Huawei’s flashy new phone is harder to repair than Apple’s iPhone X, according to a new report.
A teardown by iFixit gave the Huawei P20 Pro a repairability score of four out of 10, with 10 being the easiest to fix. The iPhone X, by comparison, had a score of six. Both of Samsung’s new phones, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, had ratings of four, as well.
The rating takes into account how easy it is to replace components and the battery, as well as how breakable the casing and glass are.
In the case of the P20, iFixit said many components are modular and can be replaced independently of each other. It’s also possible to replace the battery, but it’ll take time and effort, the site said. It also noted there’s double the risk for breakage with a glass front and back, and replacing the screen requires going through at least two layers of adhesive, as well as some disassembly.
Huawei last month unveiled its new Android smartphones, the P20 and P20 Pro. Both feature three camera lenses on the back, an industry first for photography. (They’ve been used previously for depth sensing or AR.) Huawei also crams the P20 Pro with the same super slow motion video available on the Galaxy S9, extreme zoom and a feature that promises to take exceptionally even night shots.
One thing iFixit found is that all three cameras on the back of the phone appeared to include optical image stabilization, though Huawei has said only the 8-megapixel telephoto camera has the feature that prevents images from being blurry.
“This sure looks like OIS hardware to us — three OIS hardwares, to be exact,” iFixit said. “Are you holding out on us, Huawei?”
Huawei didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
