HMD Fusion smartphone review: Get for unique design and features

Rating – 3.5/5
HMD Global, which licenses the Nokia brand for mobile devices, has been focusing on offering reliable phones that emphasise durability and usability rather than cutting-edge performance specs. The company’s latest offering, the HMD Fusion, priced at Rs 17,999, continues this trend with a focus on reliability and self-repairability, along with customisable design elements that adds a fun twist.In a world where most affordable smartphones don’t support modularity, HMD Fusion dares to be different.

HMD announced the Fusion smartphone alongside an updated version of their development toolkit. The company also introduced a collection of modular accessories called Outfits, including a basic TPU protective case, an attachment with a built-in LED ring light, a heavy-duty case with IP68 water and dust resistance, a magnetic wireless charging attachment, and a gaming controller add-on.
But will these Outfits be enough to compete with more powerful devices in this price segment? We have been using the HMD Fusion for some time now. Here’s what we think about the unique smartphone’s capability.

Design and display

The HMD Fusion is a phone that commands attention with its design. The phone offers a decent in-hand feel even if it doesn’t scream premium. At first look (without any outfits), the industrial aesthetic of the phone—exposed screws, a translucent rear panel, and the bold use of pogo pins on the back for modular attachments, makes an impression.
This is what sets it apart from the sea of generic smartphone designs. With this phone, HMD has aimed for something functional yet distinct. Using the Fusion without any Outfit exposes its rugged yet minimalist charm. The back of the device features what looks like a battery plate but is a stainless-steel reinforced plastic panel. This adds to the phone’s durability and repairability. The 108MP AI camera setup is placed above the panel while 6 contact pins are located below.

The black finish, though understated, pairs well with the phone’s practical ethos, but we found ourselves wishing for more colour options to enhance its appeal. And, this is where the Outfits come in. The Fusion’s modular case system, called Outfits, comes in two varieties. The basic Casual Outfit is a standard TPU protective case included with the phone, though currently only available in black in India.

The premium Smart Outfits line features two specialised accessories. The Flashy Outfit (Rs. 2,999) incorporates a hinged LED ring light around the camera module that doubles as a kickstand. The Gaming Outfit (also Rs. 2,999) adds physical game controller buttons for a more tactile gaming experience (which we will talk more about later).
These Smart Outfits connect through six contact pins at the case bottom, enabling software integration. The Flashy Outfit adds camera app controls for adjusting the LED brightness and colour temperature, while the Gaming Outfit provides responsive, low-latency controller input compared to Bluetooth alternatives. Both accessories require removing the standard Casual Outfit before use.

The modular design extends beyond official accessories – HMD encourages users to create custom Outfits using their development toolkit and 3D printing. This DIY-friendly approach aligns with the phone’s repairability focus, featuring easily accessible screws beneath the TPU case for battery replacement and repairs without special tools.
The Fusion itself sports a minimalist design with a translucent back panel showing internal components and decorative screws, creating an industrial aesthetic. Despite its slim profile, it maintains an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance – meeting standard expectations for its price segment.
Prying off the outfits reveals the simplicity of its modular design, which allows for easy repairs with a standard Phillips screwdriver. The phone itself feels slightly bulky in hand but has its weight well distributed. The Fusion doesn’t have a very tall stance and can be easily used single-handedly.

The display, however, is where the Fusion stumbles a little. The phone has a 6.56-inch HD+ LCD screen which houses the front camera. While serviceable for basic tasks like browsing and streaming, the display lacks the vibrancy and sharpness found in competing devices.
Up close, the relatively low resolution becomes noticeable, especially when viewing detailed content or using the camera app. The default 60Hz refresh rate can be bumped up to 90Hz in the settings, which is recommended for smoother scrolling and transitions.
The display’s lower resolution makes text and images appear less crisp, and although the screen can be set to its highest refresh rate, there’s noticeable motion blur and lag when scrolling through content.
Under bright sunlight, the screen struggles with visibility due to its modest 600-nit peak brightness. Indoors, the colours appear muted, but the experience is acceptable for casual use.
Adjusting the white balance slider in the display settings helped slightly, but the absence of any mention of protective glass left us cautious about durability. Thankfully, the phone’s repair-friendly design ensures that replacing a damaged screen is straightforward.
The audio is basic, with a single speaker supported by OZO playback. It provides decent output for calls and casual media consumption, but the lack of stereo sound limits its multimedia capabilities.
An unexpected issue was the occasional popping noise from the speaker when scrolling through media, which detracted from an otherwise smooth user experience. Thankfully, the presence of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a welcome addition for wired audio enthusiasts.

Camera

The HMD Fusion’s camera setup, while impressive on paper, delivers mixed results in real-world usage. The 108 MP main camera is paired with a 2 MP depth sensor, and a 50 MP front-facing camera completes the trio. While the hardware specs are promising, the execution leaves room for improvement.

The 108 MP primary sensor captures 12 MP pixel-binned images by default, which are decent but not remarkable. In bright daylight, photos exhibit acceptable sharpness and detail, but the colour reproduction can be hit or miss.
Occasionally, images lean towards cooler tones, with certain colours either muted or overly saturated. Dynamic range is decent, but not exceptional; highlights are sometimes blown out in scenes with high contrast.
Low-light photography is a challenge. Without optical image stabilisation (OIS), the shutter requires a steady hand to avoid blurriness.
Using the dedicated Night Mode improves the results slightly by enhancing brightness and reducing noise, but details remain soft, and textures lack definition.

The absence of an ultra-wide or telephoto lens limits versatility, but the main camera does offer a digital zoom up to 3x. At 2x, the images retain a fair amount of detail in good lighting, though the noise becomes noticeable at 3x, particularly in dim conditions. Autofocus can occasionally struggle, especially in low light or when zooming.
The 50 MP front camera performs well for casual selfies, producing sharp and detailed images in well-lit environments. Skin tones appear natural, with the option to tweak brightness and warmth in the camera settings.
The Flashy Outfit, a modular attachment with a ring light, adds a unique advantage for low-light selfies, but even with this, the images lack the finesse seen in higher-end devices.
Selfie gestures and focus peaking are handy additions, but the camera lacks advanced features like eye tracking, and it defaults to a slightly zoomed-in 1.2x crop, which can be limiting for group selfies.
Video capabilities on the Fusion are capped at 1080p at 30 or 60 fps for both the front and rear cameras. Yet, the video quality is surprisingly good for the price range, with effective electronic image stabilization (EIS) minimising shake during handheld recording.
Audio capture is enhanced by OZO recording technology, offering clear and immersive sound through the dual microphones.
However, the lack of 4K recording or advanced stabilisation features like Ultra-Steady Mode puts Fusion behind competitors in this price segment.
The camera app is intuitive and offers a variety of modes, including Pro Mode with RAW capture and 108 MP full-resolution shooting. However, some features from higher-end models, such as astrophotography or ultra-steady video, are missing here.
The HMD Fusion’s cameras are functional but far from groundbreaking. They perform adequately for everyday scenarios, but the inconsistency in colour reproduction, challenges in low-light conditions, and lack of versatility with the dual-camera setup hold it back from being a standout option.
While the modular Flashy Outfit adds an interesting twist, it doesn’t significantly elevate the overall camera experience.

Performance

The HMD Fusion comes powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset that offers a balanced performance for its price range. Paired with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal storage (expandable via a hybrid SIM/microSD slot), it’s designed to handle everyday tasks with ease, though its limits become apparent under heavier loads.
In day-to-day usage, Fusion handles routine tasks like browsing, streaming, and managing social media apps smoothly. App launches are moderately fast and switching between apps is generally responsive.

However, we did notice occasional stutters, particularly when running multiple apps simultaneously or switching between more resource-heavy ones.
The software experience is close to stock Android 14, which helps keep the interface clean and straightforward. That said, the phone does come preloaded with several third-party apps, including games and utilities, which we were able to uninstall to improve responsiveness. Even with the lighter software load, the performance isn’t snappy, and animations can feel a bit sluggish.
Gaming on the Fusion is a mixed bag. The Adreno 613 GPU, while not particularly powerful, manages to deliver a playable experience for casual games like Subway Surfers and Clash Royale.

For more demanding titles like Genshin Impact and BGMI, we had to dial down the graphics and FPS settings to medium. At these settings, the gameplay was stable and free of major frame drops, but textures and effects lacked detail, especially on the Fusion’s 720p display.
For extended casual gaming sessions, the phone remained relatively cool to the touch, thanks to its efficient 4nm fabrication process. However, more graphically intensive games like Genshin Impact were a different story. Even at the lowest settings, the gameplay felt choppy and the phone struggled to maintain consistent performance.
Coming back to the bundled Gaming Outfit, the experience with it was decent. However, it’s important to note that it works only with some games. We tried out Gameloft titles like Asphalt Extreme and Modern Combat 5 and it was a nice and unique experience.

Battery and connectivity

The 5,000 mAh battery is one of the Fusion’s strong suits. It easily lasted through a full day of mixed-use, including a few hours of gaming, browsing, and streaming.
Even after an hour-long gaming session, we had over 70% battery remaining, which is impressive. The phone supports 33W fast charging, which isn’t the fastest but is acceptable at this price point.
Connectivity is also good, with support for multiple 5G bands, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6, and a USB Type-C 2.0 port. Download speeds were reliable, and we didn’t experience any noticeable lags during online gaming or video streaming sessions.

Verdict

The HMD Fusion performs well for casual users who stick to browsing, social media, and light gaming. However, for anyone looking to push the limits with demanding apps or graphically intensive games, the phone’s limitations become evident.
The Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset and Adreno 613 GPU simply aren’t built for heavy lifting, though the lower resolution display helps mask some of the graphical shortcomings.
For its price, the Fusion is a decent performer, but it’s clear this phone prioritises efficiency and battery life over raw power.
This budget-friendly device also offers unique customisation options. While its hardware and software are adequate for its price point, the real allure lies in its adaptability.
From swappable Outfits like a built-in LED ring light to enterprise-focused accessories like barcode scanners, the Fusion redefines what a budget smartphone can be. Add to that a user-replaceable battery and you have a phone designed for both practicality and play.
If you’re more into modifications but ready to compromise a little on camera and overall performance, HMD Fusion can be a solid option to consider.