HMD Skyline review
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- Anonymous
- dNd
- 06 Aug 2024
Often I do wonder WHY companies release phone after phone that are just mediocre at best. They had just 1 job: Make it yellow and bring one of the best cameras (just 1!) to the back. There was no need for anything else to make this phone shine. If it would do this 1 thing perfectly, it would turn heads. But instead they, like ALL other companies, try to fill the mid-rang market, which is sadly fed by mostly xiaomi and, if you are rin for camera, pixel phones. No one will buy this or if, will keep it. Its just a waste of time and money. Bring the good phones back and if you are willing to compete, RISK SOMETHING!
- C
- Carol-
- mJ}
- 06 Aug 2024
Lime, 06 Aug 2024For some reason I want to bite the bullet with this phone. ... moreI would'nt say replacing, because fairphone has a lot of other stuff going under it's sleeve, but definetly a contender for the niche market of Fairphone, something i like, the more they are, the better the market, the lesser the e-waste, would also be nice to see some OS competition spike, like returning of MeeGo.
- C
- Carol-
- mJ}
- 06 Aug 2024
Pavel, 06 Aug 2024Another boring "cheap" phone, bring...nothing to ... moreActually, this one is one of the very few devices that brings somthing new to mobile market.
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- Anonymous
- 0p}
- 06 Aug 2024
Anonymous, 06 Aug 2024Try using a side one in a car while the phone is in a holderIndex finger.
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- -
- 64{
- 06 Aug 2024
Anonymous, 06 Aug 2024It still doesn't look like quite a Lumia design becaus... moreThose might just be generic renders representing an "HMD phone" and nothing more
- Chavis
- 0Bh
- 06 Aug 2024
deRykcihC, 06 Aug 2024sooo... is the battery removable Not with your bare fingers like on old phones. It has glue underneath, and it's connected to the mainboard with a ribbon cable. It's serviceable but not removable.
- X
- Xenotyro
- M$2
- 06 Aug 2024
This review seems a little hurried from gsmarena, both in eliding over strengths and weaknesses of the Skyline.
There is no overview of the camera app modes, including features such as focus peaking, handheld astrophotography or flash shot, nor any details of the Pro Mode.
If gsmarena tested further they would uncover some anomalies such as Pro Mode using the 2x tele camera for all zoom levels (auto mode uses the main cam for shots above 2x), they would also note that if you start video recording in 1x mode you cannot zoom but if you start at 2x you can. I thought there may be more testing of how the camera creates composites, or 'Capture Fusion' as HMD call it, which gsmarena covered well in their Nokia X30 review.
There is also no mention of haptics which are not great on the Skyline. Likewise, they briefly mention Qi2 but don't state it is the first Android to market that supports the standard and don't test the magnetic wireless charging.
There is an update scheduled for this month which HMD say will add 4K recording to the selfie camera, alongside other fixes and the Detox Mode.
I hope there is an accompanying video review that can address some of the omissions, I understand there is a deluge of new midrangers to cover at the moment.
(n.b. the UK pricing is much more sensible than the Euro, the 12/256GB Skyline has the same RRP as the 8/128GB Pixel 8a for example)
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- Anonymous
- LfV
- 06 Aug 2024
AnthonyMooreDevices, 06 Aug 2024Wow, I really expected them to slack in the audio departmen... moreSdxc is specced for up to 2 tb
- AnthonyMooreDevices
- r$R
- 06 Aug 2024
Wow, I really expected them to slack in the audio department but it seems they did decent in this regard. This phone seems perfect. Can't wait to get it. Definitely going to try a 1TB SanDisk MSDC even though 512GB is the stated limit.
- j
- jester
- 0p}
- 06 Aug 2024
ltgm, 06 Aug 2024Guys, so many years later I still don't understand wha... moreHalf-Million-Dollar
- J
- Jab
- 60H
- 06 Aug 2024
No jack (gsmarena finally corrected it), no buy. Even with jack Realme 12+ is nearly two times cheaper and it is a better phone in the end.
- C
- Claudesp33d
- Nw0
- 06 Aug 2024
I would never buy hmd again, my experience with nokia 6.2 was aweful. They intentionally rigged the android 11 software update and made the device very slow, full of stutter and lag. They never fixed the problem despite thousand of complains from users in the nokia forum, the same infiltration happened with nokia 7.2.
The quality is also very bad, the display suffers from image retention and ghosting, and later on, the device developed ghost touch problems.
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- Anonymous
- snU
- 06 Aug 2024
At this size I'll stick to Xperia and pixel phones which are smaller. But still, I would still choose this over Chinese phone.
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- Anonymous
- pXr
- 06 Aug 2024
Coast, 06 Aug 2024Okay GSMArena, in what world is an optical under display re... moreTry using a side one in a car while the phone is in a holder
- ?
- Anonymous
- pXr
- 06 Aug 2024
Subpar batterylife and display, but everything really falls apart when you look at the insane asking price
- L
- Leendert
- 3p{
- 06 Aug 2024
For me the repairibillity is a big plus and also the lake of chager should't be on the negative side. I have at home 20 + chagers in my bottom drawer, but with 3 kids i have a need for one chager with minimal 3 ports.
I think HMD is aiming for the average mainstream user. If there was a better battery inside, in mine opinion they naild it.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 0UV
- 06 Aug 2024
No mention of the pathetic software update policy? Two years of OS upgrades and another year of security updates is inexcusable for a "repairable" smartphone. What is the point of "repairability" if the software will go out of date in just three years?
- ?
- Anonymous
- raQ
- 06 Aug 2024
cyber, 06 Aug 2024even little girls these days don't want a pink phoneThey do but they won't admit it.
- l
- ltgm
- pWE
- 06 Aug 2024
Guys, so many years later I still don't understand what HMD actually stands for?
My guesses are:
Half-Assed Mobile Disasters
Heap of Mediocre Dogsh*t
Half-Baked Mobile Disappointments
Horribly Made Devices
I might be missing something so please help me out...this is a one-million-dollar question.