Google took the wraps off its mid-range Pixel 6a in May at I/O 22. Two months later, the company started taking preorders for the device beginning July 21st. Now, ahead of the phone's retail availability starting July 28th, a teardown video detailing its disassembly and internals has surfaced online. While you are unlikely to pry open your brand new Pixel 6a as soon as you get your hands on it, such videos give a good idea of the phone's repairability and build quality.

Unrelated to the teardown, the sealed pack Pixel 6a unit that YouTuber PBKreviews received had heavy scratches on the back panel and the camera bar. So, if you are getting the phone on launch day, make sure to check it thoroughly when you first get your hands on it. This might be an odd case, but there's always a possibility of more such scratched units accidentally being shipped to customers.

The process of prying open the Pixel 6a to access its internals is similar to other smartphones on the market. You need to use a heat gun to soften the glue and then use a pry tool to loosen the screen. A ribbon cable connects the OLED panel to the motherboard, so the display needs to be lifted delicately. To keep the phone's temperature in check, Google has placed a large graphite sheet over the mid-frame to help transfer heat.

Unlike the bigger Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, prying the battery from the chassis is a lot easier because Google is not using a copious amount of glue to hold it in place. This should make battery replacement on the mid-range Pixel a lot easier. The USB-C port is soldered to the logic board though, making its repair a lot more complex and challenging. Interestingly, the frame has a cutout for wireless charging, though the feature is missing from the Pixel 6a itself. And just in case you were confused by the Pixel's "3D thermoformed composite" back, it is basically a plastic panel.

Overall, PBKreviews gives the Pixel 6a gets a repairability score of 7 out of 10, with the design and battery replacement being relatively straightforward. This score is higher than the more expensive Pixel 6 series, which only scored 5.5 out of 10 in its teardown, primarily due to the difficult battery replacement process.