LG G8’s battery is intentionally made hard to replace

The LG G8 ThinQ is a flagship smartphone that comes with a couple of interesting features on the front of the device. You can unlock it by showing the palm of your hands and you can even launch apps or adjust the volume with hand gestures.

When it comes to repairs, it appears that LG doesn’t want you to replace the battery at all. There’s even a software warning that reminds you not to remove the battery as it can lead to safety hazards.

JerryRigEverything isn’t fazed by the warnings and he has proceeded with its usual teardown treatment. While batteries are non-user replaceable, most manufacturers will still allow you to replace it at authorised service centres.

Unfortunately, the LG G8 ThinQ’s 3,500mAh battery is secured with what appears to be permanent adhesive. As a comparison, other manufacturers would use special pull tabs or light adhesive which allow safe removals.

Taking out the G8 ThinQ’s battery could potentially cause an internal short circuit when both cathode and anode layers are crushed together due to bending. Zack of the channel says that LG has intentionally and dangerously made the G8 battery hard to remove. He had to apply some alcohol around the battery to loosen up the adhesives.

Because of that, he doesn’t recommend getting the LG G8 at all and he says that battery replacements should not be dangerous. Pull tabs doesn’t cost much and there’s no reason why manufacturers don’t use it. Fortunately, Zack had managed to remove the battery without causing too much damage as he could still switch the phone on with the same battery.

The video also revealed a couple of interesting elements on the inside. The device has a heat pipe which helps to draw heat from the Snapdragon 855 processor and underneath the display is a sound module that generates sound without the traditional earpiece speaker.