The teardown for Huawei's P9 is already available on the Web, providing a look at what's inside this iPhone clone.
IFixit decided to tear down Huawei's new phone in a bid to check out how far Huawei went to "imitate (and perhaps surpass?) the iPhone."
Without further ado, here is a run-through of iFixit's discoveries in the Huawei P9 Teardown.
- It seems that the handset has taken the design of iPhone "as law," from the phone's antenna bands, brushed aluminum, chamfered edges down to the proprietary five-lobed screws dubbed Pentalobes.
- The P9 features a smooth back case without the notorious camera bump present in iPhone 6s.
- The lengthy accordion-like cable makes separating the rear case from the rest of the handset trouble-free.
- The dual-rear-facing snapper is also easy to be removed as it is on a single ribbon cable.
- As opposed to the shooter of iPhone 6s, the dual-camera assembly is obviously shorter than the bump of Apple's premium phone.
- A thermal paste shows up upon removing the phone's motherboard.
- The P9 sports a standard 3.5 mm audio jack that works well with existing headphones. This part is a modular one that "comes right out without desoldering."
- The USB-C port is easy to detach and replace.
- The phone's loudspeaker comes with a foam plug.
IFixit gives the Huawei P9 a seven out of 10 repairability score.
One of the phone's upsides is its modular components. Its thoughtful cabling, minimal adhesive and spring contacts make it easier to repair the phone. Moreover, its battery can be accessed without any hassle. While removing it necessitates know-how of the adhesive removal technique, iFixit says the process is not tricky to carry out.
However, on the downside, iFixit reveals that the phone's display assembly is a fused unit, making it difficult to replace. On top of that, the phone makes use of the Pentalobe security screws that need a specialty screwdriver to get them out.
Wired believes that this Huawei's move to copy the iPhone, "down to the last screw," is a "wrong way" for the company. It thinks there is no functional reason for including pentalobe screws in the P9.
"Frankly, the only reason for Huawei to use a star-shaped security screw is because Apple uses a star-shaped security screw," says the report. "And Huawei really wants its phone to look like an iPhone. Just like everyone else."
It adds that the world needs tech firms "to innovate rather than chase Apple through its walled garden."
