Pixel 5 Teardown Redeems Google's 2020 Flagship

JerryRigEverything's Zack Nelson is anything but gentle when it comes to gadgets and machines, which is pretty much the point of the YouTube channel. Although he does test how easy or hard it would be to tear down a phone, he often also does it with less finesse, especially after a stressful durability test. It's no surprise, then, that he would sometimes come across phones that break in spectacular ways but what's more surprising is when those phones suddenly revive after what seemed to be a catastrophic death.

We all presumed what the YouTuber also thought, that the Pixel 5, after having its battery pierced and set on fire, would be dead. It turns out, however, that giving it a few minutes allowed the battery to stabilize and turn on again, though probably in a precarious state. The display did also function, though with clear damages, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.

That display turned out to be one of the easiest to repair among modern smartphones. It only took some heat and a bit of prying to get it off the phone's body. Despite that ease, the clips still hold the screen securely in place and will hopefully reassure owners that their phones' screens won't just fall off despite some small gaps.

The phone's water resistance performance also impressed Nelson. Despite being submerged in acetone for a long period of time, the water ingress indicator didn't get triggered in the slightest.

All in all, the Pixel 5 turned out to be an easy to repair and durable Android phone, despite and in spite of that large hole in its metal frame. The bioresin plastic definitely helps a lot and Nelson suggests that Google be more upfront about it and even proudly advertise its strengths.