Deals: repairable phones, the Moto Edge 50 Pro and the Poco F6/F6 Pro

27 July 2024

The HMD Skyline is still on pre-order in Germany, even though it has already launched in other European countries. But isn’t €550 too much for only 2 OS updates and 3 years of security patches, anyway?

The Fairphone 5 is aiming for 7 years (both OS updates and patches), though it is admittedly even more expensive than the Skyline. Its Qualcomm chipset is only marginally faster than the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 inside the HMD phone and the 90Hz refresh rate for the 6.46” display feels slow next to the 144Hz 6.55” panel of the HMD (but it has a higher pixel density).

The Skyline probably has the better cameras with a 108MP main, 50MP 2x portrait and 13MP ultra wide. The Fairphone has a 50MP main and a better 50MP ultra wide, but no optical zoom. Both phones have 50MP selfie cameras and the Fairphone can even record 4K @ 30fps video (the HMD tops out at 1080p @ 30fps). The Fairphone has better IP55 dust and water resistance, compared to IP54 on the Skyline, despite having more user-replaceable components.

This includes the battery, which is easy to swap, but the 4,200mAh capacity is 400mAh short of what the Skyline has. And it only supports 30W wired charging, while the Skyline is the first Android to offer Qi2 wireless charging (15W, with magnets). Also, while the HMD phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack, the Fairphone does not (and some suspect the next item on the list is the reason why).

Fairphone also makes repairable headphones. The over-ear model is called Fairbuds XL and they promise up to 30 hours of battery life, offer ANC and multi-point connectivity. These have 11 individual parts that can be replaced as needed: from earcups and batteries to speakers and the USB-C port.

It’s not particularly repairable, but the Motorola Edge 50 Pro is cheaper than the two phones above and with a faster Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset to boot (though the UFS 2.2 storage is less than ideal). Motorola is promising 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches, which is a bit better than HMD (though Moto has a poor reputation when it comes to updates).

The Edge 50 Pro has a curved 6.7” 144Hz OLED display with 1,220 x 2,712px resolution. The 50MP main camera has OIS, as does the 10MP 67mm (3x) tele camera. There’s also a 13MP ultra wide and, wouldn’t you know it, a 50MP selfie camera (4K @ 30fps video). The 4,500mAh battery supports both 125W wired and 50W wireless fast charging (no magnets, though).

The Poco F6 Pro costs the same (the 12/512GB model is €530) and it offers a proper flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and a QHD+ 12-bit 120Hz display – a flat 6.67” panel. The 50MP main camera is joined only by an 8MP ultra wide (no tele here), plus a 16MP selfie module. While it lacks wireless charging, the 5,000mAh battery offers more capacity and just as fast 120W wired charging.

There’s also the vanilla Poco F6 that’s cheaper and yet it is equipped with a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. This would have been a better choice for the Fairphone, Skyline and even the Motorola.

Anyway, there’s a 6.67” 12-bit 120Hz display (1.5K resolution) and more or less the same camera as on the F6 Pro. The 5,000mAh battery drops to 90W charging, but that is still fast enough to complete a full charge in 35 minutes (vs. 19 minutes on the Pro).

As an alternative to the F6, there’s the Motorola Edge 50 Fusion for €50 less. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is a bit of step down in performance, but it doesn’t feel as bad here as on the €550 Skyline. Anyway, the Fusion has a curved 6.7” 144Hz FHD+ OLED panel, a 50+13MP camera and a 5,000mAh battery with 68W charging (which needs just over an hour to get to 100%).

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