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By Andy Boxall
It’s rare to find a smartphone that has a unique feature these days, and especially one that’s available at a bargain price. The HMD Skyline happens to tick both those boxes with its genuinely simple repairability and sizable discount on its normal price in Amazon’s Cyber Monday deal.
Normally $500, the HMD Skyline is $400 through Amazon right now, and not only is it an unlocked phone ready for use with the AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket, and Tracfone networks but the price also applies to the three different color variations. This is important because although you could choose the basic black version, you should go for the far more eye-catching Blue Topaz or Neon Pink model.
The reason is not just because brightly colored phones are better but also because it recalls the wonderful world of Nokia’s Windows Phones, the design of which the HMD Skyline very effectively homages. It’s no coincidence either, as HMD (formally HMD Global, now known as Human Made Devices, or HMD) has the license to put the Nokia name on mobile phones. The design really won me over when I reviewed the Skyline, particularly because the phone is so comfortable to hold, a design aspect that’s not always a given these days.
The HMD Skyline’s $400 price means it out-competes a lot of excellent phones like the OnePlus Nord 4, the Samsung Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55, along with the Nothing Phone 2a, but none of these provide a way to quickly and easily change a broken screen, a battery past its best, or even the speaker at home, yourself.
Cheaper and more convenient than taking it to a specialist, HMD has made repairing the Skyline very simple through its partnership with iFixit, and it’s a real rarity today. I successfully took the Skyline apart with a very basic set of tools in just a few minutes, and I’ve watched an HMD representative replace the screen in under 10 minutes. It’s that easy.
If you want a new smartphone with hardware that’s going to last, the HMD Skyline is worth considering at this price, particularly if you’re prone to dropping or accidentally damaging your devices. HMD has prioritized hardware repairability over its software update policy, but does still promise to deliver two main Android version updates along with three years of security updates.
The HMD Skyline sets itself apart from the competition not through the camera but through its great design and simple repairability. At $400, it’s a much better deal than it is at the usual price, and it may just prove to be the phone that lasts you the longest, just because you can easily fix any accidental damage yourself.
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
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