iFixit's Pixel XL Teardown reveals above-average repairability score, almost no HTC branding

midian182

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It appears that the majority of consumers and critics are big fans of Google’s recently released Pixel smartphones. We called the Pixel XL “outstanding,” and gave it a well-deserved score of 90. Now, iFixit has performed one of its famed teardowns on the larger handset, revealing just how easy, or difficult, it is to repair one.

iFixit has awarded the Pixel XL a repairability score of 6 out of 10. That’s just less than the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus’ score of 7, but a lot better than the rival Samsung S7, which managed just 3 out of 10. It’s also a vast improvement over the Nexus 6P, which got a measly 2 out of 10.

The biggest problem came when the team attempted to remove the phone’s display from the assembly, causing the OLED panel to separate from the digitizer glass “a little too easily.”

“Super-thin components and no frame or bezel behind the display make it extra sketchy to remove,” wrote iFixit.

The Pixel XL’s modular design is highlighted as one of its best features, allowing easy removal of internal components such as the 3.5mm headphone jack, cameras, and motherboard, which contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC and 4 GB LPDDR4 mobile DRAM from Samsung.

The site also notes that the 13.28 Wh battery is the only part of the handset to display the name of manufacturing partner HTC. It comes with a pull tab and uses a small amount of adhesive, making removing and replacing it easy.

Barring opening up the handset, it appears that the Pixel XL is one of the better smartphones on the market when it comes to repairs. Make sure to check out the full teardown on iFixit.

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Aside from being careful with the screen, looks about average for a smartphone these days.
I've had the "pleasure" of replacing a broken screen on a couple OnePlus One phones...this looks
a little easier, save for the screen.
 
Still wish the battery was removable on a device this expensive.

removable batteries are a thing of the past for the most part these days especially with how fast they are starting to charge via Lightning and USB-C. I got a portable battery pack with 10,000 mAh for about 20 bucks and it does the job well :)
 
Still wish the battery was removable on a device this expensive.

removable batteries are a thing of the past for the most part these days especially with how fast they are starting to charge via Lightning and USB-C. I got a portable battery pack with 10,000 mAh for about 20 bucks and it does the job well :)

I bet Samsung wished they'd made the Note 7 have a replaceable battery....
 
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