HMD unveils affordable 'Pulse' phones with repairability focus

HMD Global unveiled its new line of affordable smartphones, the HMD Pulse trio. The three models, priced between €100 and €200, focus on repairability, with HMD boasting that they are built to “Gen 1 repairability” standards. This means that users can easily repair the phones themselves using self-repair kits from iFixit, which include battery and screen replacement options.

The HMD Pulse is the base model, priced at £100, and features a 6.65-inch LCD display with a 720p+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. The phone is powered by the Unisoc T606 chipset, which is paired with 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, with up to 256GB more storage available via a microSD card. The phone comes with a 5,000mAh battery that is rated for 800 full charge cycles and features 10W charging.

The HMD Pulse’s camera setup includes a 13MP primary camera with autofocus and dual-LED flash, as well as a depth sensor. The front-facing camera features an 8MP sensor. The phone runs on Android 14 out of the box and is rated IP52 for dust and water resistance.

The HMD Pulse+, priced at £130, features the same display and chipset as the base model, but comes with an upgraded 50MP primary camera on the rear, along with an 8MP front-facing camera. The phone also comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with support for microSD cards up to 256GB.

The HMD Pulse Pro, priced at €180, is the top-of-the-line model in the trio. It features the same display and chipset as the other two models, but comes with a 50MP primary camera on the rear, along with a 2MP depth sensor. The front-facing camera is also upgraded to 50MP. The phone comes with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with support for microSD cards up to 256GB. The battery is the same as the other two models, but features 20W charging instead of 10W.

All three models are available now on HMD.com, with the Pro model coming soon. HMD is not bringing the trio to the US, but will instead offer a single model called the HMD Vibe, which is based on the Pulse model and priced at $150.