The most highly anticipated Android phone of the year is just days away from release, but no smartphone launch would be complete without a detailed teardown review. iFixit has gotten its hands on Samsung’s latest flagship in order to determine the repairability of this year’s model, and although the new design has its strengths, the teardown crew discovered that the Galaxy S5 is much less repairable than its predecessor.
The Galaxy S5 specifications include a 5.1-inch, full HD Super AMOLED display, 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 16 or 32GB of internal storage, 16-megapixel rear camera with 4K video recording, microSD slot and sensors for fingerprints, heart rate and gestures.
We already got a detailed rundown of the camera, the heart rate monitor and the fingerprint scanner from Chipworks‘ teardown last week, but iFixit’s review takes a broader look at the device in comparison to the Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S5 has a larger body than the Galaxy S4, its screen is a tenth of an inch bigger and the glossy back panel has been replaced by a more grippable material.
Getting inside the S5 “is as simple as ever.” The iFixit team didn’t need anything but thumbs to open the casing, granting immediate access to the battery. In other words, replacing the battery for your future S5 will be a piece of cake. As for other repairs, you might have a little more difficulty. You can see the full review below, but after spending some time with the device, iFixit settled on repairability score of 5/10, 3 points lower than the S4. Find out why in the video review:
