Samsung's Galaxy S8+ has complicated device architecture
Samsung has just unveiled the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in India and people are quite excited about getting one of those phones in their pockets. There are various videos surfacing online that demonstrate the durability of these phones or teardown of the units to look inside that gorgeous glass body. One such teardown video by iFixit raises serious concerns over the ability to repair the Galaxy S8+.
The Galaxy S8+ is found to have its rear glass panel glued to the wireless charging panel which in turn is bolted to the chassis of the phone and also glued to the battery. While replacing any of the components that are glued together will be tough, most of the other parts like the motherboard, daughterboard, camera units, USB-port panel, headphone jack panel and many other components of major importance to the phone’s computing processes are modular in nature and will be easy to replace.
As for the battery, the Galaxy S8+ seems to have very similar battery architecture to the one found in the infamous Galaxy Note 7. Parameters like the battery voltage, capacity and design tolerances in the Galaxy S8+ seem identical to the Galaxy Note 7’s battery. We also know that Samsung SDI, the manufacturer of the Galaxy Note 7’s battery is responsible for manufacturing the battery unit for both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.
That said; don’t think for a minute that the Galaxy S8+ will also flame up while charging. We discussed a few days back about the video made by “What’s Inside” where popular destroyer “Jerry Rig Everything” pierced a battery and found a built-in safety feature on the newer batteries. So all those who have pre-ordered the Galaxy S8+ – Relax!
If you have pre-ordered the Galaxy S8 or S8+, do manage to get a cover or protection case for it after the units start arriving.