Introduction
Huawei is angling for the high end segment with its three-eyed raven P20 Pro. They packed a ton of tech in here, what with three cameras, plus a 24 MP selfie cam—all topped off by a notched display. Hate it or love it, we're tearing it down..
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What you need
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Winterspring is coming and so is the new flagship from Huawei. Let's have a quick look at those flourishing specs: -
6.1-inch OLED touchscreen with 2240 × 1080 resolution and an aspect ratio of 18.7:9
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Octa-core Kirin 970 with Mali-G72 MP12 GPU and a dedicated NPU
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Triple camera 40 MP + 8 MP + 20 MP, ƒ/1.6 and ƒ/2.4 main camera unit by Leica
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24 megapixel (no that's not a typo) ƒ/2.0 selfie camera
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128 GB storage and 6 GB RAM
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Unlike Samsung, Huawei has opted to notch their display around its camera and earpiece speaker.
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That said, the P20 Pro seems a little lukewarm on the notch front—the EMUI offers its user the option to ''hide'' the notch.
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The notch isn't the only thing Huawei borrowed from Apple, it sports an iPhone X-style 1.4 mm mesa with two cameras and a more modest iPhone 6-style "button" for the monochrome sensor.
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Stacked against (under) the P10, this new Huawei comes with some beefed up dimensions: 155 × 73.9 × 7.8 mm (6.10 × 2.91 × 0.31 in) and 180 g in weight.
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Flipped over, we see evolution in action: Two cameras bad, three cameras good!
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The 40 MP and 8 MP cameras work together to get a 3x optical zoom. The 20 MP monochrome camera brings more details and extra sharpness.
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Since the P20 Pro's "extra" cameras live on the back, and it doesn't need Face ID hardware, its notch takes up a bit less real estate than the iPhone X it takes after (on the right).
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But enough about the outsides—in teardown land, it's what's inside that counts.
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Eliminating pesky pentalobes was a welcome move, but no screws at all? Time to try our luck with the trusty iSclack.
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To our surprise the P20 Pro opens almost as easily as a flower in the spring sun. Almost. We've never had to use an opening pick on a flower...
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This teardown is really starting to bloom, look at all that techy nectar—er, is this metaphor getting away from us?
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We go to remove the back cover and are foiled! No fingerprint scanner back here and there's still a cable primed to be ripped during opening.
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We finally get our hands on some screws and make quick work of the NFC antenna and motherboard shield.
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That's an NFC antenna, not a wireless charging coil—that crackable glass back is just for show, and for getting broken...
Und wenn das abgerissen ist ? Was ist das genau ?
Hallo Susann, bei dem Kabel handelt es sich um das Kabel für den Laser Autofokus für die Kamera. Wenn das Kabel gerissen ist, kann es sein, dass dein Handy in bestimmten Situationen nicht mehr richtig fokussiert oder du im schlechtesten Fall keine oder keine scharfen Fotos mehr damit schießen kannst.
Is the back cover part of the antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal to the cell tower? I got my phone back after replacing the back cover and screen, but now it has very poor cell signal reception. What could be the problem?
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Finally, we come to the brains of this operation—the motherboard—and wrestle it free from its various connectors.
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Huawei once again sticks to its usual motherboard design, opting for a wider battery and a smaller board than some other Android phones.
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The trio of cameras comes along for the ride, holding fast to the board, with the rear flash module in tow.
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So many options, which to investigate first—cameras, or motherboard? We opt for the peepers and take the front-facing camera along for the ride.
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The three rear cameras get by with just two connectors—the main camera and the monochrome camera share one port, while the telephoto camera gets the other all to itself.
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From the side we can compare the relative elevations:
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Left: 20 MP (monochrome ƒ/1.6). Middle: 40 MP (main camera ƒ/1.8). Right: 8 MP (telephoto ƒ/2.4)
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Lastly, we've got all four eyes lined up for inspection, including the P20 Pro's selfie cam with only 24 MP.
谢谢指正，已经修改了！下次可以直接点翻译修改过来，这样更快！：）
谢谢指正，已经修订。期待看到你的翻译！
Do you know manufacture of the sensors?
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The P20 Pro may not have a fancy dual-aperture lens, but it can laser focus. And deep focus. And phase focus. And contrast focus. Basically, it does a lot of fast focusing.
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Officially, only the little 8 MP telephoto cam gets hardware OIS—the others, saith Huawei, rely on Kirin's Neural Processing Unit for things like predictive focus, settings for over 19 different scenes, and filter effects like bokeh.
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That said, this sure looks like OIS hardware to us—three OIS hardwares, to be exact. Are you holding out on us, Huawei?
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The primary RGB camera uses a 1/1.7 inch sensor (for reference: iPhone X 1/2.9 inch, Samsung Galaxy S9+ 1/2.55 inch) and has a maximum ISO of 102,400—ready for nightly skyline shots and party pix.
Actually in this video you can see that the lens move, but I miss a camera dissection or x-ray view to see if actually there are magnets and coils that could support OIS on the ‘disabled’ lens.
Surprise update: see next step …
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Oh what the heck. We're as curious as you are, so here are the triplets completely dissected. You won't get more teardown for your money—wait, this is free.
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And while we're at it, let's also take a closer look at the sensors.
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In the middle is the 1/1.7 inch RGB sensor, with the 1/2.7 inch monochrome sensor cozying up to its left. On the right we see the telephoto with a 1/4 inch sensor.
Guilty, although the sensors are “fine”. Just the glass on top of the sensors broke (there is small gap between the sensors and the glass).
Those coils on the sides of the modules on the left are for autofocus, hence only 2 per lens assy. The coils for OIS are mounted on the bottom of the telephoto module (as you can see on the green PCB). The lenses wobble a bit because they need to be free to go back and forth to focus. There are designs that put the OIS coils on the sides, but it’s not the case in here, you need 2 for the y axis and 2 for the x axis. Those modules on the left only have VCM’s for the z axis.
Now every single news company is putting out articles saying that the P20 Pro has OIS in all cameras.
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What kind of fancy chips did Huawei pack in the phone? Let's see:
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Micron MT53D768M64D8WF-053 WT:D 6 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM with the Kirin 970 SoC underneath
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Samsung KLUDG4U1EA-B0C1 128 GB V-NAND flash memory
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HiSilicon Hi6403-GWCV110 audio IC
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Texas Instruments BQ25895 I2C battery charger controller
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ON Semiconductor NLAS2750 dual SPDT analog switch
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ON Semiconductor FSA644UCX 1.5 Gbps 4-data lane switch
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Let's flip it with a spatula and check the back:
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HiSilicon Hi6363-GFCV100 RF transceiver
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Skyworks SKY78113-14, SKY78114-61, and SKY78117-4A Skyone Front End LTE modules
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HiSilicon Hi6421-GFCV810 power management IC
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Cypress BCM43596 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module
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HiSilicon Hi6423-GWCV100 power management IC
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Broadcom BCM4774 GNSS receiver w/ sensor hub
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HiSilicon Hi6H01S and Hi6H02S RF Switch/LNA
Not highlighted is the GNSS Location Hub BCM4774IUB2G above and to the left of the BCM43596 (green). This means that provided the software/ firmware is amenable, this phone should make use of signals from the Galileo satellites (https://www.broadcom.com/products/wirele... ). This is something that different websites and Huawei itself have been inconsistent in reporting.
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IC Identification, continued:
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Texas Instruments DRV2605 haptic driver
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Texas Instruments LM3642 boost LED flash driver
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Skyworks SKY13351-378LF GaAs SPDT switch
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STMicroelectronics LSM6DSM 3-axis accelerometer/gyroscope
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AKM Semiconductor AK09918C 3-axis electronic compass
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Richtek RT8095GQW 2 A synchronous step-down converter
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Probably RF switches
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We usually don't like barriers between us and battery replacements, but we might make an exception for this modular charging port. That'll be a painless replacement!
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Since we got this far without heat, we stay cool and attack the battery glue with some drops of magic. Wait just a tick—then, opening pick.
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As smartphone batteries go, this one's a heavyweight—4,000 mAh at 3.82V, or 15.28 Wh.
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That beats the Samsung Galaxy S9+ (13.48 Wh) and the iPhone X (10.35 Wh) by far and is on par with its kinsman the Mate 10 Pro. To be fair software has a big effect on power efficiency.
The battery sparked as I was slowly prying it out like a child. Instant heat ? obviously not ok to use anymore…. What will likely happen if I try. Also what exactly happened. Its sitting in the corner now likely hotter than the sun by now
Is it going to blow up?
What is the white cable popping up in the picture? I have slightly damaged it while opening the lid... any help, where to buy a replacement?
Anyway after closing the lid back, the NFC is not working anymore... what could I have done wrong? is the white cable in the pic related to the NFC antenna?
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We turn our focus to the bottom of the frame and find a tiny daughterboard, hiding amongst a loudspeaker and vibrator motor.
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Compared to the battery extraction, the glue securing this collection of parts is a breeze—albeit a sticky one.
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But where's the headphone jack!?
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Good thing that charging port is modular, because it'll be doing double duty with headphones and charging cables!
Vanilla P20 has no headphone jack like the P20 Pro.
You’re right, only the P20 Lite does have one. It’s been corrected.
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Time for one last iOpener/pick song and dance—for this refrain: display removal!
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We make the display assembly like a banana and ''split.''
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The display lifts out of the body, but only after the display cable makes a harrowing journey through a hole in the mid frame.
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Display separated, we're left with not much intel. However, one item does remain.
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Some gentle prying and the home button is freed!
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Lacking Face ID hardware or iris scanning, this phone still uses the "archaic" physical button. No word on whether it's locked to its motherboard.
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In an unusual twist, the proximity and brightness sensor is buried under the display in the midframe—making for a rather anticlimactic end to our teardown.
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Time to move on! Throw a last glance at the insides of the three-eyed phone from Huawei and look forward to more teardown fun from iFixit!
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Want to see inside your own P20 Pro without taking it apart? Check out this layered wallpaper and download it on your phone!
Sensore home si smonta in due pezzi?
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- Many components are modular and can be replaced independently.
- Replacing the battery is possible but at the expense of some time and effort.
- Double the risk for breakage with glass front and back.
- Replacing the screen requires going through at least two layers of adhesive and some disassembly.
Final Thoughts
Repairability Score
(10 is easiest to repair)
Team
47 Comments
we should always cultivate habit of repairing the broken gadgets and reuse them. else e waste is going to grow like !&&* and kill us. Thanks I fix for your job
the best teardown site. I wish you start franchisee in India too.
www.drtechnno.com
Why only a 4 out of 10? This is like the only flagship that doesn't require heat to get into, and you say in the article that everything is modular…
I would give only 1 point to every flagship phones which back hold by double sided adhesive tape, these phones are fuckingly expensive and the only thing holds it together is cheap tape, if i pay the price of an used car for a phone then i want screws, not double addhesive tape.
Please do a Huawei P20 Lite Teardown
;0
I have a P20 Pro and had a stuck SIM card inside. They said I needed to replace the motherboard and charging me $500 for the replacement! Isn’t that too much?
Well, all of the engineer in the repair store which are ran by HUAWEI don’t have the permissions to use the hot-wind gun to heat your motherboard to get the broken SIM card reader out and replace the new one. When they know your motherboard has something wrong, they just want to replace the broken thing. And they think your motherboard is broken, then they want to replace is. But I think they can also get your motherboard out of your phone, use the tweezers to get the Sim card out and bring it back. Maybe it would failed but it is a choice. If they successed to get it out, maybe you just need to give them USD20 (20 UNITED STATS DOLLARS) for that.
Dill Zhu -
I broke the back cover. Found it for 50$ on ebay. Do you think I could replace it myself?
Hi Billy,
the back cover of the Huawei P20 Pro is relatively easy to remove. Take care to get good adhesive for the reassembly with the new back cover. Nevertheless it’s unlikely to achieve the same water resistance after the reassembly as before.
How difficult is it to access the internal storage and transfer it? I have a smashed screen and back but i hear it receiving messages etc. (p20pro)
Hi. My finger scanner got broken. Is it possible to just replace it without replacing the whole screen?
It is possible to replace the fingerprint sensor / home button. But to do so you have to remove the display unfortunately. You won’t be able to access the home button through the mid frame.
Fingerprint sensor IS REPLACEABLE withohut screen removal, only very difficult and fiddly. I’ve done it in december 2020.
Wow I didn't expect to read such a bad article today. After just having read the iPhone Xs’s teardown and seeing it's got a 6 for basically being irrepairable, its just weird to see this quite repairable phone get a four out of ten.
SHAME on you
The XS is quite repairable apart from the glass back, which even if broken is primarily a cosmetic issue. (We still docked it a point though—if not for the glass back, it would score a 7.) The truly critical stuff like screen and battery replacements are pretty easy on all modern iPhones. The P20 Pro is more difficult to work with and relies way too heavily on glue—and that display replacement is very poorly prioritized. A score of 4 is pretty fair, on par with the current Galaxy line.
I had the subboard of my p20pro replaced. With all the adhesives being removed and replaced as well, would it still hold on the being ip67? Huawei service center near me did the work.
Which is GPS module ? Why you don’t say anything about it. For some people it is the most important part of the phone.
For me too! =)
which module could support type-c water detection?
Can you just replace the screen and not the lcd?
my screen is little bit broken but the touch screen works fine.
No, the display is a fused unit. Replacing only the glass would require special tools and machines.
i poked my microphone is it okay to poked and not lose the waterpfoof of it?
Where is the glue? I mean where the glue/adhesive tape hold the display? Thanks. If you can send me Photo with Red Line where is glue.
Can you guys please post an x-ray pic of the phone like you did for the iPhone X? It's my current daily driver and it'd be cool if I could get that as my wallpaper
I am sorry Nocifer but the phone was torn down in Germany where we don’t have a partner for X-Ray imagery yet. If someone has such a machine at his/her disposal feel free to contact us. For the the time being I can offer this layered image of the inside as a wallpaper
Does anyone know who makes the three different sensors in the P20 Pro? I hear that Sony makes the main sensor, but I would also like to know about the monochrome and telephoto sensor. Thank you!
Buonasera volevo Porre un quesito Ho appena comprato un p30 pro Huawei dovendo inserire la SIM card ho sbagliato foro sul fondo Praticamente ho messo la graffetta nel piccolo foro che da quanto ho capito dovrebbe essere l'abbattitore di rumori esterni. Naturalmente ho fatto una piccolissima pressione Mi sembra di ricordare di aver trovato una barriera rigida secondo voi è possibile che possa aver bucato qualche membrana oppure sono andato a parare contro un telaio rigido? Grazie in anticipo
No worries. You did not damage anything since the mic is installed at an angle (see step 9 in the P30 Pro Teardown). Everything should still work fine.
Ciao mi può dire tasto home che fa anche di impronta si smonta in due pezzi?
Ou est le micro de réduction de bruit svp ?
In fact I inserted the Sim tool in the mic for noise cancelation on the top of the phone. Is there any damage possible like breaking a membrane ? Thanks
Hi Jeremy,
because of the build of the phone it is nearly impossible to break the microphone or it’s gasket that way and your phone should be fine. In case you’re more interested into the build of the phone, I answered a similar question regarding puncturing a microphone hole in the frame here: I inserted the pin in the left bottom microphone. The question was for the Huawei Mate 20 Pro but the mic build is more or less the same just in another location.
Bonjour
Pour le remontage de la coque arrière, comment faut il procéder ? Ya til une colle à prévoir ou est elle sur la coque prête à être récoler
Merci
Bonjour @thierryberck
Pour cela, enlevez les résidus d’adhésif et appliquez-en une nouvelle couche avant de remonter la coque.
davvero fantastico, il miglior sito di dis-assemblaggio che abbia trovato ad ora, complimenti! Soprattutto il modo ironico di condurre l’indagine ma anche la notevole qualità delle immagini fornite a corredo
Can anybody give me a url to show how to replace and install both the volume up and down button flex combined with the Side Key Frame. I cannot find anyone who has done a tear down video with these included. At the moment I’m having a really hard time installing these into a new frame which does not have the assembly. Can anyone help please? Thanks
Nice teardown, but the score is wrong. Repairability of this phone is at least 6. I’ve repaired several already. Everything is modular and replaceable. Battery is not difficult to replace, where did you get that it is? You could lower the score by one for how expensive original display is, ind how there are no decent replacement screens, only trash, but the every Samsung should get same -1 for this reason.
Fingerprint sensor IS REPLACEABLE withohut screen removal, only very difficult and fiddly. I’ve done it in december 2020.
hola saludos como conseguir un esquematico del huawei P20 pro
Could you get me the infrared sensor of the camera?
What is the white wire that connects to the pins marked as "B"?
Is the back cover part of the antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal to the cell tower? I got my phone back after replacing the back cover and screen, but now it has very poor cell signal reception. What could be the problem?
