HMD may have struck gold with the Skyline \u2013 the phone\u2019s design mixes nostalgia for the Nokia N9 with a bold Neon Pink hero color and the repairability angle (while not unique) does earn some brownie points.<\/p>\n
The phone is surprisingly capable \u2013 the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is by far the most powerful chip inside an HMD phone. Admittedly, the competition is the Snapdragon 695 and some Unisocs, but we\u2019re glad to see that HMD is finally moving to better chips. The phone\u2019s 6.55\u201d display is a 144Hz OLED (FHD+) and features a 50MP selfie camera on top. On the rear, a 108MP main (OIS), 50MP 2x tele and 13MP ultra wide cameras.<\/p>\n
The 4,600mAh battery is user replaceable, though you need tools. It supports both 33W wired and 15W wireless charging. And note that this supports Qi2 charging (with magnets, like Apple\u2019s MagSafe), which is unheard of in Android land. Speaking of tools, with tools and guides from iFixit, you should be able to replace the screen at home in just 10 minutes. The one downside remains software support \u2013 HMD is committing to only 2 OS updates and 3 years of security patches. That\u2019s at least a year short of what we would like to see from a \u20ac550 phone.<\/p>\n
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![\"HMD](\"https:\/\/fdn2.gsmarena.com\/vv\/bigpic\/hmd-skyline.jpg\")
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For \u20ac50 less, you can have the Realme GT 6. It has a better, larger display \u2013 6.78\u201d 1264p+ LTPO panel that runs at 120Hz and up to 6,000 nits. It\u2019s protected with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 instead of GG3 like the HMD. The dust and water resistance rating is also better at IP65 (vs. IP54). And you get a more powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, though without the microSD slot. The 5,500mAh battery is 900mAh larger and supports 120W fast charging (no wireless, though).<\/p>\n
The 50MP main camera features a large 1\/1.4\u201d sensor and the 50MP 2x portrait camera is comparable, as is the 8MP ultra wide. There\u2019s also a 32MP selfie camera. Realme promises 3 OS updates and 4 years of security patches, but it doesn\u2019t focus as much on repairability.<\/p>\n
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![\"Realme](\"https:\/\/fdn2.gsmarena.com\/vv\/bigpic\/realme-gt6.jpg\")
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There\u2019s also the Realme GT 6T for \u20ac100 less than the GT 6 (and \u20ac150 less than the HMD). It still has a better chipset \u2013 Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 \u2013 and a large, fast 5,500mAh battery with 120W charging. However, it loses the tele camera and the sensor in the 50MP main is smaller. This one is also on track for 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches.<\/p>\n
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![\"Realme](\"https:\/\/fdn2.gsmarena.com\/vv\/bigpic\/realme-gt-neo6-se.jpg\")
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For a bit more than the Skyline, you can have the Nothing Phone (2). It has a 6.7\u201d LTPO display (120Hz), but it\u2019s lower resolution than the Realmes (FHD+). This one is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and a 4,700mAh battery with 45W wired and 15W wireless (original Qi, so no magnets). <\/p>\n
It has a 50MP main and a 50MP ultra wide, plus a 32MP selfie camera, but no telephoto lens. Like Realme, Nothing promises 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches, but keep in mind that this is a 2023 model, so subtract one from those numbers.<\/p>\n
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![\"Nothing](\"https:\/\/fdn2.gsmarena.com\/vv\/bigpic\/nothing-phone2_.jpg\")
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The Nothing Phone (2a) drops the LTPO panel, but keeps the display at 6.7\u201d FHD+ 120Hz. It has the same 50+50MP rear and 32MP front camera setup (but 4K video recording tops out at 30fps instead of 60fps). <\/p>\n
The 2a uses the Dimensity 7200 Pro chipset, which edges out the Skyline chipset in graphics tests. The 5,000mAh battery supports only 45W wired charging, no wireless. The update schedule for the 2a is the same as the Phone (2), but as a 2024 model, this one started life with Android 14, so it has a leg up.<\/p>\n
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![\"Nothing](\"https:\/\/fdn2.gsmarena.com\/vv\/bigpic\/nothing-phone-2a.jpg\")
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For the last phone today, we picked out something pretty cheap. The Realme Note 50 is a \u20ac100 phone that runs full Android 13 on the decently fast Unisoc T712 chipset. The 6.74\u201d IPS LCD is large, but short on pixels with HD+ resolution (it has 90Hz refresh rate). The 5,000mAh battery is large, but so slow to charge at only 10W. We won\u2019t mention the camera, since it\u2019s not worth mentioning. The microSD slot and 3.5mm headphone jack are nice to see, though.<\/p>\n
![\"Realme](\"https:\/\/fdn2.gsmarena.com\/vv\/bigpic\/realme-note-50.jpg\")