Today I’m going to tear down the HTC 10. This will show you the screen replacement,
the charging port replacement, battery replacement, and just how much of a royal nightmare this
phone is to work on.
Buckle up.
Turn off the phone and remove both the SIM card tray and the SD card tray. I will link
the tools and replacement parts down in the video description, right below this video,
next to the subscribe button. A few things to watch out for, the playing cards or business
cards that you’re going to use to remove the screen are going to slide over the ear
piece. Watch out for the screen ribbons on the left side and the capacitive buttons on
the bottom of the device. You’ll understand what I’m talking about as you watch. Heat
up the phone around the edges. That is where the adhesive is. The phone is totally glued
shut, so by heating the edges you soften the glue. I put a little gap between the screen
and the metal frame with my little metal pry tool. Then I slide my business card between
the two and into the glue. The thinness of the card will cut the glue and not put any
unneeded pressure on the glass. If your screen is already destroyed you don’t need to be
as careful as I am. But I want to keep using my phone since it’s in good condition. If
you put your playing card in too deep it will damage the super fragile LCD. Basically, if
you’re going to open your phone for something other than a screen replacement, just plan
on replacing the screen as well; it’s that fragile. I heat up the screen again about
every 20 to 30 seconds. As the glue cools off it gets hard again. The hotter the glue
is, the easier it is to remove it. Pay special attention to the bottom as well so you don’t
damage those capacitive buttons. I leave the playing cards all around the edge so that
it doesn’t re-adhere back to the frame again as it cools. Once the glue is totally separated
the phone will open like a little book. The screen ribbon feeds through the metal mid-frame
into the rear of the phone. All of that work and it is still not accessible yet. There
are 12 screws around the mid-frame. This thick mid-frame is probably what helps give the
phone its durability. If you have not yet watched my durability test you should check
it out. This phone is a beast. The mid-frame is not glued into place but it is very very
precisely set into the rear of the phone. So using a thin pry tool, pry between the
two frames and lift the screen and the motherboard out. This exposes the 3 different circuit
boards stacked on top of each other like some freaky tetras game. Before we can disconnect
the screen, let’s unscrew the battery connector and then pop that off so that there’s no
power running through the board. It snaps off like a little Lego. Now listen real quick,
if you only need to replace your screen, ignore everything I do until I get to this ribbon
cable here. I try to keep as much of the tape intact so I can reuse it later, but you’re
much better off just removing it from the phone entirely first and setting it somewhere
safe. It will make this whole project less cluttered. So far I’ve removed the power
and volume ribbon. There is a little latch that you flip up and the ribbon cable can
slide out of its connector. Same thing with the SIM card ribbon. The top board left side
connector is the same way. Slide that out after lifting up the different tape layers.
The tape is mostly just here to make sure the latches stay latched if you ever drop
your phone. Next I’ll remove the charging port ribbon connector and lift off the tape
that holds the screen ribbon connector in place. I’ll also expose the right side main
board ribbon, and the SD ribbon, and the 2 signal wire connections. Once those are all
out I can remove the copious amounts of tape. This looks like the Medusa of cell phones.
There’s only one connector for the screen, so if the screen is all you need to replace,
don’t bother with anything else. It is a nightmare in here so get out while you can.
The screen ribbon slides out through the mid-frame. So here’s the screen. I will link replacement
screens in the video description. The replacement will look the same as this one but will probably
come with its own adhesive. You’ll need to transfer over the Home button as well.
If you need to do a battery replacement continue watching. The rest of these screws are going
to be a T5 screw from the tool kit that I link in the video description. Let’s start
with the charging port next since it is the most likely component to need replacing after
the screen or the battery. You can unsnap the charging port ribbon connector as well
as the two wire connectors on either side of it. Then flip the phone over and unstick
the capacitive buttons from the mid-frame. They do have the little LED light attached
to it so make sure not to rip that off. If the light breaks the button will still function,
it just won’t light up anymore. Those ribbons will pull through the frame and then release
your charging port into the wild. It’s got a USB type C connector and a microphone on
that board as well. Now let’s work on the middle board above the battery. It’s got
one wire connection and then 2 T5 screws at the top. Grab the little rubber niblet up
by the LED flash and the whole middle board can slide out from under the top board. Lift
it up gently and watch for the bottom vibrator. For some reason HTC soldered it onto the main
board. It matches the unorganized collection of everything else in here though so let’s
just roll with it. The 12 megapixel rear camera is attached to this middle board. It will
unsnap like the little charging port did. Here you can see the OIS image stabilizing
on the camera. It will physically move the lens while the camera is on to help stabilize
the image like a little gyro. Thumbs up for how awesome technology is. Now that the middle
board is off we can remove the battery. There are no pull tabs on this one so we just have
to pry it out. Luckily the screen is not attached anymore so we don’t have to be super careful
about flexing that mid-frame. Just make sure not to flex the battery and don’t puncture
it. Also stay away from that top edge of the battery because there are random ribbon cables
underneath it. Here is the 3,000 milliamp battery. If you have not yet subscribed to
my YouTube channel I’d love it if you did. It is free. I review technology from the inside.
Lift up those two ribbon cables under the battery. And then remove the three T5 screws
on the top board. The board will lift off. Here you can see the front 5 megapixel camera
with the same OIS image stabilizing feature that the rear camera has. It is a world first
to have it on the front facing. The proximity sensor also snaps off like a literal Lego;
I think this is a world first as well; normally they’re built into the motherboard. The
headphone jack is soldered into place. And the front camera is removable as well; the
bottom two ribbons are not. One really cool thing about this phone is that both the SIM
card tray and the SD care tray are replaceable. Not many phones have that capability lately.
Just remove the tape from the mid-frame and each of the slots will lift out allowing it
to be swapped. The guts of this phone are messy but at least they are modular. Let’s
put this bad boy back together. The straighter the ribbons are from the top board, the easier
they will be to plug in later. So line those up with the lines underneath the battery.
Get those 3 screws back into place. Always keep your screws organized even if they look
the same. Make sure to lift up the Power and Volume buttons before you put the battery
down. Don’t worry, I went back and fixed this later. The camera from the middle board
will tuck underneath that top board. Then get the two screws into place. Feed the capacitive
buttons through the mid-frame from that charging port. Make sure they stick. Then set the charging
port into place. Plug it in along with the two wire connections on either side, and the
3 screws. Now that most of it is in place we can work on the power button connector,
and the top ribbon connector, the SIM connector, the wire connector, the SD connector, and
the other top ribbon connector. Then I’ll tuck the screen through the frame gently.
If you kink or bend that ribbon too much, your screen will not work. I’ll connect
that into place. Then lastly I can connect the charging port ribbon right on top of it.
The last two wires get clipped in. And if your tape still exists, put it back on top.
This will just help the latches stay shut when you drop the phone the next time. Get
the battery plugged in and screwed down, then set the whole contraption into the rear frame
and clip it into place. It’ll snap down and you’ll hear it. I’ll test the screen
at this point. Get all 12 screws back into place if everything is functioning. The capacitive
buttons are working as well as the screen so I can adhere it down into place. Bonus
points to anyone who actually counts how many connections are inside this phone. Well I’m
glad this repair is over. Hopefully with the HTC 11 next year, they’ll manage to consolidate
a few more components and make the repair more manageable for the average person. Check
out the HTC 10 camera test and the durability video. This phone is amazing as long as you
don’t ever need to open it up. My Instagram and Twitter are where I am most active. Hope
to see you over there. Thanks for watching!