HMD Global, the owner of Nokia, has lifted the lid off 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 need to walk into an electronics store again.
Developed in partnership with the global iFixit repair community, the Nokia G22 is designed to be easily repaired by anyone, anywhere with just a few low-cost tools.
The phone’s battery, screen, charging port and back cover can be removed and replaced in minutes, which HMD Global says should allow owners to continue using the G22 for years after the three-year warranty expires.
We tried our own in-house repairs on the back panel of a Nokia G22 sample sent to us before the phone was announced, and it was actually a pretty straightforward process. All you need is a G22 repair kit for specific parts – it’s available for purchase iFixit.com (opens in a new tab) for just £27.99 (around $33 / AU$49) – plus any spare parts your phone needs (also in stock at iFixit.com).
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The G22 itself will retail for £149.99 / $349 (around AU$180) – which could make it one of the best cheap phones to launch in 2023 – and will start shipping in the UK from March 8 and early April In Australia. In addition to repairability credentials, the phone will ship with a 6.5-inch 90Hz HD+ display, Unisoc T606a processor, 50MP main rear camera, 5050mAh battery, and IP52 water and dust resistance.
It will come in two storage configurations – 64GB and 128GB, both with 4GB of RAM – and the G22 will also run Android 12, says HMD Global.
Of course, 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 who aren’t interested in spending four figures on their mobile devices (hence the company focuses on repairability and longevity).
“People value durable, high-quality devices and should not compromise the price to get one. The new Nokia G22 has been intentionally built to be repairable, so it can last even longer,” said HMD Global’s head of product marketing, Adam Ferguson, in a TechRadar presentation.
Good things come in threes
Ahead of MWC 2023, Nokia also unveiled two new additions to its popular C-series, the Nokia C22 and Nokia C32.
Featuring all the durability bells and whistles of existing C-Series smartphones, the C22 will come in two storage configurations – 64GB with 2GB RAM or 3GB RAM – and offer an impressive three-day battery life.
The phone will retail for £109.99 (around $130 / AU$195) and will launch in the northern hemisphere spring (which is between March and June for our Australian readers with local TBC pricing).
The C32, on the other hand, will arrive sporting Android 13 and a 50MP main rear camera (where the C22 has to make do with the 13MP main lens) and will retail for a slightly more expensive £129.99/$249 (around AU$155) . Both phones will share a 6.5-inch HD+ display with the aforementioned Nokia G22.
We’ll share our thoughts on all three phones as we spend a bit more time with each one in the near future. In the meantime, stay tuned to TechRadar for the latest MWC news and announcements.