Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+ iFixit Breakdown Reveals Many Components Are Replaceable

If you have been wondering what the innards of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones look like, we now have answers for you. Just like it does with every other majot product launch, iFixit has now released its teardown of the South Korean company's latest flagship devices and from the teardown assessment, it looks like many of the internal hardware components are replaceable but the curved screen expectedly makes matters complex when trying to replace the front glass.

While there were no surprises found in the specifications department, not unusual as most Android phones are released with detailed list of hardware components (unlike Apple devices), iFixit found that the internal design of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ is similar to the infamous Galaxy Note 7. The heating-related issues with the now-discontinued device were linked with its battery in the explanation provided by Samsung. We hope that the design was not one of the reasons behind the issue, as otherwise the new devices might suffer the same fate.

Photo Credit: iFixit

Thankfully, both the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ come with a heat pipe, which helps in ensuring that the device remains cool during intensive tasks or after long usage.

As mentioned before, several hardware components including the fingerprint sensor and headphone jack were found to be modular during the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ teardown and therefore easily replaceable if need be. iFixit says that the presence of curved screen on the smartphones means that the replacement of front glass "without destroying the display" is extremely difficult. Further, the front and back glass make for "double the crackability" and that the presence of strong adhesive on both makes it tough to access the internals for any repair.

Photo Credit: iFixit

Interestingly, the teardown revealed that the batteries on Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ can be replaced but the tough adhesive and glued-on rear panel makes it "unnecessarily difficult". In conclusion, iFixit gave both the smartphones a repairability score of 4 out of 10.

After every smartphone's launch, almost every tech critic wants to dig deep into the device's hardware but nobody does it better than iFixit. As the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ will be launched in India on Wednesday, you now know what they pack on the inside just in time.

We also discussed whether the Galaxy S8's pricing gives it an edge over iPhone 7 and Google Pixel in India on our podcast, so be sure to check that out as well in this week's episode of Orbital, our technology podcast. You can subscribe to it via iTunes or RSS, or just hit the play button below.