What makes the HMD Skyline the most repairable phone we’ve seen?

When HMD announced their latest smartphone was uniquely repairable – moreso than any we’d seen before it – we thought to ourselves “we’ll see about that”.

Turns out, it’s remarkable – just a few screws and you’re pulling apart this phone like nothing in the modern era.

Yes, back in the day you’d easily crack the back of a phone off and pull the battery out.  We all remember that.  But in the days of perfect edges, stunning design and edge to edge screens that’s a thing of the past.

Or is it?  Under European Union legislation all consumer electronics must be user-repairable as we head into 2027 – still a few years off, but these things take time to develop.

HMD appears to be wearing it’s R&D department on it’s sleeve putting things out into market that push the boundaries – so we grabbed an iFixIt repair kit and took to the HMD Skyline.

Using the guide published on the iFixIt website (which rates the repairability of the Skyline at 9/10!), we twisted that unique bottom screw which simply pops the back off the phone.

You peal it back slowly, and gently, this process is not one to be rushed.

Here, depending on which part you’ve broken or need to replace you can get to things like the battery, or the charging port too.

I wanted to go the whole way, remove a few things, back cover, battery and screen.

It was a breeze, and I mean that – so easy.

A whole bunch of screws were needed to be undone on the inside, but seemingly once done, we were off to the races.

With the screen off, it was a reverse engineering process to just put it all back together.

HMD will sell the replacement parts and repair kits directly from iFixIt, where the guides are simple and easy to follow.

Is this a selling feature of a phone?  Probably not up against Apple and Samsung.  But, it’s the future of smartphone design, so it’s fascinating to see!

At $899 this is a great option for your high school child’s next phone – after all, if they break the screen, they can fix it themselves!