The next smartphone coming from mobile icon Nokia is a user-repairable handset.
The Nokia G22, developed by Finnish manufacturer HMD Global, is a standard smartphone equipped with a 6.5-inch screen and a 50-megapixel main camera.
But what makes the phone special is the phone’s outer shell and internals. The handset includes a recyclable plastic back that can be easily removed to replace broken components.
Using tools and repair guides from hardware repair assistance company iFixit, users can remove and replace the phone’s back cover, battery, screen, and charging port.
Adam Ferguson, head of product marketing at HMD Global, said the process costs an average of 30 percent less than replacing an old phone with a new one.
Smartphone companies are stepping up efforts to extend the lifespan of mobile phones as they come under pressure from regulators to make their electronics more sustainable.
For example, members of the European Parliament are calling for legislation to force manufacturers to give users a “right to repair”.
Right to Repair refers to a movement among consumer rights activists to make it easier for consumers to fix their gadgets.
The European Commission’s Green New Deal aims to turn the bloc into a so-called circular economy by 2050, reusing, repairing, reusing or recycling almost all physical goods to minimize waste. You can keep it to a limit.
Mobile phone repairs, in particular, are more complicated as batteries and other components are sealed with adhesive.
After a long reluctance to change its repair policy, Apple decided in November 2021 to launch a self-service repair program that allows customers to purchase parts and repair their own devices.
In December, the iPhone maker expanded the program to eight European countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Ben Wood, Lead Analyst at CCS Insights, said:
Citing a CSS Insight survey, Wood said about half of mobile phone owners in Europe would have their device repaired if it failed outside the warranty period.
The Nokia G22 has one drawback. It only meets the IP52 benchmark for resistance to harmful substances, which means it will not be damaged by water.
Ferguson said the price point of a mobile phone cannot deliver this feature.
The G22, which goes on sale in the UK on March 8th, starts at £149.99 ($179.19). Replaceable parts can be purchased separately from iFixit. The battery costs £22.99. £44.99 for the display and £18.99 for the charging port.
On average, consumers replacing broken parts are 30% cheaper than buying a new phone, Ferguson said.
Nokia is not the only mobile brand developing climate-friendly smartphones. For example, the Dutch company Fairphone sells a range of phones that use repairable and replaceable parts.
Nokia, once the mobile phone giant, took a back seat as electronics giants Samsung and Apple surged to the top of the rankings. The company is now primarily known for its telecom infrastructure sold to telecom operators.
Nokia sold its mobile business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion ($5.8 billion) in 2014. The division was later bought by HMD, a Finnish Nokia executive founded by him for $350 million. Nokia is pocketing royalties for every phone it sells with HMD.
HMD also said it plans to increase its mobile phone manufacturing in Europe. The company did not specify the location, citing security reasons. In a press release, the company said it was “developing capabilities and processes to bring production of 5G Nokia devices to Europe in 2023.”
The move highlights the continued push by big tech companies to move their supply chains away from China and other East Asian countries.
clock: Apple’s new repair policy is a good step towards ‘Right to Repair’, but it’s a small one