HMD Skyline review

Design and ergonomics

HMD has a rather unique approach in terms of design with the Skyline. The company is prioritizing repairability, not just aesthetics. The back cover is removable and grants easy access to some of the hardware, so most users can repair their own phone. But more on that later.

Design-wise, the HMD Skyline is a throwback to Nokia N9 times with sharp corners, flat bottom and top sides and a rounded side frame. The screen's rounded corners are in stark contrast to the sharp angles of the frame; hence the Nokia N9 looks.

HMD Skyline and Nokia N9

It's good that the left and right sides of the frame are rounded as they provide a comfortable grip, but the pointy corners can be too much for some as they poke into your palm every time - it's a love-it-or-leave-it affair.

The back panel, although removable, is made of glass with a frosted finish, and the camera island doesn't protrude as much. The glass is nice to touch, maybe a bit slippery, but fingerprints and smudges aren't visible. At least on our Neon Pink color. There's also the Twisted Black paint job available.

Back to the frame itself, we find an additional Custom Button on the left with a textured surface so it's easier to find it without looking. You can assign different apps or actions to it.

The right side houses the volume rocker and the power button. Both buttons sit a bit too high up the frame, so you'd have to reach with your thumb. Secondly, the power button lies flush with the frame, and it's easy to miss if you are not looking.

HMD Skyline

Granted, we are not huge fans of the side-mounted fingerprint readers - we prefer under-display ones. A side-mounted FP reader is easier to use with a right hand, and HMD hasn't provided an additional setting to unlock the phone upon a press of the power button, so it's easy to lock yourself out of the phone due to accidental touches with your palm.

We weren't impressed with the scanner's accuracy and reliability, either. There were quite a few misreads during testing.

Even though it's a 6.55-inch smartphone, the HMD Skyline is somewhat hefty, tipping the scale at 209 grams and measuring 8.9 mm in thickness. At least it has some modest IP54 protection, despite the detachable back.

Servicing

HMD claims the disassembly of the phone is pretty easy so we tried it ourselves. The back panel pops immediately after loosing the screw and requires gentle prying afterwards.

Getting it back in place is just as easy, just be patient. The screw doesn't come off completely, it's just used to seal the panel tight. It uses a T3 Torx screwdriver.

It has to be noted that the battery inside is not meant to be removed regularly as it's glued in its bed and uses a ribbon cable to connect to the mainboard. It's DYI serviceable but it's not easily removable in the sense of what we had back in the day with older phones.