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The Samsung Galaxy S22 series has started reaching customers’ hands. But if you’re undecided whether to buy the latest Galaxy flagship, there’s something new for you to check out. YouTube channel PBKreviews has posted a teardown video of the Galaxy S22+. It shows the phone from the inside, giving you a fair idea of its repairability. If you’re a DIY (do it yourself) enthusiast, this video could also serve as a tutorial for you.
Galaxy S22+ teardown
The Galaxy S22+ features a glass back that comes off easily on applying some heat and prying with a pry tool. There aren’t any cables attached to the back panel. You can also similarly remove the aluminum camera hump as well as the tiny circular glass pieces that cover the camera lenses.
Once the back panel is off, we have 19 screws holding everything together. The wireless charging cable and the NFC antenna are at the top, covered by a graphite film that helps in heat dissipation. Peeling off these components will expose the innards of the Galaxy S22+.
At this point, you can disconnect the battery cable as well as other a bunch of other cables connecting the main motherboard with the subboard and other components such as 5G antennas. The mainboard has a plastic cover on top that features some antenna lines.
You can then go on to disconnect the single selfie camera and free the motherboard. It comes off along with the three rear cameras attached to it. The disconnectors for these cameras are located on the back of the board, which has a dual-layer design. Samsung has slapped another piece of graphite film on the back of the motherboard, on top of the RAM and the processor.
We now have one more screw to remove before we can lift off the top speaker assembly. Since the Galaxy S22+ features stereo speakers, we have a second speaker assembly at the bottom as well. It comes off fairly easily and brings along the X-axis linear motor. Unfortunately, you’ll need to tear apart the bottom speaker assembly to access the vibration motor.
Nonetheless, you can now disconnect the screen cable and remove three more screws to lift off the subboard. It has the charging port, SIM reader, and the primary microphone attached to it.
Samsung isn’t offering pull tapes to remove the battery
Unlike most other smartphone manufacturers, Samsung usually doesn’t offer magic pull tapes to help with removing the battery. And the Galaxy S22+ is no different. So you’ll need to apply some isopropyl alcohol to dissolve the adhesive underneath the 4,500 mAh battery before you can lift it off. There’s also a copper vapor chamber underneath the battery for heat transfer. It runs below the motherboard as well.
Lastly, the video shows how you can peel off the display with some heat and a pry tool. Like the back panel, the screen also doesn’t have any cables attached to it. But this also means you’ll have to carefully align the screen connector over the flex cable when fitting a new screen.
Overall, the Galaxy S22+ isn’t a too difficult phone to repair. Though removing the battery can get tricky, the rest of the stuff is fairly easy. PBKreviews gives this phone a repairability score of 7.5 out of 10, which is identical to that of the Galaxy S21 FE. You can watch the full teardown and re-assembly of the Samsung Galaxy S22+ below.