HMD Skyline: More than a pretty face

Human Mobile Devices is doing mobile differently. Meet HMD Skyline: designed for creation

• Human Mobile Devices is putting the ‘human’ back into phone design with its new smartphone: HMD Skyline

• With an 108MP hybrid OIS triple rear camera with capture fusion and a 50MP selfie camera with eye-tracking autofocus, your shots are about to take off

• Setting a new standard in stunning smartphone repairable design, HMD Skyline strips back to design brilliance, with Gen2 repairability for easy ‘Fix-it-Yourself’ repairs

• Human Mobile Devices introduces Detox Mode on HMD Skyline, a feature designed to help users when they want to step away from that always on feeling by deactivating a bespoke selection of apps or contacts – coming in August

• Celebrity photographer, Rosanna Elettra, test drives HMD Skyline, and the results are stunning

• Human Mobile Devices proves once again that great design doesn’t have to cost a lot.

Tech innovator, Human Mobile Devices (HMD), spearheaded the dumbphone trend by reimagining feature phone classics for the modern day as consumers sought to limit their screen time for their own mental wellbeing. The European phone manufacturer then called time on hard-to-maintain and fix technology by introducing smartphones you can easily repair at home – at a fraction of the cost of store fixes.¹

Now, the tech disruptor brings you the affordable HMD Skyline, which marries detox and repairability as well as a camera packed full of tricks – including a 108MP hybrid OIS triple rear camera. With the all-new Capture Fusion, 4 x Zoom and Portrait Mode for stunning 50mm shots with natural bokeh effect. In August, Detox Mode will launch bringing a dumbphone function to a smartphone - it is designed to help users when they want to step away from that always on feeling by deactivating a bespoke selection of apps or contacts.

HMD Skyline also debuts a new era for smartphone design called Gen2 Repairability; that enables at-home, user-friendly repairs on your smartphone by simply turning one screw to pop open the back cover using a screwdriver and guitar pick.²

In testament to its super-powerful photo capabilities, Human Mobile Devices has turned to Gen Z superstar snapper Rosanna Elettra to test drive the new HMD Skyline, capturing ten striking images shot and edited entirely on HMD Skyline following a group of Gen Z fashionistas on a night out.

Your shots are about to take off: snap, selfie-check, and socialise (in ultrawide)

HMD Skyline has been built with a progressive GenZ audience firmly in mind so the camera capabilities are stand-out and seemingly endless. The 50MP front camera comes with autofocus and eye-tracking to ensure the sharpest of selfies, and with Skyline, creators don’t even need to press a button or set a timer to take a picture. The device comes with in-built ‘selfie gesture’ hardware, which means all users have to do is to look at the phone while making the universal peace sign (or one of three other hand signs) to activate the camera. You can also create video selfies in 4k from August.

The 108MP Hybrid OIS triple rear camera is equally impressive. This camera really is ready for any shot, portrait mode allows for stunning 50mm shots with beautiful natural bokeh effect and crisp close-ups can be achieved with the x4 zoom function. Night Mode 3.0 balances exposure and preserves detail and stunning scenery and group shots can be captured using the 0.5x ultra-wide mode and there’s AI Capture Fusion too to add maximum detail to zoom images.

Pop the hood and fix-it-yourself: strip back to design brilliance

HMD Skyline advances mobile phone repairability to the next level, an area Human Mobile Devices has led the way on in recent years. Adding weight to the notion that ‘F.I.Y is Fly’, research revealed 45 per cent of Gen Zs say they’re more likely to buy an electrical device if they can easily repair it themselves.² With Skyline it’s child’s play, as it’s the first mobile phone to feature Gen 2 repairability which simply means, it’s easy. In fact, the number of steps to repair the HMD Skyline screen is 65% less than HMD’s first repairable smartphone, the G22.

You really are stripping back to design brilliance; it’s innovative build uses an internal screw-driven camshaft to help speed up disassembly. You simply turn one screw to pop open the back cover on the HMD Skyline. With a little counter-clockwise twist, the corner of the back cover pop so you can slip a pry tool underneath to reveal a simple but elegant mechanism: a screw-driven rotating arm, with a spring to pull it back down when released. Turn it, and its cam lobe pushes against a plate on the back cover which clips back together once done.

Once the back cover is removed you have access to an array of screws to remove and disconnect the display cable. Once done the screen falls out the front. HMD Skyline uses a foam gasket around the display perimeter to help mount maintain its IP54 rating. The battery comes with a built-in plastic liner that you can pull apart by hand to quickly sperate the battery from the chassis. Once the battery is out, you can peel away the plastic from underneath, The last step before installing a new battery is to clean out the adhesive residue thar remains behind and install fresh adhesive strips.

Human Mobile Devices’ Gen2 repairability allows users to fix bent charging ports and scratched back covers in addition to changingscreen and a depleted battery, making HMD Skyline a user-friendly, repairable smartphone.

A smartphone with dumbphone functionality: Detox Mode shuts down your socials

And the good news just keeps on coming. The super-slick smartphone for the ages comes with a powerful new in-built Detox Mode with bespoke app and contact blocking, allowing users to tailor their detox to their needs, focus on the real world and enjoy a balanced smartphone experience whenever they need a break from the digital world.

With the digital detox movement continuing to gather pace, particularly among Gen-Z, it is a timely technological advance that stands above competitors detox functions which usually only silence apps and notifications.

The cherries on top

HMD Skyline’s battery has up to 48 hours³ per charge, and you can charge wirelessly with any magnetized Qi2 charger. The battery stays in great shape for hundreds of charges, and has been tested by Human Mobile Devices to maintain at least 80% of its original capacity after 800 full charging cycles.⁴ And if it ever does need replacing, you can gain easy access thanks to its unique repairable design.

Thanks to its display and sound specs, Skyline is a fantastic device for entertainment. Everything from short reels to high-end games will get the color and clarity they deserve with the bright pOLED display, boasting a 144 Hz refresh rate and HDR10 video playback, and they'll sound ace with the stereo speakers. At the heart of it all is a Snapdragon® 7s Gen 2 chipset, made for high performance and smooth multitasking.

You can make your HMD Skyline even more “you” with the Custom Button. Users can set it up to do one thing when they hold the button down, and another when they double press it. It’s your personal shortcut to your favourite game, navigating home, asking the AI-powered assistant of your choice burning life questions, and more.

HMD Skyline launches in two distinct colourways, neon pink and twisted black.

HMD Skyline iFixit kits

Self-repair support available through iFixit in select markets. Details available at https://www.hmd.com/self-repair.