OnePlus 8 Pro Teardown Reveals A Somewhat Repairable Beauty

The OnePlus 8 Pro might very well be this year's titleholder for the best 2020 premium flagship, at least for the first half of that 2020. It is admittedly also the company's most expensive phone so far, which will make prospective buyers worry about its longevity. The good news is that, in addition to having the first IP68 rating on a OnePlus phone, the OnePlus 8 Pro also proved to be quite durable. Even better, it might also be easy to repair when, not if, accidents do happen.

To be clear, opening up a glass-metal-glass sandwich still poses the same risks. The only difference today is that the process and tools needed to pry the glass back off a phone have more or less become regular. Bonus points for the fact that the glass back doesn't seem to be connected to the frame with wires, reducing accidents when cutting through the adhesive.

Even better, most of the parts of OnePlus 8 Pro inside are modular and easily removed with screws. And despite the conflicting messages, the no-longer-red battery is actually easier to remove than any smartphone these days.

Sadly, the joy ends at the frame. Repairing the screen, as always, is equivalent to replacing it and also risks damaging the thermal cooling components underneath. It's still not as uneventful as one would hope but it's not a harrowing experience at least.

One interesting thing about the OnePlus 8 Pro is that, despite the number of new components crammed inside, those insides still look neat, tidy, and pretty. It's almost begging to have a clear glass back edition but, fortunately, one can just slap a skin these days without breaking anything just to get a transparent-looking rear.