My first DIY phone fix made me a self-repair believer

Turns out, taking things apart is still just as much fun as when you were a kid. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge

My first DIY smartphone repair project was off to an inauspicious start.

I’d successfully removed the back of the HMD Skyline, but the next instruction called for a T3 screwdriver bit. I had a T4 bit, which worked well enough to turn the screw that popped the corner of the phone’s back panel up. But a T4 was just too big for the tiny screws holding the battery connector cover in place. I needed that T3.

The Skyline is one of HMD’s latest user-repairable phones. It’s a midrange phone, one of the first Android phones with Qi2 wireless charging, plus a 6.55-inch OLED panel, three rear cameras, and a big 4,600mAh battery for $449. In my limited use, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 seems prone to lagginess, and the 1080p screen resolution really…

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