We just finished tearing down Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S20
Ultra, but we couldn’t help but wonder: what’s inside the not-so-ultra S20 phones?
We’ve got the S20+ on our teardown table today and we’re ready to take a look.
Many of the specs are similar, down to the giant camera bump on the backside of the phone,
but Instead of that questionably-useful 100x zoom camera from the S20 Ultra, we get a measly
3x telephoto camera with super resolution zoom up to 30x.
If there’s one thing we know by now, it’s how to get inside a Samsung phone.
Our heat gun loosens up the adhesive holding down the back cover, and after some slicing
with our opening picks we are able to get our first look inside.
In a shocking twist of events that no one saw coming, we’re met by a midframe antenna
assembly and a wireless charging pad!
We prep the wireless charging pad for removal, then take out the phillips screws holding
the metal shield and the upper antenna in place.
Once the screws are out of the way, we can disconnect the wireless charging pad, and
all the pieces come out together.
Then the lower speaker / antenna frame comes free after some more phillips screws, some
of them a little stubborn, like the ones we found in the S20 Ultra.
Up next, the display!
We’ve long dinged samsung phones for their display-last construction.
Adhering the fragile OLED panel directly to the frame of the device without support means
it will almost always be destroyed upon removal, which ruins the display—even if the glass
is already broken.
Add to that the fact that replacement displays often crack or come loose unless the frame
is perfectly clean for the re-installation, and it’s easy to see why we prefer to remove
iPhone displays!
Next we get to the motherboard, and the star of the collective S20 show: the cameras!
All three S20 phones have one thing in common: they each use some of Samsung’s own image
sensors along with the popular Sony sensors that most smartphone manufacturers have been
using.
The S20+ sports a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, a 12 MP standard wide camera, and a 64 MP
telephoto camera.
The fourth sensor here is a time of flight camera that gathers depth data for selective
focus mode and AR.
We disconnect the cables running to the little usb-c board at the bottom of the phone, and
after removing a few screws, we give it some prying action and it jumps free.
Alright, the time has come to fight this 17.37 watt hour battery!
We douse it with isopropyl alcohol to weaken the adhesive underneath, then wait a couple
minutes for it to soak in.
Then we attach our heavy duty suction cup and with some help from some extra hands we’re
able to wrestle it free.
Look at all that adhesive, though—Samsung, don’t you think that’s a bit much??
As we conclude this teardown, we’ve learned that the S20+’s similarities to the Ultra
are not limited to their outer appearances!
The Samsung Galaxy S20+ earns a 3 out of 10 on our repairability scale, earning a few
points for its use of standard phillips screws and its semi-modular construction.
That said, its poorly prioritized screen repair procedure and the firmly-adhered rear cover
and battery keep it from being a more repairable smartphone.
Don’t forget to check out our full Galaxy S20 Ultra teardown and if you aren’t already,
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