HMD Vibe Review: OK Performance, Meh Everything Else

HMD, the Finnish firm that has been licensing the Nokia model identify to make cheapo and midrange Android phones for greater than 7 years, is lastly putting it out by itself. Now you may begin seeing cheapo and midrange telephones with the branding “HMD,” which stands for Human Cellular Gadgets. (The corporate says it plans on persevering with its relationship with Nokia.)

A couple of of those gadgets have already hit European markets—the HMD Pulse collection—however the US is getting the HMD Vibe. It is a $150 smartphone, so do not count on something groundbreaking. It omits a number of too many options, and HMD now takes the crown for the worst software program coverage out of all well-known Android makers. However if you wish to spend little or no on a cell phone, the Vibe will do.

Vibe Examine

To me, a very powerful function of an affordable smartphone is efficiency. If it is too sluggish and irritating to make use of, then it does not matter how low-cost it’s. Excellent news then—the HMD Vibe is a reasonably smooth-performing smartphone contemplating its $150 worth. My preliminary impression was not nice, because the cellphone was ridiculously sluggish as I used to be setting it up and putting in all my apps, however as soon as that was sorted, it has been pretty {smooth} crusing.

It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 680 chipset with 6 GB of RAM. I am not saying this can be a speedy gadget—there’s even a small delay once you swipe up on an app to go to the house display. Apps do not launch at lightning velocity. However I have been utilizing the Vibe for greater than every week (on 4G LTE no much less) and it has been higher than tolerable. I’ve performed video games like Pako Eternally and Alto’s Odyssey with no issues, and my benchmark scores place it on par with the equally priced Moto G Play 2024.

Nonetheless, bear in mind to activate the Adaptive refresh fee within the cellphone’s show settings menu. This bumps the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 90 Hz. Issues had been a bit uneven with out it, however after I turned it on, there was a noticeable enchancment in smoothness. Talking of the show, this can be a 6.56-inch LCD display that is decently sharp however does not get too brilliant. On sunny days out, I had a tough time seeing content material on the display whereas out and about.

This cellphone appears fairly bland. It is only a black rectangle, with a little bit of a graphite-esque design on the black rear. You do get a headphone jack and a microSD card slot to increase the included 128 GB of storage, however this cellphone doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. That is a comfort accessible on its peer, the Moto G Play 2024, and it permits you to entry safe apps rapidly with out having to log in on a regular basis. HMD provides a fundamental face unlock, but it surely will not work with apps, and it does not work at midnight (or once you put on sun shades).