HMD Global has launched the Nokia G22 repairable smartphone

The next smartphone to come from mobile icon Nokia is a handset that users can customize themselves.

The Nokia G22, developed by the Finnish manufacturer HMD Global, is a standard smartphone with a 6.5-inch screen and a 50-megapixel primary camera.

But the outer shell and interior of the phone is what makes it special. The handset comes with a recyclable plastic back that can be easily removed to replace broken parts.

Using repair tools and guides from hardware repair advocacy firm 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 this process costs an average of 30% less than replacing an old phone with a new one.

Smartphone companies are increasingly trying to make phones last longer amid pressure from regulators to make electronics devices more sustainable.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament, for example, are calling for legislation that would force manufacturers to give users the “right to repair.”

Right to repair refers to a movement among consumer rights campaigners to make it easier for consumers to repair their gadgets.

The European Commission’s Green New Deal aims to turn the bloc into a so-called circular economy by 2050, making it so that almost all physical goods can be reused, repaired, reused or recycled to reduce waste.

Repairing phones, in particular, has become more complicated because of how tightly the battery and other parts are covered in glue.

Apple, which has long been reluctant to change its repair policies, decided in November 2021 to launch a self-service repair program that allows customers to buy parts to repair their own devices .

In December, the iPhone maker expanded this program to eight European countries, including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK

“As consumers increasingly demand more durable and longer-lasting devices, the ability to repair smartphones easily and affordably will be a key differentiator in the market,” said Ben Wood, lead analyst at CCS Insight .

Almost half of mobile phone owners in Europe will have their device repaired if it breaks outside of their warrant period, Wood said, citing research by CSS Insight.

There is one drawback to the Nokia G22 — it only meets the IP52 benchmark for resistance to harmful substances, meaning it’s not immune to water damage.

Ferguson says it can’t achieve this feature at the phone’s price point.

The G22, which will be released in the UK on Mar. 8, will start at a price of £149.99 ($179.19). Replaceable parts can be purchased individually from iFixit. For the battery, it costs £22.99; for the display, £44.99, and for the charging port, £18.99.

Ferguson says that, on average, consumers will pay 30% less to replace their broken parts than to buy a new phone.

Nokia is not the only mobile brand developing climate-conscious smartphones. Dutch firm Fairphone, for example, sells a range of phones that use repairable and replaceable parts.

Once a titan in the handset industry, Nokia has since taken a backseat as electronics giants Samsung and Apple have risen to the top of the ranks. The company is now known mostly for telecom infrastructure sold to carriers.

Nokia sold its mobile business to Microsoft for 5.4 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in 2014. The unit was later bought by HMD, formed by Nokia executives in Finland, for $350 million. Nokia pours a royalty fee on every phone sold by HMD.

HMD said it also plans to take more manufacturing of its phones to Europe. The company did not specify which, citing security reasons. In a press release, the firm said it is “developing capabilities and processes to bring production of 5G Nokia devices to Europe by 2023.”

The move highlights the continued movement by big tech companies of their supply chains away from China and other East Asian countries.

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