Think Different

Human Mobile Devices (HMD) may not be a name that has instant recall in the country, but that’s not stopping the Finnish company from going beyond its mainstay of licensing and launching Nokia branded Android smartphones and feature phones. With its latest Fusion smartphone, HMD’s continued focus on repairability, particularly in the budget segment, is laudable, but it’s the phone’s modular design that’s caught my eye.

To those unaware, the Fusion’s design feels industrial and almost bare, to the point that someone looked at the exposed screws and asked where the rear cover was. This unique look, seen previously on the CMF Phone 1, is a nod to the Fusion’s DIY-repairability. Just remove a handful of screws and you can replace many of the parts - from the battery to the screen- right at home, and the company intends to carry spare parts several years into the future (ironically, the phone will see only two major Android updates, till Android 16). That said, the phone is IP54 rated to withstand water splashes and offers a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot, both of which are welcome additions. At 202.5g, it’s not exactly lightweight, but the weight is well distributed.

What makes the phone really stand out are the recessed gold contacts (pogo pins) on the rear, which allow you to attach ‘Outfits’, as HMD calls them – modular components which change the look and functionality of the device. Unlike the CMF Phone 1, HMD’s Outfits are essentially cases that you slip on top of the phone, and the pins supply data and power to the accessory. Pick up a Fusion right now and you get two Outfits bundled along with the device – a Flashy Outfit and the Gaming Outfit. As the name suggests, the Flashy Outfit features a ring light surrounding the camera module, and you can flip this up to light up your face for selfies or use it as a fill light for low-light conditions. You can even adjust the light from within the camera app. The Gaming Outfit turns the Fusion into a gaming handheld, replete with shoulder buttons and triggers that come in handy during gameplay. There are other Outfits which enable wireless charging and submersion in water, and HMD offers up an open source toolkit, with physical design dimensions and software instructions, for folks adventurous enough to build their own ‘smart outfits’ on their own 3D printers. Bundling these Outfits in the box is a smart move to encourage usage, compared to the rather steep pricing for the CMF Phone 1 accessories.

Powering the HMD Fusion is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage (expandable to 1TB), a combination that serves it well for routine tasks, even managing the occasional Call of Duty session at lower quality settings. Battery life with the 5000mAh battery lasted a full day of use, and the Fusion supports 33W charging speeds. That said, while the Fusion offers a 6.56-inch, 90Hz refresh rate, it’s not very bright and the HD+ resolution is easily bested by a number of its peers. The single, bottom firing speaker is rather average too.

Redemption comes by way of a good camera setup, a 108-megapixel shooter on the rear (with a 2-megapixel depth sensor) and a 50-megapixel selfie shooter. Pictures shot by the Fusion were well exposed, with accurate colors and crisp details, and low-light performance was no pushover either.

The HMD Fusion is a refreshing entrant in the world of smartphones, and the one-two combo of modularity and repairability are nothing to be scoffed at. How much they’ll help sell the device is another thing altogether, as you can get better performing and massively improved screens for the same outlay.

Rating: 7/10

Price: Rs. 17,999