Nokia (HMD) and iFixit achieve the feat of offering a phone for less than 200 euros to which several elements can be changed. At MWC 2023, we tested the operation – it’s even easier than we thought.
We announced it to you at the beginning of MWC 2023, Nokia (HMD) and iFixit have teamed up to make the brand’s latest smartphone, the Nokia G22, easily repairable for ordinary mortals. The structure of the phone itself has been designed to facilitate handling and allow the change of a battery, a charging port, a screen or the rear panel. We attended the complete teardown of the phone before getting our hands a bit dirty too.
The Nokia G22 // Source: Frandroid
The Nokia G22 // Source: Frandroid
The Nokia G22 // Source: Frandroid
The Nokia G22 // Source: Frandroid
The demonstration is convincing. Even if the demonstrator who demonstrated it to us worked for iFixit and therefore probably received the proper training, dismantling the Nokia G22 seemed incredibly simple to us.
some tools and let’s go
To get started, you’ll need a small toolkit designed by iFixit and sold with G22 replacement parts. Includes a pick, a screwdriver and a small tool to pick up the pieces and unhook them. That’s all you’ll need.
iFixit Phone and Toolbox // Source: Frandroid
The iFixit Toolbox // Source: Frandroid
You have to start by removing the SIM drawer. The latter is a bit different than usual, a small flat hole invites you to slide the pick into it. From there, with a slight flick of the wrist, jump up, you are in the process of removing the frame of the phone from the back. 30 seconds to a minute later and some exertion (not a bad thing), the back of the phone comes off.
There, we had to turn a screw in the connector and remove a small metal element and voila, the back is already disassembled.
Make way for the drums, but they won’t be long in knowing. To remove it, HMD has integrated several plastic strips to make it easier to pull. We pull and jump, the battery comes out very easily. Child’s play.
Space for screen and charging port
For the rest of the elements, the screen and the charging port, we left it in the hands of the professional so as not to hog the support, but the operation did not seem so complicated. The charging port requires removing 8 screws at the base of the phone, removing one connector and you’re done. The screen itself requires removing the motherboard and some extra fiddling, but even without ever taking a phone apart, it seemed totally within my reach.
Source: Frandroid
Source: Frandroid
Let’s be clear: we were completely excited about this presentation. Managing to present a phone with a relatively modern format for less than 200 euros, from which four breakage-sensitive elements can be easily removed, is prodigious.
Fairphone certainly does, but in a phone that suffers from significant inflation due to this teardown capability. The Nokia G22 is a very basic entry-level phone, which happens to be removable. Here is a good idea.
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