summary
- HMD has announced the Skyline smartphone, the first Android smartphone with Qi2 wireless charging capability.
- The Skyline also comes with a swappable battery, a 144Hz OLED screen, and a flexible rear camera system.
- The phone costs £399.99 (about $520) in the UK and $499 in the US.
There have been a ton of leaks about the HMD Skyline over the past few months, suggesting a smartphone with a design reminiscent of classic Lumia phones, and now the Finnish brand has given the new model a full reveal. Android smartphone.
The most notable thing about the HMD Skyline is that it’s the first Android smartphone to Qi2 Wireless Charging Support. This standard enables magnetic wireless charging, much like Apple’s MagSafe charging feature, allowing for faster, more efficient, and cooler wireless charging. Specifically, the new phones support 15W wireless charging and 5W reverse wireless charging.
Don’t care about wireless charging? You can also top up the 4,600mAh battery with 33W wired charging. Additionally, HMD says the battery is replaceable, and a promotional video shows the back cover being removed using what resembles a SIM tray ejection tool.
The phone also stands out for its hardware design, featuring an angular body and rounded bezel corners that are reminiscent of phones like the Nokia Lumia 920. The company adds that the device is designed to be repairable, thanks to a partnership with iFixit. Another notable hardware addition is a remappable button on the left side that can be used to launch apps and more with a double tap or long press.
HMD Skyline: A match for the Pixel 8a?
The rest of the HMD Skyline’s spec sheet reveals it to be a top-mid-range smartphone. It comes with a 6.55-inch 144Hz OLED screen (FHD+, 1,000 nits peak brightness), a mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of storage. The phone also has a microSD card slot, offering up to 512GB of additional space.
HMD’s new phone is the most impressive camera phone the company has made in years — at least on paper. The rear camera bump houses a 108MP main camera with OIS, a 13MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP 2x telephoto camera (up to 4x), along with a 50MP selfie camera with autofocus and 4K capabilities.
The HMD Skyline comes with a so-called “Balanced Interface” skin on top of Android 14. The company says the skin will offer a detox mode that supposedly incorporates digital wellbeing, as well as “calmer” system sounds (alarm sounds, ringtones, notification alerts, etc.). The former mode is coming soon. Unfortunately, it’s not great. Update Policy You’ll have to make do with two OS updates and three years of security patches, which is a real shame considering Samsung and Google phones get 5-7 years of updates.
Other notable features include Gorilla Glass 3 on the front (with tempered glass at the back), Bluetooth 5.2, IP54 rating, NFC, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and Wi-Fi 6E.
The HMD Skyline is currently listed on the company’s UK and US websites. The 8GB and 128GB models are £399.99 In the UK, the 12GB/256GB model will retail for £499.99. An HMD representative confirmed after this article was published that the phone’s retail price $499 In the US, the phone is only available in 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB variants.
That is, this device Pixel 8a It’s £100 cheaper in the US and £100 cheaper in the UK. HMD’s device has the added benefit of Qi2 charging, faster wired charging, a bigger battery, a telephoto camera, a dedicated shortcut button, and expanded storage. However, Google’s device offers better image processing, decent water resistance, a longer update policy, and a brighter screen. Either way, we’re glad to see HMD once again offering more than just a budget phone.
