Smartphones are getting thinner and thinner, more integrated and more locked down. That’s great for manufacturers that want to tout impressive dimensions or to add features like built-in waterproofing, but it also makes these phones much harder to repair. The LG G4, though, is great if you need to pull it apart and put it back together again.
iFixit has completed its teardown of the G4, and the result is an impressive 8 out of 10 on the online repair guide’s “repairability” rating. That’s a huge improvement over the G4’s chief competitor, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge, which get a 4 and a 3 out of 10 respectively.
A user-removable and replaceable back panel and battery are the largest contributors to the G4’s score, but it’s the use of non-proprietary Phillips screws and standardised modular components — like a spring-loaded headphone jack module — that make the phone easy to repair for either small or large jobs. The G4’s curved screen should give it a little extra strength against accidental drops and impacts, but the zero-gap combined front glass and LCD is still the hardest piece to repair. [iFixit]