When first introduced, the HMD Skyline caught some consideration resulting from trying very very similar to a Nokia Lumia from a decade in the past. Regardless of the retro seems to be, nevertheless, HMD geared up the cellphone with forward-looking options like Qi2 charging and a repairable design. Let’s see if there are trade-offs to this attention-grabbing system.
Good
- Good show
- Respectable battery life
- Lengthy-term components help
- Repairable
- Clear Android set up
- Reverse wi-fi charging
Unhealthy
- Costly
- Brief software program help
- NFC points throughout check
HMD Skyline: All offers
In a nutshell
The HMD Skyline is a $500 cellphone by Finnish firm HMD with a powerful resemblance to the Nokia Lumia design—which was primarily based on the Nokia N9, earlier than the 17 MeeGo & SailfishOS followers remark that. Totally different from the plastic constructed previously, although, the cellphone has an aluminum body with a tempered glass panel on the again.
The show is a 6.55-inch 1080p+ pOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh price. And the Skyline is powered by a RB26DETT mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip. Reminiscence choices embrace 8 or 12 GB of RAM, and 128 and 256 GB storage choices.
HMD touts a “Gen 2” repairable design for the cellphone, with not solely simpler steps to switch the principle elements, but in addition a nifty “crankshaft” screw to dislodge the glass again. Higher nonetheless, the corporate guarantees seven years of components availability by way of iFixIt, with all the mandatory restore guides.
Can we are saying “retro design”?
The Skyline has a contemporary design, regardless of the aforementioned N9/Lumia seems to be. The black space within the entrance is properly suited to the present smartphone designs, with the 6.55-inch OLED panel utilizing a lot of the out there space.
Execs:
- The Nokia N9 design continues to be updated.
- Repairable design.
- Customizable facet button.
Cons:
Across the cellphone, we discover the standard quantity rocker and energy button on the proper—with the latter integrating the fingerprint reader. The highest solely has a microphone, whereas the left encompasses a texturized customizable shortcut button.
On the underside, there’s a twin SIM card tray suitable with as much as a 512 GB microSD card, a USB-C port, a speaker and a single screw. It is a T3 torx screw that can be utilized to pressure the again glass panel up, with out forcing your method with a suction cup and a warmth gun to unglue the again panel.
For repairs, the one cellphone we are able to do not forget that has a better process to switch damaged components was the Fairphone 5, which prices €200 extra. The T3 requirement makes it simple sufficient to open the cellphone, with out making it too simple to do it by chance, we guess.
Again to the Skyline, regardless of the relative ease of opening the cellphone for repairs, HMD charges the cellphone as IP54 for water splashes and dirt safety. At 209 grams, the cellphone is surprisingly heavy for its dimension, and whereas it feels well-built, the sharp angles on the corners make it look extra fragile to drops, one thing we have been unable to check.
The entrance is dominated by the black glass, however there’s nonetheless a border inside across the precise 6.55-inch show. In typical OLED style, colours pop and there aren’t any points with viewing angles. Brightness, nevertheless, was a bit decrease than the 2024 crop of telephones, however the cellphone had no points with out of doors utilization.
By default, HMD units the cellphone at a conservative 60 Hz refresh price, however there are alternatives for an adaptive mode topping at 120 Hz, and stuck settings for both 120 or 144 Hz. I’m not younger sufficient to note a distinction between 120 and 144 Hz, so until famous, the cellphone was examined with the adaptive setting.
Clear & bloatware-free Android
HMD makes use of a comparatively clear Android set up on the Skyline, with solely 5 third-party apps pre-installed, but in addition solely 18 GB of used storage after a clear set up. Sadly, the replace coverage for the HMD Skyline tops at a relatively disappointing three years of safety updates.
Execs:
- Clear Android set up.
- Good customization choices for the shortcut button.
Cons:
As for Android updates, HMD guarantees two years of function upgrades, which is under the guarantees from Samsung and Google for the value vary (4 and 7, respectively). That additionally takes away among the advantages of getting seven years of substitute components out there, as an HMD Skyline repaired 4 years sooner or later received’t be receiving safety updates anymore…
The Skyline comes with a black-and-white icon set that seemed good out of the field, however the consistency was gone the minute we began putting in apps.
Different HMD touches may be discovered within the Settings app, with a customized About cellphone menu that appears higher organized and extra informative than the inventory one. The menu for the customized button means that you can set two completely different shortcuts, lengthy press and double press, and likewise change the conduct of double-pressing the facility button.
HMD advertises a Detox mode to have fewer notifications on the cellphone, however the function is scheduled to return with a future software program replace.
The Digital camera app additionally received some adjustments from the inventory one, with larger buttons, choices to set a custom-made watermark, a spotlight peaking (just like system cameras) possibility that highlights the targeted areas. It additionally received a welcome eye-tracking autofocus, which sadly solely works with the entrance digicam.
Efficiency & SoC
Powered by the mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, the HMD Skyline is much from flagship efficiency however delivers a adequate expertise in apps and video games. The Skyline carried out equally to different telephones we examined with the identical chip however under equally priced rivals.
Execs:
- Adequate efficiency in apps and video games.
Cons:
- Decrease efficiency than telephones in the identical value vary.
Interface navigation, web searching, and digicam utilization labored snappily, helped by the massive sufficient 8 GB of RAM and 120 Hz refresh price (after turning on the optionally available Adaptive mode).
| HMD Skyline (Snapdragon 7s Gen 2) |
Poco X6 (Snapdragon 7s Gen 2) |
Poco F6 (Snapdragon 8s Gen 3) |
Galaxy A55 (Exynos 1480) |
Google Pixel 8a (Tensor G3) |
Fairphone 5 (Snapdragon QCM6490) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu | 599,358 | 617,918 | 1,455,312 | — | 1,153,512 | — |
| 3D Mark Wild Life Excessive Stress Check | Finest loop: 806 Worst loop: 805 Stability: 99.8% |
Finest loop: 791 Worst loop: 700 Stability: 88.5% |
Finest loop: 3140 Worst loop: 2584 Stability: 82.3% |
Finest loop: 917 Worst loop: 907 Stability: 98.9% |
Finest loop: 2437 Worst loop: 1667 Stability: 68.5% |
— |
| Geekbench 6 | Single: 1036 Multi: 2943 |
Single: 1025 Multi: 2810 |
Single: 1953 Multi: 4930 |
Single: 1155 Multi: 3404 |
Single: 1688 Multi: 4362 |
Single: 1132 Multi: 2955 |
In benchmark assessments, the HMD Skyline was on par with the Poco X6 we reviewed a number of weeks in the past, powered by the identical chip. The one distinction was a extra secure efficiency within the 3DMark stress check, which didn’t throttle again efficiency, however the cellphone was barely sizzling to the contact.
We ran a number of rounds of Name of Responsibility Cellular and the efficiency was surprisingly easy and secure at Excessive graphical settings and the “Very excessive” body price possibility. The HMD Skyline is much from a gaming cellphone, however most mainstream video games ought to run fantastic.
One facet be aware that doesn’t fairly match anyplace else is that the NFC efficiency was disappointing. Though we managed to make use of it for funds, it took many tries (and indignant seems to be from folks in line on the grocery store). Equally, we couldn’t use it to learn an NFC tag on an AirTag or for headphone pairing, which labored fantastic with one other cellphone.
True triple digicam setup on a mid-ranger
With correct ultra-wide and telephoto cameras, the HMD Skyline provides a digicam selection normally not present in its market section. The primary sensor provides 108 megapixels, whereas the 2x telephoto tops at 50 MP, and the ultra-wide at 13 MP.
Execs:
- Versatile digicam setup.
- Good daylight footage on the whole.
- Helpful eye-tracking focus for selfies.
Cons:
It’s all the time welcome to see a real triple digicam equipment with a telephoto lens as an alternative of ineffective macro or depth sensors. HMD opted to have a 2x zoom, which on paper limits choices a bit however in observe resulted in good footage.
Daylight footage have been good when it comes to particulars and sharpness from all cameras, however colours have been barely inconsistent between them and customarily a bit muted.
The Digital camera app provides as much as 20x digital zoom, however outcomes are very mushy as anticipated, even the 4x digital zoom was probably not helpful, apparently being a straight crop from the principle digicam primarily based on the colour replica and output decision.
Night time footage—or relatively nightfall—present the boundaries of the small auxiliary cameras, with blurry particulars and pale colours. The primary digicam, nevertheless, nonetheless managed to seize good images, even with out resorting to the evening mode.
HMD apparently invested extra effort into the selfie digicam, not solely through the use of a 50-megapixel sensor, however with changes that appeared extra pleasing when it got here to paint replica. Not solely have been the colours extra vibrant on the whole, however the selfie cam options an eye-detection function that robotically focuses on folks within the foreground.
Portrait mode on the selfie digicam additionally carried out higher than on the principle cameras, with good separation between in-focus topics and the background. Utilizing the again digicam to {photograph} our canine Toni resulted in a bizarre blurred space in entrance of its face.
Battery Life & Charging
Whereas the battery capability on the HMD Skyline is just common at 4600 mAh, charging is likely one of the highlights of the cellphone. No, not the relatively gradual 33W wired charging however the wi-fi one, which is Qi2 licensed.
Execs:
Cons:
Battery life with the default 60 Hz refresh price setting was greater than sufficient for a full-day utilization. Extra frugal customers will most likely be capable of attain two days of sunshine use.
| HMD Skyline | Poco X6 | Galaxy A55 | Pixel 8a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | ||||
| 10 minutes | ||||
| 20 minutes | ||||
| half-hour | ||||
| 1 hour | ||||
| Full cost | ||||
| PC Mark Battery check |
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On the PC Mark battery check which counts the time the battery went from 80 to twenty% cost underneath a simulated workload, the HMD Skyline received 16h46min of runtime within the default 60 Hz display screen mode. Utilizing the adaptive refresh price possibility had a smaller affect than we anticipated with 16h10 consequence.
It’s price noting that the efficiency degree on these assessments have been significantly decrease than the Poco X6 with the identical chip, which scored a relatively low 11h23. So evidently the Skyline was throttling efficiency again to attain higher runtime.
Our assessment unit got here with a charging cable color-matched with the cellphone however no charger. Utilizing a 65W USB-PD adapter from Anker, we received 61% cost in half-hour, 95% in a single hour, and a full cost at round 1h15min.
As for wi-fi charging, the Skyline labored with all of the MagSafe-compatible stands, chargers, and energy banks we had on the workplace.
The magnet (and charging coil, presumably) placement was off-center, which takes a while to get used to. And there doesn’t appear to be the additional backside magnet for alignment, so an influence financial institution received’t robotically keep flush with the cellphone.
Nitpicks apart, the magnets have been sturdy sufficient to maintain the cellphone on all of the stands we examined, the Anker MagGo charger, and even held the wrong way up by an influence financial institution.
HMD Skyline technical specs
| HMD Skyline | |
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| SoC |
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| Reminiscence |
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| OS |
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| Digital camera |
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| Selfie Digital camera | |
| Battery |
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| Connectivity |
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| IP Certification | |
| Dimensions and weight |
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Different factors which will curiosity the nextpit neighborhood:
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Last verdict
There’s a lot to love concerning the HMD Skyline, however on the similar time, it’s difficult to advocate it. HMD have to be praised for adopting a correct repair-friendly design on the Skyline—earlier makes an attempt with the Nokia G22 have been repairable, however not that a lot completely different from different entry-level telephones.
Plus, the Skyline appears like a extra premium cellphone, with a pleasant design and construct high quality, an trustworthy triple-camera setup, and a bloatware-free set up. Even the small touches added to the software program have been finished in a well-integrated method (contrasting to the adjustments corporations akin to Sony and Motorola do over inventory Android).
Nevertheless, making the cellphone repairable and promising seven years of availability for restore components doesn’t assist if the HMD Skyline will cease receiving essential safety updates in three years. That’s much less time than telephones such because the Pixel 8a and Galaxy A55 can be up to date, and the Google cellphone is promised to have components out there (additionally by way of iFixIt) for a similar seven years it’ll have safety updates.
The Skyline looks like (re)begin for the HMD model, however the cellphone doesn’t actually excel in any of its sturdy factors, apart from Qi2 certification. Even its repairable design is bested by Fairphone’s, which has a superb monitor document for offering safety updates on high of that, however prices significantly extra…
After a batch of unremarkable Nokia telephones, the Skyline exhibits that the corporate at the least is making an attempt to distinguish itself. We weren’t completely satisfied this time however are already trying ahead to what comes subsequent.
