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  • Nokia cellphones aren't super mainstream in the United States just yet, with only 5% of

  • my video views coming from people stateside.

  • The vast majority of you are watching from India and Indonesia, but no matter where you're

  • from, this Nokia 8 is super interesting and it's time to review it from the inside.

  • [Intro]

  • With no visible screws on the outside of the Nokia 8, heat is going to be our best friend

  • when trying to get this thing open.

  • Since I'm one of the first people ever to open up this phone with no tutorials or guides,

  • it's kind of a cross your fingers and hope for the best type of situation.

  • I'll get the screen to the point where it's just barely too hot to touch and I'll slide

  • my metal pry tool between the plastic antenna line and the glass of the phone screen.

  • I like to use the sharpness of a razor blade, but to each their own.

  • Avoid pressing the power button during this process.

  • Waking up the patient during surgery is not an ideal situation.

  • Once that initial insertion has been completed, it gets a little easier.

  • Using that same gap to slide my second tool around the edge, carefully slicing through

  • the warm adhesive while avoiding the display of the phone.

  • If the metal touches the display under the glass, the display will shatter.

  • So stick to the edges.

  • I'll keep warming up the phone as needed to keep the glue soft.

  • The bottom of the phone does have the capacitive buttons, so don't let your tool nick those

  • either.

  • The glass is pretty sturdy, so once the majority of the adhesive has been cut, I can just twist

  • my tool, leveraging the glass away from the frame and lifting up.

  • Definitely go slow and be careful.

  • This thing is fragile.

  • There are two ribbon cables holding the display to the body of the phone.

  • The first big one is attached under the center metal bracket with it's two screws.

  • I'll set that bracket off to the side while keeping the screws organized of course.

  • And I'll unsnap the little battery ribbon cable first, just like a little Lego, from

  • the motherboard.

  • Using a plastic pry tool since it is a battery connection with power to it.

  • After that's off, I'll unsnap the bigger ribbon that goes up to the screen.

  • There's one more screw at the bottom of the display for the buttons.

  • I'll unscrew that bracket and then lift that over and out, putting it next to the screw

  • it came with so it doesn't get mixed up or lost.

  • And now the screen is free from the body.

  • This is what replacement screens will probably look like.

  • I'll link these in the video description as they become available, along with the tools

  • that I'm using during this repair.

  • You'll need a good screwdriver because there are 19 screws holding the mid-plate to the

  • frame.

  • And these screws are different sizes, so lay them out in the same shape as they are inside

  • the phone, that way they can be put back in the same hole they came from during the reassembly.

  • Lifting up the graphite plate from the bottom of the phone allows us to pull the top out

  • at an angle, releasing the whole plate from the frame.

  • I think this design is brilliant.

  • Not only is the screen relatively easy to remove and replace, but the battery is in

  • its own separate frame.

  • This frame also includes the copper heat pipe which I'll show more of in a second, but it

  • was interesting to see that the thermal paste applied to the graphite panel is next to the

  • heat pipe and not right on top of the copper.

  • Personally, I think it would be a bit more efficient if the processor and thermal paste

  • were directly connected with the copper instead of just the graphite, since copper has better

  • heat conductivity, but either way, this setup will probably get the job done just fine.

  • It's nice that the battery is in it's own little frame.

  • This means that no amount of prying will damage the display or the internal electronics of

  • the phone since they aren't anywhere close to the battery at the moment.

  • There are no magic pull tabs like we've seen on some of the iPhones, but the adhesive doesn't

  • have a death grip on the battery either, and it can be pried out using just the flat end

  • of my metal pry tool, taking special care not to puncture anything of course.

  • Pretty sure this is the biggest heat pipe I've ever seen inside of a phone.

  • Maybe it's not positioned over the processor because so much of it's underneath the battery,

  • and Nokia doesn't want the battery and processor connected with the same heat sink.

  • Removing the motherboard so we can get a look at the exclusive Nokiabothiecameras.

  • We have 4 screws along the top of the phone.

  • I'll keep these separated from the 22 screws we've already removed.

  • And there's one large standoff screw at the bottom of the motherboard.

  • We've seen this situation on some of the iPhones, I just grab a flathead screwdriver and twist

  • it off at an angle, like you're seeing here, then I'll set it next to the other 26 screws

  • that we've removed.

  • The SIM and SD card tray can be taken out.

  • This can also be preformed as step number one, if you're into that kind of thing.

  • And then I'll unsnap the ribbon cable along the right side of the motherboard, just like

  • a little Lego.

  • The whole motherboard can shift down to clear the little grooves in the frame, and then

  • tilt it up to disconnect some stuff along the bottom edge.

  • The volume button ribbon is first.

  • And then on the back side we have a circular antenna wire, the charging port ribbon, and

  • another signal wire on the side of the motherboard.

  • The snaky headphone jack ribbon you see here is rather interesting.

  • It coils along the frame of the motherboard bringing together the headphone jack, the

  • camera flash, and the rear sensors all into one cable.

  • Looking at the rear facing cameras, the upper lens is that monochrome sensor with no OIS.

  • And the bottom lens is the main 13 megapixel sensor with OIS.

  • Personally, I think a wide angle or telephoto camera lens would be slightly more useful

  • than the monochrome, but to each their own.

  • The camera is replaceable and pops off as one complete unit.

  • No OIS on the front facing camera, but that's pretty normal.

  • Moseying our way down to the charging port, we have an additional 3 screws, and then one

  • more little guy on the right side.

  • This one actually doesn't need to come out, but I'm going to do it anyway.

  • I'll unclip the signal wires and then lift up the super wide charging port extension

  • cable, allowing us additional access to pull out the loudspeaker housing out of the milled

  • aluminum.

  • The loudspeaker has a little splash resistant ip54 screen at the bottom.

  • This is just a reminder not to trust this phone anywhere around water.

  • Ip54 doesn't mean much.

  • The charging port has the USB-C connector, and the microphone with it's own little water

  • screen.

  • It's nice that the charging port can be replaced if needed, even if you have to unscrew 30

  • screws to get it.

  • And now it's time to see if the whole thing still works after I put it back together.

  • The loudspeaker is in place, and the charging port tucks in over the top of the black plastic

  • with the 4 little screws holding it all into the frame.

  • The motherboard has it's own series of connectors along the bottom, just like that signal wire

  • along the edge, and the one at the bottom, as well as the charging port ribbon.

  • It's pretty hard to connect all these little guys, but after they're in, I can tuck the

  • motherboard up into the top edge of the Nokia 8 frame.

  • And get that headphone jack ribbon plugged in on the front side.

  • The SIM and SD card tray can go back in the slot they came from.

  • And I'll get that large stand off screw at the bottom of the motherboard using my flathead

  • screwdriver.

  • There are 4 screws along the top edge of the motherboard, and the one on the far right

  • has it's own gold bracket connecting it to the frame.

  • And lastly I'll plug in the little Lego connector at the bottom for the volume and power buttons.

  • I've tucked the black signal wire into the grooves along the edge of the frame to make

  • room for the battery and mid-plate, which gets set into place by tucking the top end

  • first and getting those 19 screws back all along the edges.

  • Remember, most of these screws are different, so if it feels too tight, you're probably

  • going in the wrong hole.

  • Grabbing the screen, I'll get the capacitive buttons plugged in at the bottom of the phone

  • first with it's little metal latch and small screw holding it down tight.

  • And finally the screen ribbon gets lined up and plugged into the motherboard, followed

  • by the battery connection.

  • At this point I will purposefully wake up the patient from anesthesia to see if everything's

  • in place and functioning.

  • Turning on is a good sign, so I'll continue with the metal bracket and the final two screws

  • of the whole operation.

  • A new screen will probably come with it's own adhesive, but if you plan on reusing your

  • old screen, you'll need some double-sided tape to hold it in place again.

  • This is definitely not the easiest phone to repair.

  • Even the Nokia 6 felt a little bit easier.

  • But it does have most of the features we have come to expect on flagship Androids.

  • And the screen and battery replacements can be preformed easy enough, so it gets a thumbs

  • up from me.

  • Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already.

  • I'd love to have you around.

  • And let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

  • Oh, and let me know in the comments what country you are watching from.

  • I'm curious.

  • Thanks a ton for watching and I'll see you around.

Nokia cellphones aren't super mainstream in the United States just yet, with only 5% of

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