HMD Fusion Hands-On Detailed Impressions
Luke Staunton has provided a hands-on review of the recently announced HMD Fusion. He did an exceptional job highlighting the phone’s advantages and disadvantages for potential buyers (since the device is already available in some markets) and also showcased some camera work. Thanks again, Luke, for the effort put into this hands-on review. We truly appreciate it.
Introduction
The HMD Fusion project was first announced back at MWC 2024 in the form of a development toolkit for a modular smartphone platform, which included a pogo pin hardware interface for cases and attachments known as ‘Outfits’, and the availability of CAD files and API access to allow individuals and businesses to develop their own Outfits.
Nearly 6 months later at IFA 2024, HMD unveiled the Fusion as a smartphone alongside V2.0 of the dev toolkit. HMD also demoed a series of Outfits such as the Casual Outfit (a TPU case), a Flashy Outfit with an integrated LED ring light, a Rugged Outfit to offer IP68 protection, a magnetic wireless charging outfit, and a game controller outfit.
A French company named Coppernic has also developed a barcode scanner outfit for enterprise uses, with an access control outfit coming by the end of 2024.
Following the launch, the HMD Fusion is available for purchase in several markets, so I got hold of the 8/256 GB variant here in the UK for £249.99.
HMD Fusion design, specs and performance
The HMD Fusion comes with the same box design as other HMD smartphones such as the Pulse and Skyline, with an image of the device alongside embossed silver text. In the box are the usual instructions, SIM tray pin, USB-C to C cable and a quick guide, but the Fusion also comes with a clear/grey ‘Casual Outfit’ case preinstalled (other colours retail for £24.99 here in the UK).
The device itself is primarily plastic and comes in one colour: Black. The design stands out with its pared-back industrial aesthetic with exposed screws, pogo pins and marks of the manufacturing process and milling left on display. There is also a plate integrated into the back panel which looks like the battery (it’s not), but does appear to be made of metal – HMD in the press release for Fusion refer to ‘stainless steel reinforced plastic casing’.
While the phone can be used without a case, the repairability means an IP54 rating against water and dust, it is clear Fusion is designed to be used with an outfit most of the time.
The design will immediately draw comparisons to both the Nothing CMF Phone 1 and various Fairphone models. Fusion sits between them at an affordable price point, with greater customisation potential than the CMF and repairability through a partnership with iFixit that doesn’t quite reach the ease and simplicity of Fairphone.
The Fusion also sits in the middle of HMD’s current smartphone line-up, taking aspects from the low-end Pulse series (the HD+ LCD screen) and the upper-mid Skyline (the 108MP main camera sensor).
Chipset
The choice of low-end 5G chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 also raised some concerns, in practical terms it is absolutely fine for daily use and matches the likes of the Snapdragon 695 in compute speeds. The big downside is the weak graphics performance of the Adreno 613 GPU, which is at least mitigated by the 720p screen – I tested with an extended session of Call of Duty Mobile at medium graphics and FPS settings and gameplay was smooth throughout.
Battery
I have not conducted any tests with the battery performance, but needless to say the advertised up-to-65 hours is likely possible for many in the target audience (I haven’t been below 50% in a day so far). The combination of low-resolution display and efficient 4nm chipset paired with a 5000mAh battery promises good longevity, perhaps a deliberate choice as the phone can power smart outfits up to 5V (and outfits such as a battery pack can do the same in return).
Charging is up to 33W wired, with the option of limiting charge to 80% of the battery capacity or enabling ‘Battery Protection’ to slow charging speeds after 80%.
Display & Sound
The other weak point on the Fusion spec sheet is the 6.56 inch HD+ LCD display which seems to be borrowed from the Pulse series. Outside of targeting Fusion for enterprise use and aiming for the longest battery life possible, it really would benefit from a Full HD display, even while remaining LCD.
The low resolution is mostly noticeable up close, or when using the camera app, holding the phone at a normal operating distance its not possible to spot individual pixels. Colours are however muted, and in direct sunlight the screen can be difficult to see. There is also no mention of display protection level, so thankfully the display can be replaced in the event of breaks…
The refresh rate is set to 60hz by default, so it is recommended to change this to adaptive 90hz in display settings. There is a basic White Balance slider, double tap to wake gesture, and the option for Always on Display despite not being an OLED panel.
Sound is from a mono speaker, with OZO playback support with Dynamic, Music, Games and Cinema presets, plus Audio Boost for high volumes or outdoor environments. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack, dev options show a range of Bluetooth (5.1) audio codecs but I am unable to test at this time. One issue I encountered is a clicking or popping noise seemingly coming from the speaker when scrolling past media.
Cameras
While the Fusion borrows some elements from the low-end Pulse series, the main camera borrows from the bigger brother the HMD Skyline. Fusion shares the same 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM6 sensor, although here without OIS and only flanked by a 2MP depth sensor. The equivalent aperture is f/1.8 vs f/1.7 on the Skyline.
The camera app is also identical to the one introduced with Skyline, and shares features such as focus peaking, 108MP capture, Flash Shot and Pro Mode with RAW capture. However Fusion does not come with Speedwarp, Ultra-Steady Video or Handheld Astrophotography, presumably because it lacks an ultrawide or OIS. Whereas Skyline has toggles for 0.5 – 4x zoom, Fusion only has a quick toggle for 3x zoom.
Check out the photos taken by HMD Fusion. Marin reduced the resolution to save up server space, but you can check the originals at Nokiamob’s Flickr account.
Image quality is strong for the price and very similar to the Skyline, with images perhaps a little cooler or magenta in tint. Zoomed images up to 3x are very usable in good light, although some noise and loss of detail creeps in in lower light. Without a dedicated telephoto lens or OIS, zoom autofocus can be finicky at times and there is a little less detail in 2x than with Skyline.
The Fusion also shares a 50MP front camera with selfie gesture support, full-res option and focus peaking. There is no eye-tracking here, the selfie cam defaults to 1.2x as with Skyline and the options for Natural or Bright skin tone and changing the colour temperature when using the screen (or the Flashy Outfit) as a light are present.
Finally, video on the Fusion is capped at 1080p 30 or 60fps on both rear and front cameras. In my brief tests, video from the rear camera was surprisingly good quality for 1080p and the EIS is effective, with only slight lens shake. More tests are needed but Fusion seems above average in the price range, OZO recording is also present with 2 mics.
Misc.
Rounding out the features, the Fusion supports MicroSD cards up to 1TB with a hybrid dual SIM slot, eSIM is also supported. The fingerprint reader is side-mounted and integrated into the power-button, this is a little too sensitive as with previous HMD models and would benefit from the option to only activate if the power button is pressed.
A final note is on haptics, HMD has once again opted for a low-quality rotary motor which in my opinion is a missed opportunity to really lean into the industrial aesthetic and possibility for the smart outfits to utilise haptic feedback. The Skyline has a similarly poor haptic motor which has the effect of undermining the high-quality design.
Conclusion
The HMD Fusion is an interesting device with a stripped-down design foregrounding the potential for customisation and repair. Targeting the device at the lower mid-range segment makes it more widely accessible, but if there is enough success as a proof-of-concept then a successor which improves the display, chipset and software support (the Business Edition has 5 years of security updates) would make a lot more sense for the aims of longevity and sustainability.
For now, we await the release of the launch outfits, and the possibility of others to enhance functions such as the camera, battery expansion or even a second display? The question also remains on whether HMD will stick with the same dimensions to ensure future compatibility of Fusion outfits.
