compatible with Boost Mobile. Call and reception quality was excellent. As a phone, I encountered no issues during my short time with it. User Repairability One of the unique features of the HMD Skyline is that it supports user repairability. HMD has teamed up with iFixit to help make the phone user repairable. A user can replace the battery or screen of the phone. In the past, whenever I felt the need to get a new phone, it’s either because the battery doesn’t hold a good charge anymore or the phone is becoming sluggish with use. The ability to swap out a new battery to prolong a phone’s usefulness is a fantastic feature in helping to reduce e-waste. HMD will only guarantee security support for up to 3 years and OS upgrades for 2 years which seems a little short for a phone that is advertised to be user repairable. Qi2 Wireless Charging The HMD Skyline is the first Android phone to support Qi2 wireless charging. Qi2 wireless charging is supposed to be backwards compatible with Qi devices but I was not able to get it to work with any of my Qi chargers. I do not have any Qi2 chargers, so I wasn’t able to test this feature. Qi2 is supposed to offer magnetic attachments and faster charging. Camera The HMD Skyline has the best cameras on a phone that I have ever used. I was absolutely delighted with the camera’s performance taking night pictures. Everything looked so sharp and clear to me. There are so many neat camera related features (such as Selfie Gestures, 4K video recording, Slo-mo video recording, etc.) that I’ve yet to explore. These features and the quality of the photos and videos make the HMD Skyline a really fun phone to own. App Performance With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 and 8 GB memory, the HMD Skyline performed smoothly and quickly. All my apps launched very quickly and everything felt zippy. Browsing the web and watching videos was very pleasurable. Battery Life At 4600 mAh, the battery is slightly smaller than some comparable phones but overall, battery life was impressive during my use. Watching YouTube for 1.25 hours drained the phone from 100% to 93% which indicates that after about 12 hours, you would still have about 30% battery life left. I turned the phone off with about 46% power left and 24 hours later, it was down to 40% so standby drain is about 6% for every 24 hours. This could translate to being able to leave the phone uncharged for 10 days and still have about 40% charge left over. Summary Overall, I can recommend the HMD Skyline for anyone looking for a new mid-range phone. When on sale, I think it’s a great value. With the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SOC, 8 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage, it offers great performance for all my apps. The HMD Skyline has been a really fun phone for me to use. I’ve been extremely impressed with the cameras and love playing around with them. I think it’s a phone that creators would like. Finally, it works great with Boost Mobile. Call quality and reception has been very good.

Once a market leader Nokia is being sold as HMD now. This phone reminds me of the older Nokia Android phones I used to use. It offers almost vanilla like Android OS. For me, this is a good thing as I like the phone plain and simple. But for those who like a lot of other features, this can be a bit lacking. One of the good thing about this phone is its Display. With P-OLED, up to 144Hz, 1000 nits (peak), HDR10 capability its really good. Its bright enough, and has an adaptive display rate, which saves battery and uses 144Hz only when required. The way the display feels on the hand is really smooth and pleasurable to use. Build quality is really good, but the design is slightly weird with curved display in a rectangular package. Even more better is the fingerprint sensor. It’s on the lock button on the side. I like it better than the under-display sensors. This is much faster to unlock, reliable and works every time. The best thing about this phone is the 8GB dedicated RAM which can be extended to another 8GB by using up the storage space, thus extending to 16GB RAM. 256GB storage is plenty enough and powered by a snapdragon 7s Gen-2 chipset, this is one of the better performing mid-range chipset. Overall, the performance of the phone is very good. There was no lag launching any of the apps even when using multiple apps at the same time. Battery capacity is 4600 mAh which easily lasts over a day. It offers fast charging taking about 30 mins to charge from 20 to 70% and to full charge in 1 hr 20 mins. Camera is good under bright light. But in dark conditions its okayish. The best feature is the dedicated customizable action button. Can be used to launch an app, as a camera button, or to take screenshots or launch flashlight. I never felt its need until I had one. The biggest marketing feature of this phone are the digital detox mode and the self-repair option. The digital detox mode turns off all notifications and lets you be in peace when you need. I was able to uninstall the pre-installed apps that the phone had and I was able to get a vanilla like android experience. There are some key functionalities that are missing viz. Mirror the display to a monitor through HDMI cable. Although this supports mobile hotspot, it does not support Wi-Fi Hotspot. You can tether your mobile data, but not your Wi-Fi internet connection. Overall its an excellent phone for the price provides a very good performance.

The HMD Skyline is an impressive phone. There are three color variations — I got the Twisted Black version. It has a matte finish and it fits very nicely in the hand. The phone is very well-made and doesn’t feel like it would easily break. It seems very sturdy and I was happy to find that it was compatible with magnetic charging and the form of the phone was just very nice in general. Plus, it seems to stay cool even after longer periods of use. The screen is very bright and I could read text easily. The first thing I did when I got it was connect it to my WiFi network and start updates. The updates took about ten minutes and then I was able to log into my Google account and install my SIM card. I wasn’t very familiar with this phone brand before getting the Skyline, but I’m beyond impressed with its performance. I was able to play Call of Duty: Mobile on it with no issues and the 144Hz screen made it that much more enjoyable. One of the other things I like about this phone is that it’s an Android, but it’s a clean Android interface. There aren’t a bunch of brand app stacked on top of it. The camera was very easy to use and the photos I took looked amazing. I thought it was very responsive, which is something I have trouble with sometimes with other phones. It seemed to take good photos even in lower lighting. The battery life seemed to be very strong. Out of the box, it was around 56% so one of the first things I did was charge it to 100%. After playing a few games, doing some basic tasks and taking some photos, the battery was down about 10%. It also seemed to charge very fast. After about 30 minutes of being plugged in through a USB-C cable, the phone gained about 30%. The speakers on the phone seem loud and clear. When I was playing CODM, I didn’t have any issues with hearing the commands or prompts in the game. The speakers are very loud. I only had it turned up one notch and it seemed plenty loud to me. For me, the 256GB is more than sufficient for my needs. While I do use this phone for gaming, the other things I use it for don’t take up much space. I try to keep my files and photos in the cloud. It would be nice if additional storage sizes were available since there is no SD card slot on this phone. Overall, this seems like a great value for what you get. Some people might like to have the ‘flagship’ phones out there, but for most people’s uses, this would be ideal.

I myself never heard of the company named HMD. And I’m sure you have not either and that’s ok. It appears that this brand produces Nokia phones around the world and also makes phones under their own name and are well regarded for mid to lower range cell phone devices. With that said, I have to say for the retail price you actually get a lot of bang for your buck. You get a beautiful OLED screen capable of up to 144 hertz refresh rate and up to 120 on variable refresh rate which uses less battery and you still get the higher refresh rates. Great colors and super bright like almost too bright so much so I had to remind my son to turn it down. Processor is mid range as well but is no slouch whatsoever, while playing games it runs very well and browsing and using the operating system is super fast. No issues there. What I love is how much ram and storage they have included in this price range, you can download plenty of games and take plenty of photos/videos (which we do). Phone will get a little warm while gaming but not to a point where you really notice it especially with a case on n it. Phone design is great with a different take on design and does not look like any other phone on the market beside the old Nokia back in the day. Camera quality is very good , tho it will not compete with the major manufacturers flagship quality but it will take plenty nice pictures with its huge mega pixel count main sensor. Speakers are great with loud and clear audio until you max out the e sound you will get some distortion it that’s understandable as this is not a high end flagship. You get face unlock and a finger print scanner as well which I was surprised how this didn’t cost more but who knows nowadays right?! lol. A pleasant added bonus imo. This phone does have a physical sim slot and an ESIM as well so that’s great to have being that you don’t have to wait to receive your physical SIM card. Overall I like it a lot I did give to my son who is In loved with it. She compared it to his old stylus G and he even noticed how the oled screen was beautiful and the phone operated way faster. Thats should tell you guys a lot as he is only 8. I recommend especially if you can get it on sale as this is a steal and is unlocked. Now we know what HMD can offer and I like. We need all ranges of phones for different people. Nothing bad to say other than the battery life while good at about 7-8 hours in my use case isn’t the greatest but that’s par for the course unfortunately.

I have had a Samsung S20 Ultra since they came out but it I just isn't able to keep up and is showing it's age so I started to look for alternatives. I didn't want to spend $1K plus dollars on a cell phone but wanted one with a few key features: expandable memory with a Micro SD card, good camera, and fast user interface. Overall I have been extremely happy with this new HMD Skyline and have been using it daily now for almost 2 weeks. It took a little getting used to from the Samsung interface I was used to but so far I am very pleased with a few key things with this phone. - Has the capacity to expand using up to a 1TB MicroSD memory card and I have a Samsung high performance one and it has worked great so far - Screen is bright and clear with great color and refresh rates - Fingerprint sensor on the side is very responsive and easily pickups my fingerprint almost every time on the first try - Setup from one android phone to this one was simple and didn't take long other than the time to transfer all my apps - At home replaceable screen due to a somewhat modular design which can save you the hassle of taking to a phone repair shop if you crack screens often or like to do that sort of thing yourself - Great battery life and great call quality The only few cons I have really had so far with this phone are the following: - No wireless charging or at least not that I have been able to find on any of my existing wireless chargers - Camera is good but it doesn't appear to be as great as the Samsung cameras on their higher end phones - So new there aren't a lot of options as far as cases go - Not as easily to use or robust Secure folder pre installed like the Samsung Knox that I have used for years in my old phone Overall for the price I have been extremely pleased with this phone and I am glad that I didn't get locked into another contract or spend $1K+ on the latest Samsung or Google phone. This phone does everything I need it to and more while doing it just as fast if not faster than my old Samsung and even the newer Samsung that my wife and kids have.

HMD is what's left of Nokia, and some may see some of its heritage in this phones design. When it comes to design, this phone is a standout. No more bland black rectangles, this almost iridescent blue stands out and really looks nice. I love pulling this phone out of my pocket. It also feels really nice in the hand and feels and looks like a premium phone. This is a largely "vanilla" Android experience, meaning HMD didn't add fill it up with extra bloat, software, and add-ons. It does come pre-installed with a couple junk apps, but they can be uninstalled. Overall, it makes for a nice clean Android experience. The screen is bright and beautiful, though strangely, they set it to 60hz by default, which makes the phone feel slow and laggy. You can go into the settings and up it to 120hz, 144hz, or auto. This makes the motion on the phone much smoother and nicer, although at a slight battery life hit. Overall though, performance on the phone is really good, and unless you play a lot of games, you probably won't notice that where this phone saves on cost is in the processing power and RAM. But a vast majority of people won't notice. It has a fingerprint sensor as a part of the power button on the side. This is a little annoying because it's very easy to brush with your hand, which triggers a failed fingerprint read, and make the phone vibrate. Do this 3 times and you'll have to unlock with the PIN. This does also support face unlock, so if it's really bothering you, you could disable the fingerprint unlock. Camera is decent, and will make most people happy, though it is not as good in low light as some higher end phones. The phone is quite "slippery", so a case is almost necessary so the phone doesn't slide away on you, which is a little unfortunate, maybe ironic, because most cases will hide this phones good looks. And, can't go without mentioning, that it supports a microSD card, and two physical sim cards, and eSIM. With Visible, I had to get a physical SIM and reboot the phone before it would connect to the cellular network.

I am very impressed with the HMD Skyline as a viable alternative to main players on the today's SmartPhone market. *It is hard to think of another phone that gets the same bang for the buck. Keeping in mind the price that you can buy this smartphone at it's totally a steal forgetting the little things like maybe not having the best camera or stuff like that. **The SCREEN it's an incredible p-OLED and at 6.55inch really makes any video/picture pop with vibrant colors and an incredible contrast ... not to mention the Refresh Rate (144hz) that beats other flagship phones out there, that they come at a substantially higher price. ***Also this phone's design it's very cool, up to date and comes in some really nice colors with good thickens and weight. Powered by an octa-core snapdragon this phone runs the Android 14 with breeze and it's very customizable. Also it was built in such way that it's easy to pe repaired by the user at home but if you put a case and a screen protector on it this phone should last it's lifetime and the cool part it's that you can replace the battery in the future in case ghat it drops in performance. In the end i would recommend this phone for a lot of people out there that don't want to spend the top dollar and get very similar performance at a fraction of the price. It is a very good smartphone for 2025!

Welcome back Nokia, err, I mean HMD. Lol Seriously though, this retro styled, Nokia Lumia inspired phone is amazing. The build is very solid. Self repair-ability means I can go without an annoying case. The Blue Topaz color is getting noticed everywhere I go. The device runs on what can only be described as a clean stock Android look and feel. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is snappy and quick. The selfie camera is very good as are the rear cameras, especially outdoors. The side function button is useful as I have it set up for flashlight and screenshots. I am also thrilled that the fingerprint reader is on the side and very fast, I am still not too happy with under screen sensors as I often have to press on them several times. Face unlock is quick as well. Very nice OLED screen with 144 hz tech and amazing speakers. More people need to learn about HMD as the US market needs more Android phones. Go HMD!!

Great price! It's well made! I like this phone. it's durable. The internal parts are all replaceable, the price was very competitive compared to other brands. It was a win-win the controls are a little different than Android but you learn it

Best phone under $500!! Works very well using multiple apps, you can double the ram virtually. I Recommend this phone to everyone!

TLDR: Comparable to flagship phones of 2 years ago. User replaceable parts and good all-around performance make this a worthy option for those that don’t have to have the latest “in” phone and the accompanying high price it includes. Pros User replaceable parts like screen & battery Excellent 5G performance Expandable storage up to 512GB Dual SIM option / eSIM support Cons Lacks Band 14 support Cameras can be slow to take pictures in non-optimal lighting Only 2 years of OS support / 3 years security Hard to find a good case Key Specs Screen: 2400 x 1080 OLED Cameras: 50MP Front / 108MP Rear Camera with Optical Image Stabilization / 13MP Ultrawide Rear / 50MP Telephoto Bluetooth: 5.2 Wi-Fi: 6e Charging: QC 4.0 and PD 3.0 Charging / Qi2 and 15W Magnetic Charging Storage: 256GB Storage / 8GB RAM / up to 512GB MicroSD expansion Processor: Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 REVIEW I had never heard of HMD phones until this unit came up for review. From my understanding (or lack thereof), HMD has been in the European market for some time and is just now hitting the ground in the US market. Unbeknownst to me, HMD not only makes Nokia’s phones, but they are also the largest European manufacturer of smartphones. Interesting. The big selling point of the Skyline is the user’s ability to replace and repair parts. Yes, commonly damaged or degraded parts are easily and readily available via iFixit’s website. Users can easily obtain replacement screens, batteries, etc. all from iFixit. Awesome. I am not one that lives for the latest and greatest phone. Far from it. Because of this, I am happily using an Android phone from 2 years ago. Not only that, at time of purchase, it wasn’t the Ultra model. Just the mid-range. Frankly even 2 years ago there is no way I would have paid the asking price for the Ultra model. PERFORMANCE I am not a phone expert. Far from it. But I can’t find what the HMD gives up to its much higher-priced competition. 5G speeds are just as good as my 2-year-old Android. Again, like LTE and 3G, speeds can vary greatly, but side to side comparisons between my current phone and the HMD are within shouting distance. In nearly a week of carrying both phones around, I have not experienced any places (I’ve traversed nearly half the country at this point) that the HMD falls short of my name brand phone in terms of signal reception or speed. While I am thoroughly impressed with the 5G cellular coverage, I do find the Wi-Fi speeds lower than my current phone. Maybe it is just a placebo effect when I see my current phone light up with 6E on the display versus the HMD. Wi-Fi speeds on the HMD seem to be slower than my current phone. Not horribly slower, just slower. Again, this isn’t a huge issue. I can still get 400+Mbs down reliably just not the 500 – 600Mbs I can get with the current phone at the same spot. I haven’t really noticed anything to complain about when it comes to image quality using the standard camera. However, the telephoto lens image quality is quite poor. Looking like it relies almost entirely on digital image processing. Anything past the zoom of the normal lens, leaves users wanting. It is so poor that during a live marching bad performance, the bass drums caused motion and blur on the screen. There appears to be no image stabilization with the telephoto lens. Once thing that I do miss on my old phone is the AI Enhancer. It did a good job of automatically correcting photos. Not that this can’t be easily obtained with a simple 3rd party app. One thing of note. I do find that the speed of taking a picture is often much slower than my current phone, especially in lower light conditions. There is considerable lag in medium light conditions. My current phone would snap a photo pretty quickly in most all but the dimmest environments. The HMD takes a while longer to process and focus in average to low light levels. Outdoors and brighter environments, speed difference is a wash. BATTERY LIFE I don’t speed all day on my phone surfing Insta, X, TikTok, etc. The speed and processing power on the phone is fast enough that I find that I can use the battery saver function nearly all the time. Even with Battery Saver mode enabled, speed and performance are almost as smooth and responsive as it is during full power operation. Because of this, I can easily squeeze a good day and a half, if not longer, out of the HMD between charges. REPAIRABILITY This is what the HMD is all about. User repairability. Parts that are easy to damage or fail can be replaced by the end-user. You can thank Europe’s Right To Repair law for this. A quick shout out to iFixit and you can get and replace a cracked or broken screen & most importantly, you can buy and replace the battery. Without a doubt the biggest issue I’ve had with any and every phone I’ve ever purchased is the gradual battery degradation. Once that first charge is made, battery life will slowly diminish with every charge. At some point the battery will lose enough capacity that the phone will become next to unusable. Yes, battery maintenance algorithms help preserve longevity, but charging a battery to 80% only helps so much. This isn’t something you need worry about with the HMD. With a user replaceable battery, buyers can get full utilization without worrying about the battery failing before the phone is out of contract with the provider. FINAL THOUGHTS Unless you must have the latest and greatest phone, the HMD is worth a look. Would it be something I’d consider if I was fully vested in the iOS ecosystem? No. Would it be something I would consider if I was in the Android ecosystem? Absolutely. Prices for phones has gotten out of hand. Soaring to well over $1000 for premium models. This is a lot of cash for something that is so easily lost or broken and especially for a device that degrades in performance so rapidly. Not only in battery life, but in advancements in the operating system. The budget pricing and performance of the phone makes keeping up to date with phones and operating systems much more palatable for many users, I’m sure. Making a reasonably priced phone with good specs and good performance makes me want to stay more up on phones. I hate seeing my phone bill every month and have that device charge on it. 3 years of paying off a phone is a hard pill to swallow. Only to turn around and upgrade the phone and have 3 more years of charges. It is a vicious circle. I’m glad HMD is entering the phone market and making a product like the Skyline. You won’t see me spending $1200 on a phone again. RECOMMENDED

I think the first thing to understand here is where this phone fits in the market. It is not flagship, but definitely more towards the mid-range in the space. With that context, I do think this phone has quite a bit to offer and can work for someone doesn’t want or need the newest bleeding edge phone. Additionally, for those same people, one of the main draws of this phone is its repairability, and by extension, its ability to last for some time (more on that later). The hardware is solid, albeit a bit behind the most recent specs out there, and while it has a somewhat unique look (note the square but rounded corners), I like the overall appearance. The inclusion of a freely assignable button, expandable storage, and wireless charging (Qi2) are nice adds. The display, while responsive and a nice size, could be brighter as well as better in color reproduction. As for build, it is well-built, and maybe a “bit” heavy, so I would say no worries on the construction side. Overall performance of the phone is good. I am pleased with my connection speeds, although the 5G seemed to outperform my WLAN, although I am not really sure why and I need more time to see if this holds. In terms of apps, in day-to-day things, it may be a bit slower than my current daily driver (Pixel 9 Pro), but nothing really noticeable. The cameras? Well, this is bit of a mixed bag for me. The specs are OK, and 4K/30 recording is nice, but I just think the images it outputs are sometimes lacking and inconsistent. The main camera does the best overall job, which is good, but even there, sometimes there are consistency issues with sharpness or color. The telephoto and front cameras are more of the same, but perhaps even a tick below in performance. The cameras work, and the images are “good,” but do not expect the best and if photography is important to you, maybe look in another direction. Battery life is more or less good and should not be an issue for most people. Charging is also quick at 33W wired (cable, but no brick included) and 15W wireless. Sure, I would like to see quicker and more watts here, but it does have Qi2 compatibility which I found very surprising. I have not been able to test this yet, but I am excited to see what is out there. Lastly, is repairability. As I mentioned earlier, it is one of the main things HMD are pushing with this phone. Frankly, I love it. Based on what I saw when I looked around, iFixIt has parts/kits for screen, back cover, battery, SIM tray, speaker, and charging ports. The prices are very reasonable, to me, and while it is self-repair, I think this really enhances the value of this phone. All of that said, I do think they truly hinder all of this good by only promising 2 OS updates. I suppose it depends on what your use case is, but being able to extend a phone physically but not software-wise sends a conflicting message. Ultimately, though, I do like this phone. I think for the person with the right use case, this phone can work very well and is a good value. As I type this, it is an even better value. I do have some reservations, however, as there are some other more mainstream options out there that offer similar value (with different feature sets and different prices) that could also be worth a look. Regardless, more options are good for everyone, I love the repairability, and as a whole I like what they did here.