Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Why Nokia made an Android phone it wants you to tear apart

Andy Boxall
By
Check out our complete coverage of MWC 2023

HMD Global is making it easier to repair your smartphone. It has announced the Nokia G22 as the first to qualify under its new “QuickFix” program, which is aimed at minimizing the effort, knowledge, and expense that’s usually involved in replacing a broken screen or a battery that’s past its prime.

The company also has a couple of other new Android phones aimed directly at budget-conscious buyers, and all of it is part of the company’s big Mobile World Congress 2023 launch lineup. Here’s a look at everything that’s new.

Related Videos

Nokia G22

The Nokia G22 held in a person's hand.

For the Nokia G22, HMD Global has partnered with iFixit to provide official replacement parts and the basic tools required to complete the job. Although it may initially seem daunting to split your phone apart and start pulling out components, HMD Global genuinely seems to have made the task much easier than you would expect.

Related

During a presentation of the Nokia G22 ahead of its announcement, an HMD Global representative tore down the Nokia G22 and swapped the battery for a new one in a few seconds under five minutes, all while still giving a presentation. The job was performed using three tools: the included SIM tray removal tool, a 00 screwdriver, and a guitar pick to help separate the back cover from the chassis. The screwdriver and the pick can be purchased from iFixit, along with a new battery.

The Nokia G22 broken down into its component parts.
The Nokia G22 in its component parts HMD Global

The cost is reasonable at 30 euros/$31 for the battery, or 50 euros/$52 for a new display, with the toolkit adding an extra five euros/$5. While the battery swap took five minutes, changing the display is more complicated and is estimated to take 20 minutes. These costs are approximately 30% cheaper than paying a company to do it, and HMD Global says the process has 50% fewer steps than before. Professional companies take about 45 minutes to swap a battery in a competing phone, according to HMD Global.

All this increases the Nokia G22’s longevity, but is it a phone you’ll want to buy and keep for a long time? It’s not a flagship phone and costs just 179 euros, or about $180. For this, you get a 6.5-inch screen, a 100% recycled plastic case, a 5,050mAh battery with an estimated three-day use, and a Unisoc T606 processor. It comes in two colors, Lagoon Blue and Meteor Gray. It has an IP52 water- and dust-resistance rating, which isn’t affected by any repair, provided the instructions are followed properly.

The Nokia G22 in its two available colors, grey and blue.
HMD Global

Unfortunately, it comes with Android 12 installed, which HMD Global says is due to an extended development time for the phone, and getting it to Android 13 will eat into one of its two guaranteed major updates. It also comes with three years of security updates, which is good for a smartphone at this price. It’s also a 4G-only phone, which again affects longevity. The main camera on the back has 50 megapixels and sits alongside a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth camera.

The specifications aren’t what makes the Nokia G22 exciting; it’s the relative ease of repair for a low entry price, from a brand already associated with durability. Outside of Fairphone, this level of repairability is rarely seen, and it is another addition to HMD Global’s increasing list of similarly environmentally conscious initiatives. We hope to see it come to more models soon.

Nokia C22

The Nokia C22 in its two colors, gold and black.
HMD Global

The Nokia G22 and QuickFix are HMD Global’s most interesting announcements for MWC 2023, but it also has a couple of other phones to show off. The Nokia C22 is a simple 4G smartphone with Android 13 Go Edition installed, a 1.6Ghz octa-core Unisoc processor, and a 5,000mAh battery for three days of use. There’s a choice between 2GB or 3GB of RAM, and each comes with 64GB of internal storage space and a MicroSD card slot too.

On the back is a 13MP main camera and a 2MP macro camera, plus there’s an 8MP selfie camera at the top of the screen, along with a fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone. The polycarbonate unibody has an IP52 water-resistance rating, and there’s toughened 2.5D glass over the screen, and even a 3.5mm headphone jack on the body. It comes in either Midnight Black or Sand colors and will cost just 109 euros, which is around $115.

Nokia C32

The Nokia C32 in its three colors, black, green, and pink.
HMD Global

The Nokia C32 is another 4G phone, but this time is made of toughened glass for a premium finish, which is unusual considering its 129 euros (approximately $136) price. It runs full Android 13 and comes in either Charcoal, Autumn Green, or Beach Pink colors.

It’s another 1.6GHz Unisoc processor inside with either 3GB or 4GB of RAM, plus either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage space. The 5,000mAh battery should last for three days between charges. There’s an IP52 water- and dust-resistance rating, a 6.5-inch screen, and a 50MP main rear camera.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Apple Watch Series 9: the 6 biggest things we want to see
The Apple Watch Ultra with the Apple Watch Series 8 and Watch SE 2.

The Apple Watch Series 8 was a bit of a boring release for Apple’s wearable, as it wasn’t a huge upgrade over the Apple Watch Series 7; Apple seemed to spend more energy focusing on the Apple Watch Ultra instead. The only real upgrades for the Series 8 were the newer-generation S8 chip and a new body temperature sensor, though the use cases for that are pretty limited. But if you didn’t have a Series 7, then the Apple Watch Series 8 was still a great upgrade for those coming from older models.

We’re still a few months away from Apple revealing the next generation of Apple Watch with a Series 9 model, which is most likely coming sometime in the fall, along with the iPhone 15. But until then, here’s what I’m hoping Apple will put in the Apple Watch Series 9 when it finally comes out.
Nonintrusive blood glucose monitoring

Read more
What is 5G UW? The real meaning behind the icon on your phone
Woman holding up smartphone with speed test results on Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network.

You've probably noticed that there's been much more hype around 5G than for any of the wireless technologies that came before. Some of that is just marketing, of course; we are living in an increasingly connected era, and there are far more people toting smartphones now than there were in 2012 when 4G/LTE was just beginning to go mainstream. However, it's also not an exaggeration to say that with considerably faster speeds and the ability to handle many more devices, 5G is a much bigger step into the next stage of global connectivity. You've also probably noticed it yourself with a "5G UW" icon at the top of your phone.

As with most new technologies, 5G comes with some new challenges for both carriers and consumers. One of the most significant of these has been working out the best way to deploy 5G services across the much wider range of frequencies that it's capable of operating on. This wasn't nearly as significant a problem in the days of 3G and 4G/LTE services, which all operated in a much narrower range of radio spectrum.

Read more
iPhone 15: release date and price predictions, leaks, rumors, and more
iPhone 15 render by 4RMD

As great as the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are, they're both already a few months old at this point, and the rumors about the iPhone 15 are well underway. We still have several months before the iPhone 15 models drop, though, as Apple usually makes iPhone announcements in the fall. In other words, there's still a lot of time for rumors to circulate around the internet.

We're keeping all of the reports and rumors of the iPhone 15 here in a single place for your convenience, but do remember to keep in mind that these are all still just speculation. Nothing is final until Apple confirms it during an official announcement. Still, a lot of the rumors give us an idea of what to expect each year, which is unfortunate if you like surprises. Here's everything we know of the iPhone 15 so far!
iPhone 15: models

Read more