[Updated] Nokia 5.3 Android 12 update bricking some units; others reverted back to Android 11 with no way to upgrade

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on November 15, 2022) follows:

Being a 90’s kid, Nokia was synonymous with a mobile phone. By 1998, Nokia had become the world’s best-selling mobile phone brand.

The Nokia 5.3 is a mid-range smartphone by the Nokia brand made by HMD Global. It runs Android One and has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 processor.

There are a bunch of issues emerging since the Nokia 5.3 bagged the update to Android 12.

Chief among them are bricking devices after a factory reset. Nokia 5.3 received the Android 12 update in September and users were happy with it.

However, Nokia 5.3 users now report that their smartphones are bricked after a factory reset. A message that says that there is no operating system available is displayed, leaving only the bootloader.

Factory resetting the smartphone is the trigger for those on Android 12. We’ve added some reports for reference.

Nokia 5.3 Android 12 with November 2022 Security Update – Going into your settings and selecting “Factory Reset” will WIPE your Android Operating System, leaving only the bootloader. No options in the bootloader will work (will only restart back to the bootloader).
Source

Today, I did a full system reset from the settings, after receiving the November 2022 (Android 12) security update. My Nokia is now bricked and tells me there is NO operating system. It told me to power off my phone (gave me what looked like a URL, but I did not write it down). I powered off, and now I am stuck in the bootloader.
Source

A user speculates that with the new update installed, both slots have Android 12 and there’s no backup that the phone can boot to. Hence a brick.

If lucky, the factory reset will not brick the device, but it may result in the Nokia 5.3 rolling back to Android 11 with no way to upgrade to Android 12 (1,2).

Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed, it’s likely that Nokia pulled the update to fix serious bugs, which explains why there’s no option to upgrade back.

We hope Nokia looks at these problems as soon as possible because they have a significant impact on the user experience and in some cases have rendered the device unusable.

Until then, we will keep an eye out on the Nokia 5.3 Android 12 update bricking some units issue, and update this space as and when we come across more information.

05:33 pm (IST): Nokia support reportedly told some users (1, 2) that they are still working on a patch to fix the issues with Android 12 on Nokia 5.3. However, they didn’t provide any ETA for the same.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Nokia Section so be sure to follow them as well.

Featured image source: Nokia

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