HMD Skyline in for review

2024-07-20

This is the HMD Skyline in the very aptly named Neon Pink color. The company"s most premium own-branded phone yet ships solely with a purple USB cable, so you"ll need to supply your own chargers to take advantage of its support for 33W wired and 15W wireless charging.

One of HMD"s key selling points for the Skyline is its Gen 2 repairability, allowing you to replace a screen or a battery in under 10 munites. HMD has partnered with iFixit for this and they have a tutorial how to get it done over on their website. All you need is a T3 Torx screwdriver and an opening pick.

There"s a single T3 screw on the phone"s bottom right corner, which you unscrew and the rear panelto pops. You then need to expand the opening with a pick and get the panel off.

There"s a new custom button on the left side, which can be used to trigger what HMD calls Detox Mode. It"s a software solution to turn off the noise in your life, but it"s not available at launch. Right now, the custom button triggers the torch by default.

This Neon Pink Skyline comes with color-matching wallpaper and UI elements. It"s a lovely shade of pink and photos don"t do it justice - this is truly a very vivid and full color.

The HMD Skyline reminds us of the fabled Nokia N9 from back in the day. Try to see past the absurd size discrepancy and note the round screen corners sitting in contrast with the squared-off corners of the phone.

However, it"s only a design resemblance, the Nokia N9 was curved polycarbonate to the HMD Skyline"s flat metal and glass.

The HMD Skyline next to the Nokia N9