Pixel Fold teardown reveals the guts of Google’s $1,800 phone

The Pixel Fold is one of Google’s most complicated pieces of hardware ever, but what does it look like on the inside? The Pixel line doesn’t get much teardown love from iFixit anymore (despite an official partnership), but PBK Reviews is still a reliable source for timely teardowns of Google’s latest phones.

As usual, the Pixel Fold is glued together, so you’ll have to heat up the back cover and the front screen, and then pry everything off. The camera side of the device has most of the normal phone components, like the three cameras, the SoC, storage, modem, bottom speaker, and USB-C port, and also squeezes in a 1489 mAh battery. The other side is mostly battery, sporting a big 3332 mAh battery, the outer display camera, haptic feedback vibrator, earpiece, and SIM tray.

It doesn’t look like there’s much room for repairability. The USB-C port lives on the motherboard, so it’ll be tough to replace. PBK Reviews didn’t even attempt to pry off the flexible screen due to “a high chance of damaging or breaking the screen,” but presumably, there’s just a big slab of metal underneath it. With all the parts removed, you can see how the two sides communicate as a series of ribbon cables snake their way through the hinge.

Next up for the Pixel Fold on the repairability front is Google’s partnership with iFixit, which should see an official parts store launch for the phone. Then we can see just how much a new flexible display will cost and official guides for replacing it. It is unclear how long it will take for the parts store to launch. Google and iFixit still haven’t put out parts for the Pixel 7a yet, and that phone launched in May.

Listing image by PBKReviews

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