While we’re not quite sure whether a budget 4G phone has the longevity everyone will want, the move to make it repairable is exciting nonetheless.
Technology can have such a weird lifecycle these days. You buy it, you use it, and then you throw it away, and while this seems particularly wasteful, it’s more or less what life is like when you own technology in the modern era.
When’s the last time you considered repairing a broken mouse or keyboard? And when your computer breaks down, will you look for someone to repair what’s wrong, or will its complex status of repair-ability just make you buy something new altogether?
Technology companies can be a part of the problem, because that ability to repair something isn’t found in every product.
If you break an Apple Watch, you can’t just fix it yourself. You’ll need to take it to a specialist, and if it’s Apple and you don’t have Apple Care, the price of repairs can almost feel like it’s just worth buying a new one. There we are then, right back to the expectation that you’re just replacing something rather than fixing it in the first place.
Gadgets aren’t typically going to be repaired by you, which is a bit of a shame, but some companies are beginning to wake up and let that happen. If you have the confidence, Apple has been offering DIY repair support for some of its gear for some time, and it’s not alone, as HMD releases its repairable Nokia G22 in Australia, as well.
A bit of a strange one, the Nokia G22 isn’t a high-end phone by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, it’s a 4G only phone with a 6.52 inch HD+ screen, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage, and a $349 price.
Placed at the end budget phones, the Nokia G22 isn’t the likely culprit you might expect for a repairable phone, simply because the price of its parts mightn’t seem all that costly in comparison.
In fact locally, the G22 parts for repair will see a replacement charging port for $42.99, a replacement battery for $49.99, and a replacement screen at $89.99. If your G22 was pretty broken and ruined, those three parts alone make up half the cost of the phone outright.
It’s therefore a little surprising to not see this repairable focus applied to some of HMD’s more expensive phones, even initially, though we’ll admit this is at least a good beginning, and is supported by repair kits and documentation from iFixit.
Worth noting that it is entirely possible that this is just the beginning for HMD’s repairable efforts, and we could see more devices supporting this DIY fixing status. While it won’t be something that everyone embraces, it does mean you might just consider what the next step is when your phone breaks or dies, instead of just throwing it out with everything else.
