There is an option to unlock the bootloader on the Nokia 4.2

A long time ago, Nokia Mobile’s Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas announced via Twitter a bootloader unlocking program for the Nokia 8, while a year before that it was announced that more Nokia phones will get the option to unlock bootloader, but as we know, that never happened.

Bootloader unlock allows users to root and flash custom ROMs on their devices. Regular Android users shouldn’t care about that at all, but the Android community that creates custom ROMs for device and often keeps the devices up to date when vendors stop supporting their phones, appreciates easy bootloader unlocking.

With Nokia Android One smartphones, one might argue that there is no need for custom ROMs with longer software support considering Nokia Mobile offers 2 years of software upgrades and 3 years of security updates across the whole range, but having an option to try something different and maybe extend the software lifetime from 3 to 4 or 5 years with a custom ROM would definitely be a win for the customer that doesn’t want to replace their device.

Member of the XDA, Nokia and Microsoft community Hikari Calyx posted a guide on unlocking the bootloader on Nokia 4.2 on XDA forums. If you want to check the guide, you can find his thread by clicking here.

The unlocking method requires disassembly, so you’ll definitely lose warranty if you try something like this. I don’t recommend doing it, especially if the 4.2 is your primary device, but if you’re an Android enthusiast and you know what you are doing, do tell us in the comments if you decided to try the unlocking method and what are the benefits of an unlocked bootloader on the 4.2. 🙂