If there’s one thing that hasn’t sit well with our users regarding Nokia/HMD Global devices, is how developer-unfriendly these phones are. After all, these phones are not bootloader unlockable. Without bootloader unlock, most mods, including rooting and custom ROMs, become simply impossible to achieve, closing a lot of doors for power users interested in modding their devices. Nokia’s constant reluctance to allow bootloader unlocking, as well as broken promises to allow it in the past, has not helped its cause either, but the Finnish company may be looking into reversing course in this stance. The Nokia 7.2 was recently launched as one of HMD Global’s most competent midrange devices, but it’s also apparently the first phone to ship with an unlockable bootloader.

Indeed, the device’s bootloader can be unlocked very straightforwardly without going through any weird hoops and workarounds by enabling OEM unlocking in developer settings and unlocking it through fastboot just like you would unlock any other phone out there. Once the bootloader is unlocked, users are free to do whatever they want with their phones, including, but not limited to, installing a custom recovery like TWRP, rooting, and flashing custom ROMs (either in the form of GSIs or device-specific ROMs). Previously, Nokia users were mostly out of luck when it came to unlocking their phones’ bootloaders, and as such, were forced to remain completely stock.

Have in mind, however, that there is a possibility that this is just a massive accident or mistake on HMD Global’s part, and that they didn’t mean to ship the phone with an unlockable bootloader. This is something that can be easily fixed with a software update if they wanted to. As such, if you bought a Nokia 7.2 and you want to mod it, then go ahead and unlock your phone as soon as possible, and avoid taking any over-the-air updates until HMD Global actually speaks out on this.

How to unlock the Nokia 7.2 bootloader

Source: Techmesto