BARCELONA—At HMD’s Mobile World Congress press event, the company introduced an unlikely new collaborator: Drew Barrymore. The actress spoke of her wild childhood, her concerns as a parent, and how she is glad that HMD has developed a phone that helps kids grow up with technology safely. The HMD Fusion X1 is a variant of the company’s Fusion phone that includes parental controls built into the OS level.
The company spoke about how difficult it can be to set up parental guardrails and how easy it is for kids to find workarounds online. To that end, HMD says its controls are designed for parents and are difficult to circumvent.
HMD Fusion X1 (Credit: Alex Humphreys)
HMD partnered with Xplora to make the Fusion X1 capable of continuous location tracking, app limitations, low-battery warnings, and parental access. This peace of mind requires a subscription, priced around $5 per month (this varies by market). The company didn’t talk much about the hardware itself, but I got a chance to check the phone out briefly at the event.
The Fusion X1 feels solid and nicely built, but not exactly premium. It has an industrial look with exposed screws, a metal plate, and pogo pin connectors on the back. HMD offers cases called Smart Outfits that enhance the experience with accessories like a game controller, camera light (pictured below), and/or magnetic Qi charging.
(Credit: Alex Humphreys)
If the Fusion X1 turns out to use the same hardware as the regular Fusion, that would mean it features a 6.56-inch display at a resolution of 1,612 by 720 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, and an average brightness of 480 nits. The Fusion runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. More interestingly, it features user-replaceable parts. Pricing of the X1 was not revealed, but it’s set to arrive in April.
HMD Amped Buds and Feature Phones
The company also unveiled the HMD Amped Buds, its own pair of wireless earbuds. The included case doesn’t just charge the earbuds—it can charge any Qi-compatible device. It also features magnets, so you can slap it on the back of a MagSafe iPhone if you want. The company touted that the Amped Buds have a battery life exceeding 90 hours.
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(Credit: Alex Humphreys)
Feature phone lovers, HMD hasn’t forgotten you. The new HMD 130 and HMD 150 are candy-bar-style phones with number keypads. The 130 has a built-in flashlight, while the 150 has a QVGA camera. Both should last up to a month on a single charge (in standby mode).
Left to right: HMD 130, HMD 150 (Credit: Alex Humphreys)
Pricing and availability for the earbuds and phone weren’t mentioned, but we’ll update this story with more details as they arrive.
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About Iyaz Akhtar
Mobile Analyst
