How much did you pay for your last phone? If you own a flagship or even a mid-tier phone from Apple or Samsung, you spent quite a bit. Even if you opted for one of the more budget-friendly phones, we’d be willing to bet this newest release from HMD is still less expensive.
The new HMD Key is available for sale in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, and while there’s no word on a U.S. release yet, we hope to see it launch there because this handset is only $75. Yes, you read that right: $75.
The HMD Key is an extremely budget-focused phone that achieves that low price at the cost of specs. Compared to most devices on the market, the Key just can’t compete. It has a 6.52-inch display, maxes out at only 460 nits brightness — barely enough to use outside on a sunny day — and has a resolution of 576 x 1280, according to TechRadar.
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These are eyebrow-raising specs, but not in a good way. They’re essentially on par with the weakest phones on the market, but for a $75 smartphone, it’s hard to complain that much. The HMD Key comes with 32GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM, and a Unisoc chipset. One area this phone does exceed in, though, is battery life — at least according to HDM. The Key can supposedly reach 47 hours of battery life on a single charge. This is likely the maximum standby time, though; even with its low brightness and minimal specs, regular use will still drain the battery at a greater rate.
Unfortunately, users hoping for an easy-on-the-wallet way to check out Android 15 are out of luck. The HMD Key runs a bare-bones version of Android 14 Go, so it isn’t even on the level of a phone from several years ago. Still, it’s cool to see a phone at this price that can access popular social media and entertainment apps on the go. The price point makes it an excellent choice for a child’s first phone, for example.
Will we ever see the HMD Key debut in the U.S.? It’s tough to say, but we certainly hope so. Even if it’s not the most tech-savvy phone, more budget options are always a good thing — especially when they’re this affordable.
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