There's nothing worse than having to take a picture with your selfie cam
because your rear facing camera is broken. So today I'm going to show you
how to replace the rear facing camera in your Galaxy S7.
For this repair you're going to need a heat gun, a Philips #00 screwdriver,
an iSclack or a suction cup, opening picks and a spudger. Just a warning
opening your Galaxy S7 may reduce the water resistance capabilities of this
device. Before we begin, understand this repair is on the difficult side due to
all the adhesive. Take caution and be patient as it's easy to break components that
are adhered. As always make sure that the phone is completely turned off.
Once you've turned off the phone we're going to try to remove the back panel start by
taking out the SIM card at the top of the phone.
The S7 is unfortunately held together with adhesive so you'll need to heat and loosen the glue on the back
before moving on. We are using a heat gun for this device please take caution not
to overheat your device. Do this by staying in the lowest power and not
getting too close. Heat up all sides of the phone.
Then use your iSclack or suction cups to lift up one edge of the panel just enough to
insert an opening pick. This pick will ensure that the glue does not reset as it cools.
Now use an additional pick to cut the adhesive up the left side and
another one to the right if you run into a lot of resistance just use more heat
before cutting with the picks.
Once everything is cut, you should be able to lift the back panel from the phone.
Time to remove the 12 Phillips screws holding the antenna module, the
NFC module and the speakers in place. Once the screws are removed lift the
modules out of the phone.
It's important to note that you should disconnect the
battery as soon as the connector is accessible, no matter what component
you're going to replace. Now we can see the battery to remove the battery we'll
need to pry a bit of adhesive to get it out of the phone. You can use this budget
but I found these picks work quite nice.
Moving on to the motherboard! Disconnect all the cables holding the motherboard
down, including the two small antennas on the left side.
With everything disconnected you should be able to lift the motherboard carefully from the top
of the phone. Do not remove the motherboard completely as there's a
cable connected to the underside of the board. Disconnect that and remove the
board from the phone. To release the rear facing camera you just need to turn the
board over and disconnect the cable holding it in place. Then you can push
the camera through the board.
You can find all the parts and tools you need
for this and many more repairs at ifixit.com. Don't forget to subscribe to
our YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on all our latest teardowns and repair
videos. You can follow us on Twitter @ifixit and give us a like on facebook at
facebook.com/ifixit .