HMD has recently launched Android phones under its own brand – HMD Pulse Trio, HMD Aura and most recently HMD Skyline, but none of these are available in India.
The HMD Crest is the first HMD smartphone available in India. What’s even better is that it’s also the first HMD smartphone made in India. This phone is accompanied by the slightly more capable HMD Crest Max, which has more memory and a better camera.
HMD Crest • HMD Crest Max
In short, the HMD Crest is an entry-level 5G phone based on the Unisoc T760 chipset. This is a 6nm chip with four Cortex-A76 and four A55 cores (2.2GHz), as well as a Mali-G57 GPU and of course a 5G modem.
Unisoc T760 chipset with 6/8GB RAM
In the Crest, the T760 is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which can be expanded via microSD.
The HMD Crest Max has more memory – 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage – another improvement as well.
The phone sports a 6.67″ FHD+ OLED display that runs at a 90Hz refresh rate. The display is protected by toughened glass, with the back also made of glass. The phone is IP52 rated for basic splash resistance.
HMD Crest and Crest Max feature a 6.67” FHD+ 90Hz OLED display
The Crest has a 50MP camera and a depth sensor on the back. It looks like half of the camera budget has been spent on the selfie module, which also has a 50MP sensor. The hands-free selfie feature is a focus in the marketing material, you can trigger it with one of several gestures (e.g. peace sign, thumbs up or heart sign).
50MP selfie camera with hands-free mode
The HMD Crest Max features a 64MP main camera, adds a 5MP ultra-wide camera and changes the helper module to a 2MP macro. The front-facing camera is still 50MP.
Both models have the same 5,000mAh battery, which is rated for 800 charge cycles. It is charged using the 33W adapter included in the package.
Apart from the USB-C port, it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack. Wireless connectivity includes 5G (dual-SIM), Wi-Fi 5 (ac), and Bluetooth 5.0.
HMD Crest phones have a 5,000mAh battery and are repairable
The pair is coming with Android 14 (and it’s free of bloatware, HMD promises). The company has only committed to 2 years of security patches, which isn’t much and says nothing about OS updates.
The Crest models are designed with what HMD calls “Generation 1 repairability” in mind. This means many of the components are easy to replace yourself at home: the screen, battery, charging port, and back panel – all you need is a toolkit and a quick tutorial.
The HMD Crest and Crest Max will go on sale on Amazon India during the retailer’s Great Freedom sale in August. The Crest (6/128GB) is priced at ₹14,500 ($175/€160), while the Crest Max (8/256GB) costs ₹16,500 ($195/€180). That’s their MSRP, anyway, so their prices will drop to ₹13,000 and ₹15,000, respectively, in Amazon’s sale.
