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  • You know how the Vivo Nex S has that hidden mechanical camera on top?

  • I think we should un-hide that thing and make it transparent so we can see all the bells

  • and whistles inside...from the outside.

  • This is one of the most unique and futuristic smartphones that I've even taken apart, so

  • it should be a fun one.

  • Let's get started.

  • [Intro]

  • The psychedelic coloring on the back panel is pretty stunning.

  • All the different colors reflecting at different points on the black back.

  • I almost feel guilty about my plans to dissect and modify the internals...almost.

  • Like with most glass backed phones, the glass removal is pretty standard.

  • Our heat gun warms the little guy up, and a strong suction cup and metal pry tool commence

  • the initial penetration...while slicing through that still warm adhesive.

  • The back glass does have curves around the edges, so I use a more flexible piece of card

  • stock or a business card to do the slicing, since a card can wrap around the curve without

  • putting too much pressure on the glass.

  • Glass is glass, and glass does break.

  • For real though, this coloring is super impressive.

  • It's like someone dropped a bag of Skittles in a parking lot.

  • I can almost taste the rainbow just by looking at it.

  • I'll keep warming up the adhesive before it cools down and gets hard.

  • Got to keep it right around that perfect temperature where your fingers feel like they're melting

  • off.

  • Lucky for us, the adhesive is just around the edge of the phone, so once all the cutting

  • is done, the whole glass back panel lifts up and away from the phone in one piece with

  • nothing attached to the underside that we have to worry about.

  • The trick now through is that the mechanical camera operation that we want to show off

  • is still hidden under this metal plate.

  • The phone still turns on and the camera functions, so it's all still good.

  • Let's work on removing the color first.

  • We encounter a few different types of materials covering the underside of glass phones.

  • It could be a thin layer of paint like LG, or goofy laminate that doesn't want to come

  • off like HTC uses.

  • Or the third option is a thin layer of laminate that's easily peeled off in one giant piece.

  • And lucky for us, that's what Vivo is using on this Nex S. A little heat here and there

  • helps out, and the adhesive comes off, leaving the glass clean and clear with no residue.

  • The camera lens comes off as its own little metal unit.

  • I'll install that again later after I get the color out from underneath it.

  • And it's clear.

  • Looking closely the Nex logo in the middle and the Vivo logo down at the bottom are still

  • intact, which is fine with me.

  • And now our bezel-less smartphone has it's own clear back glass panel to show off all

  • the high tech goodness inside.

  • The only thing that would make it better right now is if we could see the mechanical components

  • of the front-facing camera while they are operating.

  • I think it's possible.

  • There are 12 screws holding down the metal plate over the motherboard.

  • Pulling that off gives us our first look at the camera raising mechanism.

  • It looks like a lead screw stepper motor is doing all the work.

  • The motor on the right twists the screw which raises and lowers the camera in and out of

  • the phone.

  • The camera, of course, receives its communication from the motherboard like normal with one

  • of those Lego connectors, but this time has a really long flexible ribbon so it can keep

  • moving in and out.

  • The large spring is probably to make sure nothing gets damaged if the camera gets bumped.

  • It absorbs the bump instead of hurting the lead screw with the motor.

  • Pretty smart of Vivo to design something like this.

  • Thumbs up for that.

  • What's not smart though, is covering up all that beautiful engineering inside the phone.

  • It deserves to be shown off, and that's where I come in.

  • I want to keep the back metal mostly intact because it might contain little antennas and

  • I also like how it's aesthetically silver to match the rest of the phone.

  • The part over the camera and motor isn't as important as the rest of it though.

  • A little snippity-snip from my scissors will take care of that.

  • I'll leave as many screw holes as possible so it's still secure.

  • And then I'll put all 12 screws back in, including the ones around the motherboard, so it's still

  • tight and the motor won't flex out of place on accident.

  • I'll do a full tear down of this phone in another video.

  • I'll clean up the remaining adhesive residue from inside the phone, and then I'll add my

  • own strong double-sided tape around the edges.

  • This helps keep the glass in place, as well as dust out of the phone.

  • The Vivo Nex S wasn't water-resistant to start with, and is definitely not water-resistant

  • now after this little operation.

  • I'll get rid of fingerprints on the underside of that glass since I won't have access to

  • it when the glass is set in place.

  • The camera goes back in making sure to keep things fingerprint-free.

  • And we're ready to drop the back glass in place and secure it all around the edges with

  • a little bit of pressure.

  • The phone does turn on, and now everything inside the phone is exposed to the outside

  • viewers while being fully protected with glass.

  • Yeah that psychedelic layer was pretty cool, but the pure modern industrial mechanical

  • look of this phone is pretty awesome.

  • The bright shiny metallic silver battery is perfect for this build, and we can clearly

  • see the camera flexing in and out of the phone continuously.

  • This might be my favorite clear phone yet.

  • Feel free to share this video with other technology loving individuals.

  • With enough voices, we just might get manufacturers making clear phones before I get my hands

  • on them.

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

  • And come hang out with me on Twitter and Instagram.

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

You know how the Vivo Nex S has that hidden mechanical camera on top?

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