HMD is bringing its repairable phone initiative to the US with the Nokia G310, a $186 smartphone that’ll be available from T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile on August 24th. This is technically the third smartphone HMD has released with a design that makes it easier to replace commonly broken components like its battery and display, but its previous Nokia G22 and Nokia G42 were focused on European markets.
As with its previous repairable phones, HMD is partnering with iFixit to supply spare parts and repair guides for the G310.
I didn’t say that it takes away all advantages. And I am definitely with you that overall it is a net positive for the consumer and there is a market.
But this limited update policy puts an unnecessary timer on the useful lifetime of the device. And while eventually it will need replacement, a repairable device like this has the expectation to last significantly longer than 3 years.
Say the phone would otherwise be good to use for 6 years with repairs like a battery swap. At that point it would have gone 2/3 of his lifetime without major software update and 1/2 without security updates.
Unless ofc it would be flashed with a different OS, but that goes against the ease of repairability it is going for.