HMD Skyline 5G | Android 14 | Unlocked Smartphone | Dual SIM | US Version | 8/256GB | 6.55" 144Hz pOLED Screen | 108MP Triple Camera | 50MP Selfie Camera | Blue Topaz

When my s23 ultra dies, I'm now an HMD customer. You should all be SERIOUSLY considering the HMD skyline. It doesn't put a foot wrong and does all the premium phone things perfectly at a third or less the price, all while being completely user-serviceable with parts and guides cheaply available on the reliable ifixit site. You can literally open the phone and replace the screen with ONE SINGLE SCREW. FOR UNDER A HUNDRED BUCKS. I got this because my little sister in law's samsung s20 was finally dying. Saw the jerryrigeverything video and thought "wow, I like the design philosophy, the price, the fact that you can repair it, parts are on ifixit for insanely reasonable prices, and that it has real quality components." Ordered it, and while setting it up, compared it to my S23 ultra. The screens, even with HDR content, are both phenomenal. I would say the HMD is just as good. You'd never tell without them side by side. High refresh rate, smooth, bright as heck, perfect OLED blacks, identical color accuracy. The cameras? Again, wow. Totally fine. I'd say it's easily as good as the more budget samsung, google and apple phones. I wouldn't get it if your goal is to be a photographer, but if it's an iphone 15 pro max whatever or this and putting $800 into a nice used DSLR, the latter option DEMOLISHES any phone. Speakers? great. They're phone speakers, so you really shouldn't be using them a ton, and I do wish it had a headphone jack. That is literally the only change I'd make to it hardware wise (there's one other change I'd make that HMD can do, and I hope they do) Performance? Also great. I challenged it by putting some playstation 2 emulation on it, downloading genshin and zenless zone zero and pushing them to the max and no problems at all. It's a second tier snapdragon 7 vs the 8gen2 in my s23 ultra, but with even the most taxing jobs you can reasonably ask of a phone right now, it doesn't blink twice. Maybe if you're trying to switch emulate, sure, but as a phone? You won't ever find a struggle. And since it's a snapdragon chip and not a Mali, it's just natively going to work with every app. Software? Standard android, zero issues. With a few months of use, my sister-in-law says that every once in a while it'll glitch for a few seconds and the buttons will stop working for just a moment or the screen will hang once in a while for just a second, but compared to my completely babied S23 ultra, which just due to a bug with samsung's android version and youtube, it will just arbitrarily get SCREAMING hot for no reason whatsoever within about 90 seconds, about 70% of the time I watch youtube, and stay screaming hot no matter what I do until I turn off the phone and literally let it cool down for a few minutes, I'd take the latter. And even iOS is getting buggy now (honestly moreso than this), so I'd say it's a complete non-issue. Battery life is great. Nothing insane, but not at all deficient. And the biggest, HUGEST deal for me is that when your battery does start to degrade with time and use... YOU CAN REPLACE IT YOURSELF. CHEAPLY. Your iphone will literally try to brick itself if you don't spend the entire cost of the phone to do anything to it at the apple store. It is slightly lower IPX rated. Not full submersion I believe. So you aren't gonna be doing underwater camera work, but I honestly just have never been tempted to risk any phone in that way. Not worth it. But the flipside is that if this phone does take a dunk in the toilet or bath, YOU CAN FIX IT YOURSELF. CHEAPLY. A screen replacement alone on my s23 ultra is more than this whole phone. You can open the phone with no heat. JUST ONE SCREW. The cam design is genius. And every part being on ifixit? for ridiculously fair prices? You should be losing your mind at that. Even the fit and finish just feel fantastic. Very premium. And the coolest part is because you can fix anything on it yourself, WITHOUT VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY (HMD says that user performed repairs are considered authorized repairs) you don't need a big ugly case or screen protector, because dropping your phone and cracking the glass isn't a $600 mistake! The only other thing I'd like to see other than a return of the headphone jack with a decent DAC/AMP in it, is for HMD to support at least four full android version updates. Fairphone does that (but it's not even a contest I'd take this over fairphone any day) but HMD only promises two. The means you may need to upgrade in 2-4 years (depending on android's schedule), even if your phone is still working fine, because it's no longer secure. I still wouldn't call it anywhere near a dealbreaker seeing as most phones only last 2 years tops now anyways because something breaks and it's too expensive to repair. I've been a top tier samsung phone user since the note 2. But I'm so fed up with the typical phone experience of unserviceable phones. And the HMD shows you can have just as premium a feel in the hand, just as good a screen, speakers, great camera, and performance and battery life that doesn't leave you wanting for anything, for a third the price and also be completely and cheaply user repaired. I'm switching too.

Product arrived opened, and was locked to a carrier. I returned and ordered straight from company website. I use straight talk. This is a T-Mobile service phone through them. (Sim card B) They are a great phone, and I love mine. Little slick, I recommend a case. Also the corners are pretty sharp.

Straight to review What i like 1 RAM extension 8+8gb (Virtual RAM up to 8gb and it'll boost phones overall performance, is recommended ) if you have enough space on internal memory 2 Design and repairability. (Best looking) 3 Has microSD slot, shared slot 4 Fast charging 33w, compared to other old HMD, Nokia phones, (Qi2 wireless fast charging) 5 Assignable custom button. 6 eSim. Cons 1 Only up to 2 years of OS support, as promised 2 No 3.5mm jack 3 i don't really like OLED displays (Slight display dimming. auto display brightness changing, turned off every adaptive settings of display and battery, hope it'll be fixed in next update) 4 Glass back (It's most likely for sound boost) 5 Slippery on hand without phone case BTW i have Nokia Xr20, 9 pureview, 8.3 5G, 7 plus, 5.3 etc... from HMD.

As a long-term Nokia enthusiast who followed the HMD-Foxconn era (Nokia X71, 8.2), I purchased the HMD Skyline expecting a refined evolution of that lineage. While the physical engineering and industrial design are top-tier, the software implementation and post-launch support are significantly below industry standards for a flagship-priced device. ​Hardware & Build Quality ​Display: The 144Hz Samsung-sourced panel is excellent. Calibration is accurate, and the high refresh rate provides a fluid UI experience. ​Audio/IO: The stereo speakers deliver high fidelity and impressive volume. Inclusion of dual-SIM and microSD expansion remains a major competitive advantage. ​Performance: The Snapdragon SoC is well-integrated for thermal efficiency; I noticed no significant throttling during standard workloads. ​Design: The chassis is exceptionally rigid. The nostalgic Nokia-inspired aesthetics are a breath of fresh air in a saturated market. ​Technical Deficiencies & UX Friction ​Biometric Implementation: The capacitive fingerprint sensor is highly responsive but suffers from poor ergonomic integration. Because the sensor is physically exposed and overly sensitive, it triggers constantly while in-pocket. This leads to a persistent "Maximum attempts exceeded" lockout, forcing PIN entry every time the device is retrieved. ​Broken Settings Logic: There is a "Ghost Setting" in the OS. Searching for "Ignore fingerprint while screen is off" appears in the search index, but the actual toggle is missing or unlinked in the Settings APK. This suggests a half-baked firmware build or a "stub" left by developers. ​Haptics: Despite being HMD’s flagship, the vibration motor is a low-quality ERM (Eccentric Rotating Mass) type. It feels "mushy" and cheap. Surprisingly, HMD has used superior linear actuators (X-axis motors) in cheaper models. This choice is technically inexplicable for this price bracket. ​UI/UX Inconsistency: The Action Button configuration menu lacks professional polish. The UI design appears amateurish, lacking the cohesive design language found in Samsung’s One UI or Google’s Material You. ​Software Lifecycle & Support Analysis ​Update Cadence: HMD’s track record for Android Version Updates (OS updates) is poor. My previous X71 was abandoned after only one major update despite marketing claims. The Skyline is already two cycles behind on Android versioning, receiving only incremental security patches. ​Technical Support: Customer support lacks the technical depth required to troubleshoot firmware issues. Their standard response to inquiries regarding the lack of OS updates is "manually check the update button," which demonstrates a lack of internal communication between their engineering and support teams. ​Final Verdict ​The HMD Skyline is a case of excellent hardware abandoned by its own software team. When compared to the software stability and commitment of Samsung, Google, or even Sony (which, despite its niche status, maintains professional standards and keeps consumer promises), HMD falls short. ​Recommendation: it's good if you do not care much about the phone. It’s still better than cheap OEM phones, but can't recommend this if you would buy this for 499 USD

After seeing a tear down video. I chose to spend more than normal to get the skyline as my new phone. (Didn't NEED it but my moto stylus was starting to show its age) TLDR: really good phone for your average android user and fantastic self repairability For reference i usually stuck to last model moto phones cause they were cheap and pretty solid specs for day to day. But i watch a LOT of content on my phone (no tv at the moment) so a cracked screen is an absolute no go. But because of cost it was more economical to just buy the next moto phone instead of replacing the screen. With this i can just fix it myself for a reasonable price? And keep warranty? Absolutely I'm taking that. And now I'll have no real reason to upgrade until the software itself dies which even with a couple year update commitment it'll probably take a bit longer to actually become unusable. Maybe by that time they'll take a page from framework and sell upgrade boards even. As for the phone itself. A little different android launcher than i was used to but really just layout and widget design. Very responsive and more than enough for what i need. I do have some specific lag issues/ bug with YouTube but its ONLY when playing a video on the YouTube app so it could just be the app problem. Lastly the detox mode they advertise? Honestly fantastic. Its basically "do not disturb" and app pausing on steroids. You can choose individual apps and leave on needed notifications. And it will completely lock them from access until the set time runs out or you turn off detox. It even has a "Hard lock" detox mode where it will not let you turn it off until the time is up or you completely shutdown the phone.