Ahead of the release of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ later this week, the folks over at iFixit have gone ahead and posted their teardown of the devices. The devices did not fare well in the teardown, but do highlight one important thing: the battery setup of Samsung’s latest flagship handsets is the same as the ill-fated Galaxy Note 7.
iFixit notes that the battery capacity, voltage, and design tolerances of the 3500mAh battery used inside the Galaxy S8+ is “virtually identical” to the Galaxy Note 7. In fact, the battery used inside their handset was supplied from the same vendor that manufactured batteries for the Note 7.
The battery is also buried deep inside the phone and glued to its chassis — similar to what Samsung had done on the Galaxy Note 7. This clearly shows that Samsung is extremely confident about the design of the battery it is using on the S8 and their 8-point plan. It also further solidifies the fact that the explosion issues surrounding the Note 7 were caused by a manufacturing defect and not due to a design issue.
As for the teardown, the glass design of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ and the copious amount of glue used by Samsung ensure that the devices are not repair-friendly. While many of the components used inside them are modular in nature, the use of adhesive and the front and rear glass panel make it difficult to reach to them. In the end, iFixit gives the Galaxy S8 and S8+ a repairability score of 4 out of 10, which is the same as what the Galaxy Note 7 had earned.
[Via iFixit]