GoKawiilTL;DR iFixit has conducted a teardown of the Galaxy S26 Ultra to rate its repairability.
Removing the back plate, battery, rear cameras, USB-C port, and more was a breeze.
However, the team had serious trouble removing the display and selfie camera.
Although Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the best Android phones of last year, it left a lot to be desired in the repairability department. The 2025 phone only managed to earn a measly 5 out of 10 repairability score from iFixit. Now that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is available, did Samsung fix this mistake on its latest flagship? It seems that the answer is a bit of a mixed bag.
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The folks over at iFixit have conducted a teardown of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Like the S25 Ultra before it, the team found that there are both good and bad design decisions.
Starting with the good, it appears there were no issues removing the back panel. Just applying heat and working around the edges with a pick, while being careful around the cameras, was enough to separate the rear glass cleanly from the device. The outlet also claims that removing the battery, USB-C port, rear cameras, and motherboard was about as hassle-free as it could be. Meanwhile, the power and volume buttons were found to be among the “easiest buttons in the business to remove.”
Which Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra upgrade excites you the most? 1935 votes Privacy Display 41 % Slimmer design 8 % New chip: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 16 % 60W wired charging 15 % Faster wireless charging with built-in magnets 13 % Anything else (comment below) 7 %
Conversely, the phone’s headline feature — the privacy display — proved to be the biggest headache. Apparently, iFixit was unable to remove the display without damaging it. The outlet even goes as far as to call it “one of the ugliest screen repair paths in a flagship phone.”
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