The first attraction of the $499.99 HMD Skyline is the power to switch the again cowl, the battery, and the display your self by a partnership with iFixit. The telephone additionally gives lengthy battery life, speedy charging, and first rate efficiency. It is not with out downsides, nevertheless, comparable to its unappealing design, so-so cameras, and restricted software program assist. In the end, the Editors’ Selection-winning Pixel 8a is a greater worth on the identical worth, because of its quicker processor, sleeker seems to be, higher picture high quality, and prolonged assist dedication from Google. Design: Blocky, With an Inset DisplayThe HMD Skyline measures 6.29 by 2.98 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.39 ounces. It is heavier than each the equally sized $549.99 Motorola Edge (6.28 by 2.83 by 0.31 inches, 6.14 ounces) and the smaller Google Pixel 8a (5.99 by 2.86 by 0.35 inches, 6.63 ounces). The additional weight of the telephone’s chunky steel casing is noticeable while you maintain it.
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The 6.5-inch show has a decision of two,400 by 1,080 pixels, a 144Hz adaptive refresh charge, and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits. The Motorola Edge has a 6.6-inch panel with the identical decision and adaptive refresh charge, but it surely’s brighter at 1,200 nits. In the meantime, the Pixel 8a’s 6.1-inch display matches the decision of the opposite telephones, tops out at 120Hz, and offers as much as 2,000 nits of brightness. Although the Skyline’s show is dimmer than both, I did not have any bother seeing or utilizing it. It appeared crisp indoors and was readable exterior below the summer time solar.
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(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
A skinny bezel surrounds the display’s rounded corners, and a selfie digital camera is centered on the high. Reasonably than preserve the body tight across the display, HMD opts for a sq. steel shell round the whole lot. Those that know their Nokia historical past will see the telephone’s passing resemblance to outdated Lumia gadgets, such because the Lumia 1020. Additionally, the replaceable show and again cowl partially necessitate this design. Sadly, it makes it tough to comfortably slot in a pocket.
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The telephone is accessible in two colours: Neon Pink or Twisted Black. I examined the pink model, which arrived with an identical wallpaper and black-and-white app icons. The underside of the system hides a tray for nano SIM/microSD playing cards, a USB-C 2.0 port, and a speaker grille, whereas the correct aspect homes a quantity rocker and an influence button with a built-in fingerprint sensor.
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
A customizable button is on the left aspect of the body. By default, a press-and-hold gesture mutes the telephone, whereas urgent it twice rapidly activates the flashlight. You possibly can customise what occurs while you press the ability button twice, comparable to launching the digital camera app.
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
Each the ability button and the user-programmable button are textured, however they’ll nonetheless be a bit tough to seek out since they’re flush towards the aspect of the telephone. The quantity rocker, however, is simple to find as a result of it protrudes from the aspect edge. All the buttons really feel sturdy and emit a satisfying click on while you press them.
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The telephone gives a face unlock characteristic along with the aforementioned fingerprint sensor for biometric safety. I discovered I needed to enter my passcode a number of occasions as backup when making an attempt to make use of the face unlock technique. Fingerprint sensors are a safer solution to unlock your telephone, and the Skyline’s labored effectively in testing.The Skyline has an IP54 ranking for cover towards mud and sprays of water from any path. The entrance is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 panel. The Motorola Edge has a a lot better IP68 ranking, whereas the Pixel 8a is not far behind with an IP67 ranking. Each telephones could be submerged in water for a short while; the Skyline can not.One word in regards to the telephone’s marketed repairability: Accomplice iFixit has revealed the restore guides on its web site, however as of this writing, not one of the substitute elements can be found. HMD was not capable of say when the elements would attain iFixit’s net retailer. If the rear panel, battery, or show breaks quickly after buy, you could have to undergo HMD to seek out replacements.Efficiency: Easy, However Not Prime-Notch The Skyline has a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. HMD additionally plans to promote 8GB/128GB and 12GB/256GB fashions, although neither is accessible but. The excellent news is which you could add as much as 512GB of additional area by way of the microSD card slot. I did not encounter any efficiency points in day-to-day use; multitasking was seamless, and gestures felt responsive.
(Credit score: GeekBench/GFXBench/PCMag)
On Geekbench 6, which measures processor efficiency, the Skyline scored 1,031 on the single-core check and a pair of,919 on the multi-core check. The Motorola Edge, which additionally makes use of the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, posted comparable scores of 1,018 and a pair of,934. The Pixel 8a, which makes use of a Google Tensor G3 chip, bought a lot larger scores of 1,545 and 4,208.The Skyline ran at 13 frames per second (fps) on the GFXBench Aztec Ruins 1440p GPU check, which matches the Moto Edge’s rating. Nevertheless, the Pixel 8a outpaced each at 38fps when examined below the identical situations, which means it produces smoother gameplay.Geshin Influence was enjoyable to play on the Skyline. It stuttered solely a few occasions throughout a 30-minute gaming session. The telephone did begin to get heat after about 25 minutes, however to not the purpose of discomfort. Much less intensive video games, comparable to Alto’s Odyssey, do not pose an issue, even over prolonged classes.Battery Life: Lengthy EnoughThe Skyline comes with a user-replaceable 4,600mAh battery that lasted 14 hours and 18 minutes in our rundown check, which entails streaming a 1080p video over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness. In the identical check, the Pixel 8a’s 4,492mAh battery carried out worse (12 hours, quarter-hour), whereas the Moto Edge’s 5,000mAh battery did higher (15 hours, 31 minutes).
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The Skyline helps 33W quick wired charging, 15W wi-fi charging, and 5W reverse wi-fi charging. You do not get a charging adapter within the field. The Moto Edge helps 68W wired and 15W wi-fi charging, whereas the Pixel 8a tops out at simply 18W wired and seven.5W wirelessly. The Skyline took 2 hours and 6 minutes to cost from 0 to 100% over a fast wired connection. The Moto Edge (1 hour, 56 minutes) and Pixel 8a (1 hour, 50 minutes) have been a bit quicker to recharge.Connectivity and Calls: Stable 5GThe Skyline helps sub-6GHz 5G (together with C-band) on all main US carriers however not high-speed mmWave 5G. The Edge additionally lacks the latter, although the Pixel 8a helps it. You may get the Skyline unlocked on HMD’s web site, and it’ll quickly be out there on Amazon and different nationwide retailers. The telephone helps eSIM, however I used a bodily T-Cell SIM card for testing. Regardless of considerably weak T-Cell service in my space, the Skyline reached peak obtain speeds of 136Mbps and add speeds of 68.2Mbps. When examined on the identical community in the identical location, an iPhone 14 Professional reached 85.1Mbps down and 69.5Mbps up.
(Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The Skyline helps the newer Wi-Fi 6E customary, although I used a Wi-Fi 6 router to check Wi-Fi efficiency. From a detailed distance to the router, the telephone managed blistering obtain speeds of 518Mbps and common add speeds of twenty-two.6Mbps. The iPhone 14 Professional hit 398Mbps down and 22.8Mbps up from the identical location. Once I moved the Skyline to the sting of my Wi-Fi community, the obtain and add speeds dropped to eight.23Mbps and a pair of.57Mbps, respectively—a lot worse than the iPhone 14’s outcomes of 47.3Mbps and 15.9Mbps.Name high quality is sweet. I may hear individuals clearly, and folks may hear me simply positive, even once I was strolling on a loud highway. The earpiece reached 79.8dB, whereas the speakerphone reached 101.8dB, so each are a lot loud. The telephone does a superb job of bringing out the low-end in our bass check observe, The Knife’s “Silent Shout.” Not solely may I distinguish the bass line of the opening sections, however I may really feel the again of the telephone vibrate barely. The audio system get loud sufficient to fill a small room, although it is best to nonetheless use wi-fi headphones by way of the telephone’s Bluetooth 5.2 connection to get the perfect sound. There isn’t any 3.5mm headphone jack.NFC assist for cellular funds is accessible.Digicam: About AverageThe Skyline comes with a 108MP most important digital camera with electrical and optical picture stabilization (EIS, OIS), a 13MP ultra-wide digital camera, and a 50MP telephoto digital camera with 4x hybrid zoom. In the meantime, the 50MP entrance digital camera can observe your eyes for focusing and rapidly cycle from 0.5x to 4x zoom for well-framed selfies. Images from the principle, telephoto, and selfie cameras all use pixel-binning, although you’ll be able to go for full-resolution pictures by way of the settings if you want.Picture high quality is simply common. The principle digital camera does an honest job of capturing photographs when there’s satisfactory mild, but it surely struggles with backlight. Once I took footage on an overcast day, for instance, the digital camera had problem with the cloudy (however brilliant) sky. The picture of the tree under seems to be hazy, and the dearth of element within the branches is clear.
Fundamental digital camera (Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The wide-angle digital camera did higher within the shot under and produced extra even lighting. The leaves look brilliant and inexperienced, although a few of the grass seems to be blurry and pixelated.
Extremely-wide digital camera (Credit score: Sarah Lord )
Backlighting prompted vital points once I zoomed in. The under pictures present outcomes at 1x and 2x.
Fundamental digital camera (1x) (Credit score: Sarah Lord)
Telephoto digital camera (2x) (Credit score: Sarah Lord)
Picture high quality is greatest at .5x, 1x, and 2x. It solely will get worse the additional you zoom.
Telephoto digital camera (3x) (Credit score: Sarah Lord )
The principle digital camera did a superb job of capturing the flower under. All the edges are clearly outlined.
Fundamental digital camera (Credit score: Sarah Lord)
The selfie digital camera did a positive job of capturing my canine below lamplight, and it additionally works effectively for video calls. One neat characteristic is which you could take a selfie simply by flashing a peace signal. You simply must put your fingers straight in entrance of your face to set off the countdown.
Selfie digital camera (Credit score: Sarah Lord )
As for video, the digital camera can seize 4K and HD clips at 30fps, that are positive for informal use. Recordings present a good quantity of grain, particularly in darker scenes. The telephone gives entry to Google’s AI Blur instrument, however that’s it so far as superior modifying is worried. If you happen to’re serious about smartphone images, the Pixel 8a has higher {hardware} and extra AI software program options.Software program: A Helpful Detox ModeThe Skyline runs a reasonably clear set up of Android 14. HMD says it’s going to present two years of OS upgrades and three years of safety patches for the telephone. Motorola gives the identical assist for the Edge, however Google guarantees seven years of software program and safety updates for the Pixel 8a. The restricted software program assist is at odds with the very concept of user-replaceable elements, that are supposed to assist preserve the system in working order for an extended time period.The telephone comes with a couple of common apps, comparable to Amazon, Reserving.com, Fb, and Fitbit, together with a couple of bizarre ones, like a reduction purchasing app referred to as Kindred. You possibly can take away all of those.
(Credit score: HMD/PCMag)
The Skyline doesn’t have entry to many AI enhancements aside from the aforementioned blur instrument, however you’ll be able to utterly mute apps in its Detox mode. Merely select which apps you need to silence after which activate the Detox Mode to dam them in your telephone indefinitely or on a schedule. The apps nonetheless seem on the house display, although you will not be capable to entry them. I discovered this characteristic helpful and reliable, particularly once I was making an attempt to get work executed. The HMD Skyline permits you to substitute a number of elements by yourself (as soon as they turn out to be out there), has a helpful focus mode, and gives above-average battery efficiency, but it surely’s not particularly highly effective or adept at taking photographs. We additionally discover its blocky, heavy design unappealing. Total, the Skyline has some attraction when you prioritize repairability, sustainability, and quick charging, although most individuals are higher off with the Google Pixel 8a due to its higher construct high quality, broader 5G assist, extra superior imaging tech, and seven-year assist window.
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About Sarah Lord
Analyst, Cell
I’m a Cell Analyst at PCMag, which implies I cowl wi-fi telephones, plans, tablets, ereaders, and a complete lot extra. I’ve at all times liked know-how and have been forming opinions on client electronics since childhood. Previous to becoming a member of PCMag, I coated TVs and residential leisure at CNET, served because the tech and electronics critiques fellow at Insider, and commenced my profession by writing laptop computer critiques as an intern at Tom’s {Hardware}. I’m additionally knowledgeable actor with credit in theater, movie, and tv.
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