Teardowns are a great way to understand the repairability of a phone. Some manufacturers intentionally make the smartphones complex to repair so as to discourage the third party or DIY repairs. It is also true that Engineers are often forced to use glue and other complex material to make the devices as compact and sleek as possible. iFixit has revealed the Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G teardown.

As with all teardowns, we have a set of pros and cons. It is common for smartphones to be stuck together with two halves. The device is typically opened by using a heat gun and a specially designed pick. Things have changed in Galaxy Note 10, the contoured panel that wraps power button and volume rockers make it extra difficult to open the device.

The motherboard is mounted on top of the device with screws holding it in place. This is a good thing as it helps accommodate a wider battery. However, the teardown notes that it adds a certain degree of complexity and interconnect cables to connect mother with daughter mode. If you want to plonk in a new battery on Galaxy Note 10 Plus then it will take some skill and a whole lot of patience.

Moving on, the teardown reveals that Galaxy Note 10 Plus uses a stacked arrangement for the motherboard. A similar setup is used by Apple to save on space. The 5G setup consists of mmWave antenna model. Furthermore, the device comes with one beamforming antenna on each side and this is aimed at achieving better connectivity.

The final score is a clear indicator that Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus is not something you can open up and repair for yourself. iFixit gives it a repairability score of 3/10. The device was lauded for using standard Philips screw for motherboard placement, however, the rampant use of glue played the spoilsport and is likely to make the repairs tougher.