Google Pixel 6a gets disassembled on video
Google started taking pre-orders for the Pixel 6a yesterday, with official sales scheduled to begin on July 28. The Pixel 6a was announced back in May, and it represents an interesting departure for the "a" line, in that it uses the same Tensor SoC as the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, while still being cheaper than both of those.
If you've ever wanted to peek inside a Pixel 6a, today's your lucky day, as YouTube channel PBK Reviews has done just that, on video, for your viewing pleasure. It's a step-by-step teardown of the new phone, revealing all of its insides.
It does start off with a pretty bad surprise, which is that the unit in question shipped with the camera lens bezel and the back plate scratched and scuffed. The screen was thankfully fine, as it's protected by a paper sheet, but this is clearly a pretty severe quality control issue at the factory.
Anyway, the first step of the disassembly is screen removal, which reveals that the fingerprint sensor is attached to the display panel. There's a large piece of graphite inside the Pixel 6a for heat transfer, and prying the battery off is easier than for other Pixels. After that it's down to taking off the main board, with the USB-C port being soldered onto it, making repairs difficult. The good news for fans of mid-range smartphones is that this one has an actual proximity sensor. Make sure to watch the video above to get all the details and aspects which led to it receiving a 7/10 repairability score.