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The early reviews and coverage of Samsung'southward Galaxy S7 have been nearly entirely positive in every respect, from its weight, hand-feel, and performance, to its exemplary camera. If you lot care near device repair and maintenance, nonetheless, iFixit'due south report on the S7 may give you lot break. While all smartphones have tended to become harder to repair over time, the Galaxy S7 does particularly poorly in this category.

Part of the problem appears to be the waterproofing. In guild to certify the device under the IP68 standard, Samsung used even more glue in sure areas of the device. Components utilise seals to preclude water ingress (good), but freeing the daughterboard from inside the telephone is, according to iFixit, nearly impossible without breaking the device. In that location's no way to free the cables for the phone's soft buttons without removing the OLED, and the OLED isn't designed for removal. The device's midframe is also glued in place.

Glue

Image by iFixit

iFixit writes: "These sandwiched cables brand a daughterboard replacement (including the charging port) next to impossible, since freeing these cables means removing the OLED screen…Only for those of you keeping score, this messy situation prevents easy replacement of: display and digitizer (of course), USB port, microphone, and soft push button LEDs."

Information technology as well notes that replacing the charging port means either giving up the soft buttons or replacing the entire brandish. Not pleasant options. The elementary solution: Get a case to protect the phone.

Samsung'south rut pipage

We covered the utilise of a heat pipe in an earlier story, and iFixit constitute the atomic component in the course of the teardown. It's admittedly tiny — less than one-half a gram of cloth and less than a millimeter thick.

Samsung's heat pipe. Image by iFixit

Samsung's rut piping. Image by iFixit

I expected it to be pocket-size, but perchance not quite this pocket-sized. Obviously Samsung has to be getting a benefit from the design to have bothered to include information technology, merely it's not articulate how much advantage it gives. iFixit notes that the oestrus pipage channels heat into the device midframe, which should allow information technology to radiate out to the sides of the device — which, yes, is where you tend to concur the telephone. Again, nosotros'll need employ testing to confirm if this presents a problem, merely given the limited heat transfer capabilities of a heat pipe that tiny, I'm guessing it doesn't.

Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S7 scores a rather dismal 3/10. iFixit gives it points for modular components in some areas, but the use of front and back glass and the extensive glue hurt the terminal score. As for the display, iFixit notes:

"The display needs to be removed (and probable destroyed) if y'all desire to replace the USB port… Replacing the glass without destroying the display is probably impossible."

Granted, not many people purchase phones strictly on how repairable they are, but if you're ane of the people who take such ratings into business relationship, you lot may desire to look elsewhere for your next smartphone.