Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra is more repairable than ever, but iPhone 16 Pro still wins

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Within days of its launch, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra received a teardown treatment, revealing its innards. YouTuber JerryRigEverything also put the phone through his usual durability test, where it performed fairly well. Now, the iFixit team has conducted its own teardown and repairability assessment of Samsung’s latest flagship, calling it “one of the most repair-friendly Galaxy phones” in the past decade. But there’s a catch: the Galaxy S25 Ultra is still not as repairable as the iPhone 16 Pro.

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Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with the screen on showing lock screen notifications and AI

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra: 3 wins and 3 misses

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Battery replacement has been an issue on Galaxy phones because Samsung uses copious amounts of glue to hold the cell in place. With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the iFixit team discovered that Samsung is using four “sticky” tabs to secure the battery cell. This will make DIY battery replacement easier, as you can pull the tabs to release the cell without leaving any extra glue behind.

Don’t praise Samsung for this move, though. iFixit speculates the company made this move due to the right-to-repair laws in Europe. The same regulation has forced almost every tech company to make their devices more repair-friendly.

Another highlight of the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s repairable design is the modular cameras. Each rear camera module can be removed and replaced separately, making camera repairs less expensive. However, the selfie camera is glued in place, so removing it will be much more complicated and challenging.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra S Pen vs S24 Ultra S Pen

Source: iFixit

An interesting revelation from the S25 Ultra’s S Pen teardown is that it uses a PCB and structure similar to its predecessor’s S Pen. However, some ICs are missing due to the removal of Bluetooth functionality.

iPhone 16 Pro is more repairable than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Overall, iFixit says the Galaxy S25 Ultra is “one of the most repair-friendly Galaxy phones” they have come across in a decade. Still, the phone only gets a provisional repairability score of five out of 10. While that’s better than previous flagship Samsung phones, it pales compared to the iPhone 16 Pro lineup.

Thanks to the dual-entry approach and Apple’s excellent repair manuals, iFixit gave the iPhone 16 Pro a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10. Samsung’s inferior score is not just due to the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s less repair-friendly design. It is also because of its poor repair manuals and absurd replacement parts pricing, where it bundles multiple components together.

With the EU forcing tech giants to adopt a more repair-friendly design and make battery replacement easier, we should see Samsung make its Galaxy phones more repairable in the future.