Nexus 5 dissected: has modular guts, is easily repairable

One of the leading “let’s tear gadgets apart for fun and profit” sites, iFixit produced the first Nexus 5 teardown video earlier this week, much to the amusement and lust of the internet. What it’s discovered is that the Nexus 5 is not only easy to repair, but houses some of the best hardware seen yet on a smartphone.

A teardown is when a gadget like an iPad or Galaxy Gear is carefully ripped apart and documented to assess how easy or difficult it is to repair. In the Nexus 5’s case, fixing most of the components is a snap, and because of the modular build of Google’s new device, parts are easy to swap out.

True gadget pornThe first step was cracking open the Nexus 5, which with a plastic opening tool seemed like a snap for the iFixit team. LG (who’s making the Nexus 5) has a dab of glue that holds the cases together, along with plastic clips. Inside, we find a technology which while cool, hasn’t been discussed much in reviews of the Nexus 5. We’re talking about wireless charging cables that should work perfectly with gadgets like Nokia’s Wireless Charging Pillow, “Fatboy“.

Everything is well and good until the it comes down to the screen, the sore point of the teardown. iFixit says that the LCD, screen and glass are fused together, making “fixing broken glass either expensive or very difficult.” On the plus side, the modular design of the Nexus 5 makes replacing parts like the speakers, 2300mAh battery and headphone jack “fairly easy to safely remove and replace.” A full list of Nexus 5 specs and hardware can be found here. It’s all very impressive.

If you want to teardown your very own Nexus 5 and you still need to buy one, tough luck. The Nexus 5 was sold out almost the second it hit Google Play, so you’ll have to wait a little longer to get your mechanical dissection on.

Image via iFixit