HTC may be past its heyday, but the company still releases new smartphone models occasionally. The most recent one is the HTC U23 Pro with a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, 108MP main camera and 6.7” 120Hz OLED display. If you’re curious about how easy this phone is to disassemble in case you need to swap out a component, this PBKreview video answers just this question.
The phone’s plastic back comes off easily enough and from then on it’s plain Phillips head screws. The good news is that most things are kept on separate sub-assemblies, e.g. the USB-C charging port is not soldered to the daughter board on the bottom, the 3.5mm headphone jack on top comes off easily enough as well.
HTC U23 Pro disassembly: under the rear panel • heat pipe • USB-C assembly • battery
Even the battery didn’t put up a fight as it is held down by moderate amounts of glue. The bad news is that replacing the screen requires taking the phone completely apart. This and difficult to source replacement parts mean that the U23 Pro received only an average repairability score.
By the way, when the HTC U23 Pro launched in mid-May, it was only available in Taiwan. Starting on June 28th the phone will be shipped in the EU as well, sold through vive.com at a price of €570 (it’s currently on pre-order). As a promo, buyers will receive a free pair of HTC Earbuds (while supplies last).
