Essential Phone Gets Low Scores In Repairability, Freezing Required To Fix

Much of the hype around the Essential Phone has focused on its ample design bona fides. But if you want to get the phone fixed, the smartphone’s design comes with ample downsides. In a teardown feature from iFixit, the site gave the Essential Phone a dismal 1 of 10 score for repairability.

Among the biggest takeaways from iFixIt’s teardown, the phone notably required its analysts to freeze the phone’s display in order to break up the adhesive and remove it. iFixit told Motherboard its team previously tried heating up the adhesive in order to soften it, but instead had to turn to Super Cold Spray, which is capable of chilling objects down to -60 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition, iFixit dinged the Essential Phone for having its USB-C jack soldered into the smartphone’s motherboard. As the site notes, the USB-C port is frequently used on phones and if the part breaks, it’ll be a costly fix.

“If you need to replace this high-wear component, you're in for an (expensive) microsoldering job or a (very expensive) full-motherboard replacement,” iFixit wrote.

However, iFixit gives the Essential Phone some praise in other areas. Unlike many smartphones and consumer electronics devices, iFixit found that the Essential uses standard Phillips screws. In many cases, hardware manufacturers will go with hard-to-source Torx heads or — in cases like Apple’s — use proprietary pentalobe or other screws to make devices hard to disassemble.

Elsewhere, iFixit is a fan of Essential’s use of stretch-release adhesive on the battery, though it couches the support with the qualifier that it’s extremely difficult to access. In addition, the site liked the Essential’s use of modular accessories, which refer to attaching add-ons to the phone to add new functions. At launch, the Essential comes with a 360-degree camera that allows for better image shooting.

“Modular smartphone systems have yet to take off, but it's an idea we can appreciate,” iFixIt wrote. “The environmental toll of clipping on a hot new camera module is a lot lower than upgrading your whole phone because the camera got ‘old.’"

iFixit’s review makes the Essential the latest high-profile smartphone to get a middling repairability mark from the site. Earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy S8+ got a 4 out of 10, while the iPhone 7 earned a 7 out of 10. But beyond enthusiasts who aren’t wary about breaking into their phone, here’s why users should be concerned about phones and devices becoming increasingly harder to repair: phones that aren’t designed to be fixed will cost more to repair when something breaks down. Considering the amount of usage a typical smartphone gets, it’s likely to happen sooner rather than later.

Despite the hype leading up to its release, the Essential Phone has seen a rollout marked by several hurdles. Its August launch saw several delays before phones finally began to reach buyers and last month, the company was found to have accidentally shared customers’ drivers license numbers with other users thanks to an email snafu.