HMD might have struck gold with the Skyline – the telephone’s design mixes nostalgia for the Nokia N9 with a daring Neon Pink hero colour and the repairability angle (whereas not distinctive) does earn some brownie factors.
The telephone is surprisingly succesful – the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is by far essentially the most highly effective chip inside an HMD telephone. Admittedly, the competitors is the Snapdragon 695 and a few Unisocs, however we’re glad to see that HMD is lastly shifting to higher chips. The telephone’s 6.55” show is a 144Hz OLED (FHD+) and incorporates a 50MP selfie digital camera on high. On the rear, a 108MP principal (OIS), 50MP 2x tele and 13MP extremely large cameras.
The 4,600mAh battery is consumer replaceable, although you want instruments. It helps each 33W wired and 15W wi-fi charging. And observe that this helps Qi2 charging (with magnets, like Apple’s MagSafe), which is unparalleled in Android land. Talking of instruments, with instruments and guides from iFixit, you must have the ability to change the display at residence in simply 10 minutes. The one draw back stays software program assist – HMD is committing to solely 2 OS updates and three years of safety patches. That’s no less than a 12 months in need of what we wish to see from a €550 telephone.
For €50 much less, you’ll be able to have the Realme GT 6. It has a greater, bigger show – 6.78” 1264p+ LTPO panel that runs at 120Hz and as much as 6,000 nits. It’s protected with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 as a substitute of GG3 just like the HMD. The mud and water resistance ranking can be higher at IP65 (vs. IP54). And also you get a extra highly effective Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, although with out the microSD slot. The 5,500mAh battery is 900mAh bigger and helps 120W quick charging (no wi-fi, although).
The 50MP principal digital camera options a big 1/1.4” sensor and the 50MP 2x portrait digital camera is comparable, as is the 8MP extremely large. There’s additionally a 32MP selfie digital camera. Realme guarantees 3 OS updates and 4 years of safety patches, but it surely doesn’t focus as a lot on repairability.
There’s additionally the Realme GT 6T for €100 lower than the GT 6 (and €150 lower than the HMD). It nonetheless has a greater chipset – Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 – and a big, quick 5,500mAh battery with 120W charging. Nonetheless, it loses the tele digital camera and the sensor within the 50MP principal is smaller. This one can be on monitor for 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches.
For a bit greater than the Skyline, you’ll be able to have the Nothing Telephone (2). It has a 6.7” LTPO show (120Hz), but it surely’s decrease decision than the Realmes (FHD+). This one is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and a 4,700mAh battery with 45W wired and 15W wi-fi (unique Qi, so no magnets).
It has a 50MP principal and a 50MP extremely large, plus a 32MP selfie digital camera, however no telephoto lens. Like Realme, Nothing guarantees 3 OS updates and 4 years of patches, however needless to say this can be a 2023 mannequin, so subtract one from these numbers.
The Nothing Telephone (2a) drops the LTPO panel, however retains the show at 6.7” FHD+ 120Hz. It has the identical 50+50MP rear and 32MP entrance digital camera setup (however 4K video recording tops out at 30fps as a substitute of 60fps).
The 2a makes use of the Dimensity 7200 Professional chipset, which edges out the Skyline chipset in graphics exams. The 5,000mAh battery helps solely 45W wired charging, no wi-fi. The replace schedule for the 2a is similar because the Telephone (2), however as a 2024 mannequin, this one began life with Android 14, so it has a leg up.
For the final telephone right this moment, we picked out one thing fairly low cost. The Realme Notice 50 is a €100 telephone that runs full Android 13 on the decently quick Unisoc T712 chipset. The 6.74” IPS LCD is massive, however quick on pixels with HD+ decision (it has 90Hz refresh price). The 5,000mAh battery is massive, however so sluggish to cost at solely 10W. We received’t point out the digital camera, because it’s not price mentioning. The microSD slot and three.5mm headphone jack are good to see, although.
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