HMD has been keeping the Nokia brand alive since 2016, but the Finnish company also wants to start making its own phones and that’s exactly what’s happening now.
The new Pulse range is its first range of own-brand handsets, and all three are aimed squarely at the budget phone market. Whether you go for the HMD Pulse (£99.99), Pulse+ (£129.99) and Pulse Pro (£149.99), they all have one big thing in common: user repairability.
The screen, battery, charging port and back cover can all be easily replaced at home and without any technical knowledge. Parts will be available through partner iFixit, as was the case for the HMD-made Nokia G22 and Nokia G42 5G, with repair kits starting from £17.99.
HMD cites a few key reasons for the move toward repairability.
One of these concerns feedback from Pulse’s Gen Z target audience, with 41% of those surveyed in an internal study saying they would be “more likely to purchase an electrical appliance if they could repair it themselves at home.
Sure, this would eliminate a lot of the frustration of fixing a broken phone, but durability is a big motivator for HMD. Being able to repair a broken screen or replace an aging battery is much better for the environment than buying a new device.
However, given the focus on longevity. HMD’s commitment to software support is disappointing. While the two years of OS updates and three years of security updates are better than some competitors at this price point, they fall well short of the best on the market.
Even Samsung’s £169 Galaxy A15 offers four OS updates and five years of security updates. As a result, software will be the main limiting factor here, rather than hardware. You may not need to replace anything until software support ends.
Nonetheless, let’s take a look at the three HMD Pulse phones and what they have to offer.
HMD pulse
The regular HMD Pulse looks to be one of the best phones you can buy for under £100. It has a 6.65-inch, 90 Hz 720p screen, two cameras (13 Mp rear, 8 Mp selfie) and claims up to 59 hours of battery life with the 5,000 mAh cell.
Performance is the main concern, but the 4G-based Unisoc T606 chipset should be fine for the basics, especially with 4 or 6 GB of RAM. Although 64GB of internal storage isn’t enough for some people, the Pulse supports expansion up to 256GB via microSD card.
Other features worth noting include 10W charging, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and nifty Android 14 software.
The HMD Pulse costs £99.99. It’s available now via the HMD website and will be ‘coming soon’ to Vodafone and O2 stores across the UK.
HMD Impulse+
The Pulse+ has a lot in common with the classic Pulse, but also some key improvements.
The main one is the camera, with the rear sensor upgraded to a 50Mp lens. You also have the option of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, although the latter is still microSD expandable up to 256GB.
The HMD Pulse+ costs £129.99. It’s available now via the HMD website and will be ‘coming soon’ to Vodafone and O2 stores across the UK.
HMD Pulse Pro
There are some further improvements over the top-end Pulse Pro, although it’s only £20 more than the Pulse+.
The main rear camera is still 50MP, but it adds a range of selfie gestures, a slow-motion selfie feature, and dedicated modes for nighttime selfies and AI-enhanced portraits. A separate 2MP depth sensor should also help in the latter case.
Elsewhere, the 5,000mAh battery can charge double the power of the other two phones, making it a reasonable 20W.
The HMD Pulse Pro costs £149.99. Unlike other Pulse phones, it’s “coming soon” but will also be available through HMD’s website.
There’s no word on US availability at this point, but Android Police suggests the HMD Pulse or Pulse+ could be rebranded as the HMD Vibe in the US, priced at $149.99. But this has not yet been confirmed by HMD.
Tempted by one of these devices? Otherwise, you might prefer one of the other budget phones we recommend.
