HMD Global has announced three new smartphones that we can expect it to bring to most markets around the world, including our own Kenyan market, soon.
The new smartphones are:
- Nokia G22
- Nokia C32
- Nokia C22
The G series is HMD Global’s middle-of-the-road offering to smartphone users, offering a higher level of reliability and endurance than its siblings while staying relatively affordable. The C series is the Finnish company’s most affordable smartphone series, geared towards attracting just about everybody to its smartphone lineup while doing as much as is reasonably possible to make the experience bearable. Lately, they haven’t been doing a good job with that.
There is also an X-series that we haven’t heard much of lately and, definitely, we didn’t get to hear of at HMD Global’s event yesterday at the start of the 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain.
Nokia G22
The Nokia G22 represents a significant shift in the fortunes of mid-range devices. Through a partnership with famous repairability shop iFixit, HMD Global is promising buyers of the G22 an easily repairable smartphone. One where they can pry it open and swap out the battery, the screen, the charging port and other components with a few steps and in an easy way.
“People value long-lasting, quality devices and they shouldn’t have to compromise on price to get them. The new Nokia G22 is purposefully built with a repairable design so you can keep it even longer,” Adam Ferguson, HMD Global’s head of product marketing has been quoted saying.
HMD Global is looking to ride on the wave of an increasing consumer desire for more repairable devices that has seen a “right to repair” movement spring up in the Western world. In our side of the world, swappable batteries have long been a desirable function on mobile devices but we have been resigned to our fate that that ship sailed. Now, it appears, we are free to hope again.
Repairability chops aside, the Nokia G22 packs a 6.52-inch HD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a 50-megapixel camera at the back flanked by a pair of 2-megapixel depth and macro sensors, an 8-megapixel selfie shooter, a Unisoc T606 chipset, a choice of 64 and 128GB internal storage options (expandable up to a terabyte using a microSD card) to go with the standard 4GB RAM on offer and a 5,050mA battery that HMD Global claims can last up to 3 days on a single charge and supports 20W wired fast-charging with PowerDelivery 3.0.
The Nokia G22 is powered by Android 12 with a promise to get at least 2 years of operating system upgrades.
HMD Global appears to have toned down its Android One multi-year approach to OS updates over the past year with no mention of it in press materials and other promotional/marketing content, as was the case previously. Its updates record, for newer versions of Android, has also dipped.
There’s also OZO audio playback for the inbuilt speaker as well as wired earphones. The presence of OZO on any Nokia device usually means some form of better audio experience. As explained in detail, OZO is a technology from Nokia subsidiary Nokia Technologies that HMD Global licenses for use on its devices which are Nokia-branded.
A standout feature of the Nokia G22, according to HMD Global but not a standout to us, is the virtual RAM. The device can exploit any unoccupied space on the internal storage to allow users to stretch its capabilities with an additional 2 gigabytes of virtual memory.
The Nokia G22 comes in Meteor Grey and Lagoon Blue colour options.
Pricing, according to HMD Global, starts at €179. That is Kshs 24,000 at the prevailing exchange rates. We will have the exact local pricing when the device gets announced for/launched in Kenya.
“At-home Fit Kits for Nokia G22 are available for €5 (about Kshs 700) from iFixit.com. Replacement parts are available from iFixit.com at a global average price of €49.95 (Kshs 6,700), battery at €24.95 (Kshs 3,350), and charging port at €19.95 (Kshs 2,700),” says HMD Global.
Nokia C22 and C32
The two entry-level smartphones, which should be coming right after the horrible Nokia C12 that launched in Kenya a few weeks ago, share a number of features and specifications in common with one another.
They both have an IP52 rating for water spray and dust protection.
They are both powered by the Unisoc SC9863A, a chipset from 5 years ago that also powers the Nokia C12 and which isn’t exactly known for any outstanding performance, even at that level.
Their memory and storage options are mixed. The Nokia C32 has both 64 and 128GB internal storage options coupled with 3 and 4GB RAM respectively while the Nokia C22 makes do with just 64GB onboard storage for a choice of 2 and/or 3GB RAM.
The Nokia C32 sticks the 50-megapixel sensor on the G22 and backs it with a single 2-megapixel macro sensor. The Nokia C22 makes do with a 13-megapixel main sensor with the same macro lens. They both have 8-megapixel snappers on the front.
With their big brother the Nokia G22, the two smartphones share the 6.5-inch HD+ display (minus the higher refresh rate), the side-mounted fingerprint sensor and the promise of 3-day battery life on their 5,000mAh units which have a lesser “fast” charging speed of 10W with compatible hardware (adaptor and cable) and the promised software update cycle.
As has been the case for C-series smartphones, the Nokia C32 and Nokia C22 arrive running the Go edition of Android 13.
Thankfully, unlike other woeful C-series devices we have seen, they have a USB Type-C port for data transfer and charging.
The Nokia C32 comes in Charcoal, Autumn Green, and Beach Pink colours while the Nokia C22 comes in Midnight Black and Sand colours.
Pricing for the Nokia C32 starts at €139 (just under Kshs 19,000) while that of the Nokia C22 starts at €129 (just over Kshs 17,000).
