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A disassembled Nokia G22 and repair tool
Photo: ALBERT GEA / REUTERS
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is regarded as a showcase for the mobile communications industry.
New technologies and gadgets are presented at the exhibition center in Barcelona - and of course new smartphones.
Manufacturers usually emphasize the performance of their products, it's about better processors, cameras and screens.
The company HMD Global, which offers smartphones and not-so-smart phones under the Nokia brand, is doing things differently this year: they are focusing on the repairability of a new model.
With the Nokia G22, which is being shown for the first time in Barcelona, users should be able to replace some components themselves within a few minutes.
To make this promise, HMD Global has teamed up with iFixit, a well-known portal where you can view repair manuals for various electronic devices on the one hand, and on the other hand order the spare parts and tools needed for repairs.
Inexpensive to buy and repair
For the G22, iFixit currently offers four parts: the battery, the display, the charging port, and the back case.
With prices between 20 euros for the charging connection and 50 euros for the display, the spare parts are very cheap.
For a surcharge of 5 to 15 euros, you can also order all the tools required for the respective repair from iFixit.
According to HMD, the necessary work should be possible "without extensive technical know-how at home".
For comparison: In Apple's new self-service repair store, a replacement display for an iPhone 12 including tools costs 331 euros.
If you let Apple's technicians replace the display, it costs 339 euros.
However, there are worlds between the Nokia G22 and the iPhone 12 in terms of price and performance.
While the Apple cell phone cost at least 899 euros when it was launched at the end of 2020, you can get the new Nokia for 179 euros.
It is clear that no high-end product is to be expected for this.
At least the G22 has a fairly large 6.5-inch screen.
Its resolution of 720 × 1600 pixels is not particularly high, but sufficient.
The refresh rate is 90Hz, which is good.
The update ends after three years
The device is powered by a lower mid-range processor.
In the back there is a main camera with 50 megapixels and a macro camera with a meager two megapixels.
An 8-megapixel camera is installed on the front for selfies.
Remarkable: The battery life is given as up to three days.
HMD is quite frugal in terms of the promised software updates.
The Nokia G22 is delivered with Android 12. In addition, HMD only promises "two years of Android OS upgrades" and wants to deliver Google's monthly security updates for three years.
With the spare parts provided, the device can theoretically be used well beyond the three-year warranty period.
At the same time, however, you then run the risk of falling victim to security gaps that are no longer patched after the three years have elapsed.