Nokia G22 is so easy to repair, you can replace your battery in just 5 minutes

Nokia G22 is so easy to repair, you can replace your battery in just 5 minutes

Modern technology is complex, and when things go wrong, you inevitably have to seek professional help. Depending on how serious the problem is, you may or may not be charged a fortune. Fortunately, the self-healing movement is making progress, and HMD has joined that camp with the launch of the Nokia G22.

The Nokia G22 is no ordinary flagship smartphone product. In fact, when it launches in the UK in March, it will be priced at only 150 pounds (price and availability in the US is yet to be confirmed). But what it may lack in premium features, it certainly makes up for in terms of repairability.

HMD, which currently manufactures Nokia phones, emphasizes that it wants to help people keep their phones longer. Part of that philosophy is to make self-repair easier, primarily with regard to the battery and display. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are the two components that cause the most problems, HMD says.

Therefore, measures have been taken to ensure that the G22's battery and screen can be replaced fairly easily. This means reducing the number of steps required to access both components and detailing how to do it yourself using standard cell phone repair tools.

The parts will be available for purchase for the next few years, and iFixit will provide detailed instructions on how to perform these repairs yourself. iFixit has demonstrated that battery replacement takes about 5 minutes from start to finish, and screen replacement is said to take about 20 minutes.

But the best part? This self-repair does not void the warranty and, according to HMD, does not affect the waterproof or dustproof performance.

The Nokia G22 is still firmly in the budget phone range, but offers pretty solid specs. The battery offers a capacity of 5,050 mAh, is rated to last three days, and can be charged at a speed of 20W. In addition to this, there is a 50 MP main camera lens with f/1.8 aperture, a 6.52-inch display offering a 90 Hz refresh rate, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a microSD card slot for up to 2 TB.

Of course, there are a few caveats. The glass is made of aging Gorilla Glass 3 and the screen resolution is limited to 720p. The rear camera is also quite disappointing, with a 2MP depth lens and a macro lens. The same can be said for the 64GB of internal storage, 4GB of RAM, and the fact that the OS upgrade runs on Android 12, which is only two years old.

While it is great to see another cell phone company embrace self-healing, the fact remains that hardware is only part of the equation. Cell phones need more long-term software support, especially when it comes to security, something Android has always lacked.

Still, baby steps. While the Apple and Samsungs of the world have already begun offering their own self-repair services, these phones are incredibly complex - and the prospect of opening them may be daunting to the novice. Especially since doing so puts the warranty at risk.

HMD may not have as much clout as the major phone companies, but this is still a positive move. At the very least, it's nice to see a company other than Fairphone beginning to take repairs seriously.

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