Nokia’s new G22 smartphone might be the most easily repairable device of its kind
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Nokia owner HMD Global has unveiled not one, not two, but three new smartphones ahead of MWC Barcelona 2023 – and one of them is so easy to repair you may never have to step into an electronics store again.
Crafted in collaboration with the global repair community iFixit, the Nokia G22 is designed to be easily repaired by anyone, anywhere with just a handful of inexpensive tools.
The battery, screen, charging port and back of the phone can all be removed and replaced in minutes, which HMD Global says should allow owners to keep using the G22 for years after its three-year warranty has expired.
We’ve tried our own home repairs on a Nokia G22 sample sent to us prior to the phone’s announcement, and it’s really a fairly straightforward process. All you need is a G22 Fit Kit – which HMD Global says will retail for just £5 (about $6 / AU$9) from iFixit.com – as well as all the replacement parts your phone needs (which will also be provided by iFixit.com).
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The G22 itself will retail for £149.99 (around $180 / AU$260) – which could make it one of the best budget phones to launch in 2023 – and will ship in the UK from 8 March. comes with a 6.5-inch, 90Hz HD+ display, a Unisoc T606a processor, a 50 MP main rear camera, a 5050 mAh battery and IP52 water and dust resistance.
It will be available in two storage configurations – 64GB and 128GB, both with 4GB of RAM – and the G22 will also run Android 12 to begin with, says HMD Global.
Obviously these specs suggest that the Nokia G22 won’t challenge the best iPhones and the best Samsung phones for the title of best smartphone in 2023, but HMD Global is targeting consumers here who aren’t interested in spending four figures to their mobile devices. (hence the company’s focus on repairability and longevity).
“People value durable quality devices and they shouldn’t compromise on price to get it. The new Nokia G22 is purpose built with a repairable design so you can use it even longer,” said HMD Global’s Head of Product Marketing, Adam Ferguson, in a presentation to TechRadar.
Good things come in threes
Nokia has also unveiled two new entries in its popular C-Series lineup, the Nokia C22 and Nokia C32 ahead of MWC 2023.
With all the durability bells and whistles of the brand’s existing C-series smartphones, the C22 will be available in two storage configurations – 64GB with 2GB RAM or 3GB RAM – and a whopping three days of battery life.
The phone retails for £109.99 (around $130 / AU$195) and ships in the spring (that’s between March and June for our Australian readers).
The C32, on the other hand, will arrive with Android 13 and a 50MP main rear camera (where the C22 has to make do with a 13MP main lens), and retail for the slightly more expensive price of £129.99 ( about $155/$230). ). Both phones share the 6.5-inch HD+ screen of the aforementioned Nokia G22.
We’ll share our thoughts on all three phones once we’ve spent a little more time with each of them in the near future. In the meantime, stay tuned to TechRadar for the latest news and announcements from this year’s MWC show.