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 Nokia “bothie” cameras.
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.
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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.