Earlier in Europe, HMD Global had launched the entry-level and repairability-focused Pulse series which has three models all driven by a 12nm Unisoc T606 chipset. And now the company has launched another smartphone, although this time it’s a more affordable model which arrives in Australia as the HMD Aura.
The All New HMD Aura
Display-wise, the HMD Aura gets a 6.56-inch IPS LCD that has an odd resolution of 900 x 1600 pixels. The display on the Aura features a water drop notch for the front camera instead of Pulse Pro’s punch-hole-style cutout. This phone has an aspect ratio of 16:9 (standard in many phones) while, right now, the common trend in the market is more often than not 20:9.
The HMD Aura is available in two color options–Glacier Green and Indigo Black. It rocks the same 28nm Unisoc SC9863A1 chipset as the Nokia C31. If you’re curious how the performance compares to other things, on a GeekBench 6 CPU test benchmark, the device gets scores of around 160 for single-core and 725 for multi-core.
Powered by 4GB of RAM plus 64GB internal storage, the Aura should be more than enough for daily activities such as web browsing and video playback. Under the hood, the device is powered by a 5000mAh battery, which supports charging up to 10W with a USB-C port. The phone also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack — for those of you who would rather not make the jump to wireless audio just yet.
HMD promises big things from the Aura’s camera capabilities, with a 13MP main camera on the rear paired with an auxiliary lens (presumably for depth mapping purposes; it doesn’t sound like this will be particularly compelling otherwise). The Mobile comes with a 5MP front shooter for selfies. The phone comes with a back-mounted fingerprint scanner below the flash module for security.
The software side of things on the HMD Aura is easily one of its biggest highlights, as it ships with Android 13 out-of-the-box. Meanwhile, with a price tag of around AUD 180 (approximately $118), the device lies within the budget-friendly segment. By comparison, the HMD Pulse with 4GB of RAM and 128GB storage is priced at AUD$249 (around $150), which makes Aura a more wallet-friendly option for consumers.
