DIY enthusiasts have been known to physically modify their desktop computers for ages now, for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, increasing performance, forcing compatibility or simply making their rig look cooler than those of others. Smartphone modding meanwhile, has largely been restricted to software modifications, which include rooting, custom ROM flashing etc. but from time to time, people have physically ripped their phones apart, to try and introduce features that didn’t come out of the box, like wireless charging, say for instance. Which apparently requires one to hack into the phone and attach a wireless charging coil to the battery connector of the device. Such tutorials abound on the internet, and while such extreme modifications may not be for the faint of heart, enthusiasts do get a kick out of it, although most others wouldn’t dare venture into such territories with their expensive – and fragile – little devices.
Such brave hearts however, are reportedly not in short supply, as a member of online message board Reddit with username Skarface08, has posted an image of his Galaxy Note 5 after having modded it to get a transparent back, with large sections of the phone’s internals fully visible through the now-transparent back cover. The visible hardware elements include parts of the circuit board, the battery and many of the screws that hold the device together. The extraordinary lengths to which this individual went to give his phone an unique, industrial look may or may not be for everybody, but people have been modding their Galaxy Note devices previously as well, to make their handsets stand out from others around them. Just nothing this extreme! It bears mentioning here that the Note 5 does not have a removable battery nor a microSD card slot unlike the Note 4 from last year, meaning, its back cover is not supposed to be replaceable by users under normal circumstances.
Explaining his modus operandi, Skarface08 says the first step was to heat up the back of the phone. “I use a Ecoheat gun that gets it really hot, the use a suction cup to pry the back off. After that you let it cool off a bit and take off all the film with a razor blade”. It remains to be seen if the internet will be flooded with stories of too many people ripping apart their Galaxy Note 5s, but not many would wouldn’t bet on it.