Maintainability is important. But Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is not about high performance in this criterion. We have already reviewed the smartphone with the most complex design, it turned out to be Motorola Razr, which received only 1 point from iFixit. The S20 Ultra is certainly not that difficult, so it would be strange if the device received a low score from our colleagues, but its result is not much better. How much did the S20 Ultra get in the maintainability test? Few. Very little!
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra repair – headache
The device scored only 3 points. Of course, some may argue, because in the same testing, the Galaxy S10 + still gains the same 3 points, but let's look at iPhone 11 – iFixit gave the phone 6 points.
By the way, iPhone 11 is estimated in Russia at 60 thousand rubles, and the Galaxy S20 Ulta costs 100 thousand. There is a difference? In my opinion, it is obvious. And when buying a device for that kind of money, you want to get a phone that would not only be technologically advanced, but also convenient to repair – so that you don't have to throw it away in case of a breakdown or give a lot of money for repairs. For example, at one time I independently repaired my old iPhone 6, because in the case of telephones Apple this is a rather easy process. I have already expressed my opinion about the high cost of the S20 Ultra.
To disassemble the Galaxy S20 Ultra, you need a hair dryer and a large suction cup to remove the back cover:
Force is required to remove the back cover of the S20 Ultra
Next, you need to unscrew about 6 bolts, disconnect the wireless charging module, under which another bolt is hidden, it also needs to be unscrewed so that the antenna module can be removed. To remove the battery, we need to disconnect 6 cables that carry data between the top and bottom board. And only after that there will be access to the battery.
To replace the battery, you need to loosen a series of screws and disconnect many cables
The bottom board is hidden by a large speaker, which is also supported by several bolts. The top board is quite massive due to the large camera module. The fact is that the S20 Ultra uses a large sensor and periscope design. This is what the matrix of a 108-megapixel module looks like:
Matrix comparison iPhone 11 Pro Max and Galaxy S20 Ultra
And this is what a periscope camera looks like:
Galaxy S20 Ultra Periscope Camera
Not bad, agree. In addition, the 5G – module takes up a lot of space. To remove the battery, we need a little alcohol, since it is firmly glued to the case:
Battery removal process
The display in the phone is rather difficult to remove, as it is glued to the body and has curves, which is why it can be easily scratched or chipped at the edges when dismantled. Masters do not like Samsung screens, and this is understandable – the situation has not improved here.
Samsung needs to learn from Apple
Why does the device for 100 thousand rubles have such an ill-conceived internal design? Even externally, the internals iPhone 11 appear much more pleasing to the eye than what we see in the S20 Ultra. This is what iPhone 11 looks like inside:
Insides iPhone 11
And this phone justifies the high price tag with such attention to detail. In the case of Galaxy, we are dealing with something incomprehensible. Is it really worth the money? Question.
Sure, you can say that the internals are not as important as the capabilities of the phone, however I disagree. Every detail matters. When you build a PC for gaming, you don’t think you want the cheapest case that will complicate assembly. On the contrary, you are trying to find the highest quality solution so that further replacement of components does not become a headache for you. It is clear that Samsung in this way simply saves money on design, but I do not exclude that Koreans simply do not have people who could design something unusual, such as a board iPhone 11 in two levels:
Fee iPhone 11
It is interesting to know what you think about this. Share your opinion in the comments and read our news in Yandex Zen.