Nokia G22 Review: Repair It Yourself

Nokia has a range of budget smartphones to choose from. However, the G22 has a very unique selling point above others in the range – and in the market more generally.

The G22’s build is designed with repairability in mind, meaning that you should be able to replace the battery, display and other parts at home, without the need to go to a specialist shop. 

In theory, this should save both time and money – plus, it’s in-keeping with HMD Global’s promise (as the current maker of Nokia-branded phones) to be friendlier to the environment with its products. But how does this budget buy perform? Here’s got everything you need to know.  

Design & Build 

• Repairable build
• IP52 rating
• Headphone jack

The Nokia G22 comes in a choice of two colours: Meteor Grey and Lagoon Blue, the version I tested. Whilst the recycled plastic back has a nice shine to it, it is prone to picking up fingerprints quite easily. It also isn’t quite as premium looking as some other Nokia phones like the C32 with its glossy glass back, but that is the trade-off for a repairable build.

The phone is quite lightweight at 195g, though it isn’t the slimmest I’ve used. Nonetheless, its easy to use one-handed and will fit in larger pockets. There is a clear case included in the box, and the phone has an IP52 rating, so it is protected against some light water spray but it won’t survive a dunk in the pool (or toilet).

There is a side-mounted power button with a fingerprint sensor integrated, which I found to work quite consistently. If you prefer, you can just rely on face recognition, or a trusty old passcode.  

This phone thankfully has a headphone jack, a welcome inclusion when many other smartphones are ditching them in favour of USB-C earphones and wireless bud connections. You can also use two physical SIM cards thanks to the dual SIM slot, or you can instead use one SIM and a microSD card to expand the phone’s storage.

Now for the biggest selling point of the Nokia G22, the repairable build. In theory, you should be able to swap out the battery, display, charging port or rear cover should they become damaged or stop working over time.  

Nokia doesn’t include a build kit or parts with the phone. However a kit only costs £26.99 and then buying the needed components on top should still cost less than if you went to a shop. In fact, you don’t necessarily need a tool kit – if you have a Phillips screwdriver, a pair of tweezers and a guitar pick, then you should be able to do some repairs at home.  

I decided to follow the steps of ‘replacing’ the battery (i.e., taking it out and then putting it in again, in lieu of not having a replacement part). I used the iFixit guide, which claims that this can be done in under five minutes.

Whilst I’ve seen the task completed in this time by a Nokia spokesperson, it’s unlikely that the average user will get it done this quickly – especially if you’re ultra cautious like myself. You’ll need the phone to be turned off first, and the battery to be below 25% to reduce the risk of fire. 

Not only does this phone save people money, but it’s also much better for the environment. 

Undoing the clips that released the back cover was quite tricky, especially on the corners. Then, after removing the fingerprint sensor and the motherboard cover, taking out the battery from the very strong adhesive required nearly more muscle than my noodle arms could handle.

After a brief panic attack where I thought I’d broken the phone after not reattaching the battery cable properly, I reassembled the phone and had a working G22 – good as new.  

The process is a little bit daunting, but after one go, I did feel more confident – and the iFixit guides cover the steps in a good level of detail. However, this isn’t a quick five-minute job for newbies. It took me over half an hour with all the fiddling and faults and could take others longer depending on how strong the adhesive is on the battery.

Screen & Speakers 

• Unimpressive 720p display
• Up to 90Hz refresh rate
• One speaker with OZO playback

To keep the price in the budget range, Nokia has made sacrifices when it comes to the display. The G22 features a 6.5in 720p LCD panel. Whilst it is sufficient for browsing the web, videos and photos don’t reach their full potential. It’s also really hard to read the display in bright sunlight thanks to a lot of glare.

Rival phones from brands like Poco offer much better screens, so if you spend a lot of time streaming on your phone, I’d advise you to look elsewhere.  

Whilst the phone has up to a 90Hz refresh rate, you can only have the phone set to adaptive (which switches between different refresh rates), or at 60Hz. There is no option to have it on high as standard.  

The G22 has one bottom-firing speaker with OZO playback, a Nokia-built tech that’s designed to create spatial audio. Whilst audio in general is quite loud for a phone without stereo speakers, it doesn’t carry the same depth or colour as more premium models, and has quite a tinny feel. Nonetheless, it was perfectly fine for podcasts and Twitch streams.  

Specs & Performance 

• Same processor as the G21
• 4GB RAM/128GB storage
• Laggy performance

One of the biggest downsides of the Nokia G22 is that this phone runs on the Unisoc T606, the same processor as last year’s model, the Nokia G21. We weren’t fans of this chip then, and that sentiment hasn’t changed. Performance is pretty laggy on this phone for lots of tasks, especially when booting it up.

For basic web browsing and social media use, the Nokia G22 will work mostly fine, though it does stutter when scrolling at a quick pace through apps like Facebook.

The phone comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. The microSD slot supports up to 2TB extra storage if you need more.

The the Nokia G22 is slightly outpaced by similarly priced phones in this price range when it comes to performance and speed. You can see how it scored in our official benchmarking tests below: 

Cameras 

• Decent shots under bright sunlight
• Struggles in dimmer conditions
• Bokeh effect on selfie mode too strong

The Nokia G22 is made up of a triple camera set-up. This is led by a 50Mp main lens with a f/1.8 aperture, along with a 2Mp depth camera and a 2Mp macro camera. Like its predecessor, the G21, there is sadly no ultrawide lens on offer.

Budget smartphone cameras are often quite mixed, and the results on the Nokia G22 follow this pattern. It performs best in bright daylight, with some colours like the pink on blossom trees popping well. The AI enhancing kicks in well here.  

However, even a cloudy day is enough to suck some of the life out of images, with tones looking washed out. Indoors, photos shine best with lots of natural light, or artificial lighting. Dimmer conditions create fuzzy or blurred details, and the night mode isn’t anything to really shout about.   

It can reach up to 6x digital zoom, but I wouldn’t recommend using this as images become extremely noisy and blurred. The 2x zoom also has some fuzziness, but can still be useful for close-ups of scenic shots.

The 8Mp selfie camera has a warmer tinge to it with the HDR mode on and will be sufficient for video calls and the odd selfie. The bokeh effect on portrait mode is quite strong if left on the automatic setting, with many stray pieces of hair blurring into the background. However, the strength and shape of this can be altered if you desire. 

The G22 is capable of filming video in either 1080p or 720p at 30fps. There is no stabilisation modes, but the built-in mics pick up a decent amount of sound.

Battery Life & Charging 

• Up to two days of average use
• 20W fast-charging, but no brick included
• No wireless charging

Nokia claims that the 5050mAh battery on this phone can last up to three days, but I would say that is with quite conservative use – such as just using it for calls and the odd photo. 

I found myself reaching for the charger every day and a half/two days, depending on how much I used the phone for streaming, video calls, taking photos and more. This was also taking advantage of the battery saver modes.

In our benchmarking using the PC Mark battery test, it lasted 12 hours and six minutes – a similar time to the G21.

Whilst the G22 supports up to 20W fast-charging, there isn’t a charging brick included in the box – only a USB-C cable. Nokia’s reasoning behind this is to reduce waste, but that does mean that if you charge from a PC, then it’ll take a long time – I only managed to charge it by a pitiful 10% in 15 minutes from my laptop.

Using a faster charger I had lying around the house, I juiced the phone from flat to 44% in 30 minutes. Wireless charging isn’t supported, but that is pretty standard on a phone of this price.

Software & Apps 

• Android 12, not 13
• Two years of OS updates
• Three years of security updates

One big advantage that this phone has over other rivals from the likes of Poco and Honor is that it comes with a clean Android interface. This means it’s extremely user-friendly, and there is no excessive app bloat.

It does come with Android 12 rather than Android 13, but Nokia has promised two years of OS updates – so it will be guaranteed to get up to Android 14. There is also three years of security updates guaranteed.  

Performance is pretty laggy on this phone for lots of tasks, especially when booting it up.

These numbers are on par with the likes of Asus and Realme, but both Google and Samsung offer much better longevity. Personally, I would have expected that a phone that is built to last would also offer the same promise in the software – so this is a shame.  

It’s worth noting that the G22 only supports WiFi 5 rather than WiFi 6. It also doesn’t have 5G support.

Price & Availability 

The Nokia G22 cost £149.99 when it launched and is still available for that price from the likes of Amazon and Argos in the UK. However, Nokia is currently selling it for £169.99, with no option to rent it through its Circular subscription scheme. It isn’t available in the US at the time of writing.  

If you’re buying this phone for its repairable build, then you should also keep in mind the cost of parts and tool kits. A replacement battery costs £22.99, a new display costs £44.99, a back cover costs £22.99 and a charging port is priced at £18.99. Meanwhile, an iFixit kit costs £26.99 – though this isn’t necessarily needed if you have tools lying around at home.  

In the long run, these parts are most likely cheaper than what it would cost to take the phone to a shop, and there isn’t really a budget phone on the market that offers the same kind of build. However, the slow performance of this phone and lack of updates past three years mean that it’s hard to recommend for long, extended use.  

You could pay a bit more and opt for something like the Fairphone 4, which also offers a repairable build and OS updates all the way up to Android 15. Or, you could go for a more solid but less repairable budget buy like the Moto G62 – take a look at our list of the best budget phones for more options.  

Verdict 

It’s great to see a major manufacturer produce a phone like the Nokia G22 that can be fixed it at home, encouraging customers to hold onto devices for longer. Not only does this phone save people money, but its also much better for the environment. 

However, the processor and short-term OS and security update promise on the G22 mean that no matter how many times you replace the battery or display, this phone will still slow down over time and not be supported past three years. It’d be great if Nokia brought this build style to some more premium and longer-supported handsets.  

The phone does benefit from decent battery life, and near stock Android for a very user-friendly OS – but there is no getting round the fact that budget phone rivals offer better displays and more powerful performance than the G22 for a…