Lanh Nguyen / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google’s new Pixel 9a is already getting the teardown treatment, revealing a decently repairable design.
- The phone’s battery is pretty simple to get to, but removing it presents additional challenges.
- Google’s designed the Pixel 9a to make screen replacement as easy as possible.
Google’s latest smartphone, the budget-minded Pixel 9a, is technically not available yet. Although the company formally announced the phone last month, and it hits retail in under a week, on April 10, as of today you still can’t even pre-order the Pixel 9a from Google, with your only option to sign up for notifications when orders ultimately open. Despite that, some lucky folks already have their hands on early Pixel 9a hardware, and have started cracking open the device to give us a peek at what makes the phone tick.
Over on YouTube, PBKreviews shares a teardown video of the Pixel 9a. The now-flat back panel comes off relatively easily with a little heat, and while the plastic component may not feel as premium as glass, it sure looks a hell of a lot more durable.
With the back removed, we get access to the motherboard cover, which houses the wireless charging and NFC coils. Taking this off involves removing 16 tiny screws, but so long as you don’t lose track of any, this is all feeling pretty straightforward.
That gives us access to the battery, the largest yet in a Pixel phone. While getting here is reasonably easy, should you ever have to replace that component, actually removing the battery itself is where problems start to present themselves, as it is just glued in with some of the most stubborn adhesive around. Thankfully, some isopropanol is able to loosen things right up.
One neat design choice here concerns how Google decided to attach the screen interface. Rather than going in through the back, as this teardown does, it’s possible to remove the screen from the front and disconnect it from the motherboard without needing to remove the rear panel at all — just a nice little consideration that could speed up display replacements. Other thoughtful elements present include designing the microphone holes such that they won’t experience any damage if cluelessly attempt to jam a SIM tool into any.
Ultimately, PBKreviews gives the phone a reparability rating of 7.5/10. And no, in case you were wondering: We’re no closer to knowing which piece in here might have been the problem component causing Pixel 9a delays.
