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Follow this guide to replace the loudspeaker module for the Google Pixel XL.
The Pixel XL’s unreinforced display panel is fragile and is attached to the frame with strong adhesive, making repairs difficult. There is a considerable chance of breaking the display, especially if it already has micro-fractures. Be sure to apply plenty of heat and be extremely careful during the prying stage.
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Heat an iOpener and apply it to the top edge of the display for two minutes.
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Take note of the following regions before you begin prying:
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Thin adhesive lined against the display panel
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Thick adhesive
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The OLED display panel, which is very prone to damage
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The display cable, which can be damaged during prying
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Once the edge is warm to the touch, apply a suction cup close to the edge.
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Lift on the suction cup, and insert an opening pick into the gap.
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If you have trouble creating a gap, reheat the edge and try again.
From my experience, I had to use a thin blade (such as the ones included with the deluxe iFixit repair kit) to slide into the small gap, and cut away at the foam adhesive. Once enough of a gap is created, the picks can then be used to push the adhesive aside - but the adhesive is so thick, especially -as Brewmaster396 observed in the comments below - at the top right corner behind the screen, that the knife is required to cut it. I failed here - cracking the back layer of my screen - because I didn’t take time to cut all the adhesive away from that thick part, and kept trying to pull the screen off. It doesn’t take a lot of pressure to crack - so maybe it’s more a thing of cutting and floating the screen up, not pulling and prying.
Mark the picks with lines that show how deep you can go in that part of the screen. This will help keep you from accidentally hitting the fragile screen
Matthew Goodwin - Excellent suggestion.
Jon T made a great suggestion about creating a mark on the picks (see above).
Matthew Goodwin responds with an “Excellent suggestion.”
Here we are 8 months later and no lines on the picks in my new pro-tech tool kit, not sure why this hasn’t been implemented at this point in time.
Bob H.
Thin, but sturdy pieces of paper (playing cards, bits of paper box packaging) helped me a lot when trying to open my screen. The plastic picks are useful, but very slippery so you should use extra caution when applying pressure with those.
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Slide the opening clip across the top edge to slice through the adhesive.
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Leave an opening pick in the edge to prevent the adhesive from resealing.
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Heat an iOpener and apply it to the right edge of the phone for two minutes.
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Insert an opening pick near the top edge of the phone, where you have already sliced the adhesive.
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Slowly guide the pick around the right corner.
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Carefully slide the pick down the right edge of the phone to slice through the adhesive.
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Repeat the step for the left edge of the phone.
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Heat the bottom edge with an iOpener for two minutes.
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Insert a pick near the right edge where you have already loosened the adhesive.
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Carefully guide the pick around the corner.
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Slide the pick along the bottom edge to slice through the adhesive.
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Once you have sliced around the perimeter of the phone, carefully lift the display assembly up slightly by the right corners.
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Use an opening pick to slice through any remaining adhesive.
As long as you’ve disengaged the adhesive relatively evenly around all sides, I found mounting the suction cup in the middle (biased a little to the left or right side), helps a lot on this step.
do I need to get a screen adhesive when it goes back?
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Lift the display assembly from the top end and swing it around such that it rests upside down on the frame.
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crwdns2935267:0crwdne2935267:0Magnetic Project Mat$19.95
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Remove the two 4 mm T5 screws securing the display cable bracket.
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Remove the display cable bracket.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the display cable from its connector.
i have to agree with the comment here about the connector. If you press it in the middle, it will bend. Resulting in either bent pins on the motherboard or the display. In my case it was both !
Be careful prying up the connector and apply force only from the side as shown in the picture cause in the longest side there are capacitors that can be broke doing the lever ( happened to me Repair missing capacitor near display connection port )
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crwdns2935267:0crwdne2935267:0Tweezers$4.99
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Remove the display assembly.
The Parts List does not state you need a replacement display. Is this portion of the Repair Guide copied and pasted from another guide (perhaps the screen replacement guide) or will I need to procure a replacement screen before I attempt to replace the battery?
It is possible to replace the battery without replacing the display, but there is a significant chance you may break the display during removal. It depends on if your display already has micro-fractures, and how stubborn the screen adhesives are. I would personally buy a screen just in case, and return the part if I didn’t need it.
Hello, I recently bought a refurb screen off of eBay to fit. The phone was 100% working before and just needed a new display/battery.
The battery came before the display. I wanted to test the display before doing too much reassembly, so I plugged in the battery, connected the mother/daughter boards with the interconnect cable, and then plugged in the LCD.
When I press the power button there is the usual single buzz from booting, but the display is completely blank.
Is the replacement screen DOA, or are there important traces/connections made by fully assembling the midframe and missing screws before testing the LCD?
If I already have all the ingredients for a fair test of the LCD, then it seems the LCD is bad?
Like I said the phone worked perfectly before… and if the new battery is dead, I would expect no buzz, or at least a battery graphic?
Hi John,
If the phone buzzed, that usually signifies that it has booted up—having no image at that point usually means some kind of display issue. I would suggest disconnecting the display connector, carefully checking for any debris in the socket, and carefully re-connecting it.
I’ve also seen a comment in another Pixel guide that suggests plugging in the display connector before the battery. If that works, please leave a comment!
battery connector is not accessible without removing the display first………. and reassembling, battery has to be connected first, then the plastic piece and then the display
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Remove the following screws that secure the midframe to the back:
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Seven black 4 mm T5 screws
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Two silver 3 mm T5 screws
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The midframe is held tightly in place by plastic clips which push into the edge of the back case.
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Find the small notch in the bottom left corner of the frame and insert an opening pick.
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Slide the opening pick along the bottom edge of the phone towards the bottom right corner and leave it there.
This step was impossible on my phone as a gap could not be formed at the notch to pry the corner up using either pick or playing card . Flathead micro screwdriver was required causing insignificant cosmetic damage at that area.
This step takes a few tries, starting with the pick perpendicular to the phone. Eventually, after gentle prying, it will catch the corner so you can slip the pick underneath. Like everything in this repair, it requires you to be exceedingly delicate and patient.
Take the tip of the tweezers, insert it in the screw hole near where they show to insert the pick and gently pry up. You should be able to move the plate upwards enough to insert the pick
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Insert a separate opening pick into the right edge of the phone, near the bottom.
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Slowly push the pick upwards along the seam until the first clip pops free.
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Once you've released the clip, leave the opening pick in place to prevent the midframe from resealing.
I found that leaving the pick in the middle, and using it as a lever (think like bending a pipe over one’s knee and the pick in the middle is the knee) to “pop” the top edge up helped a lot more than trying to use more picks to pry this mid layer up…
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Insert an opening pick into the right edge of the phone and slide it upwards towards the top right clip.
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Slowly slide the pick past the clip to disengage it from the frame.
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Grasp the right edge of the midframe by the corners and slowly hinge the edge up.
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When the left edge feels loose, stop hinging and lift the midframe upwards.
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Remove the midframe.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the battery connector.
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Bend the battery flex cable slightly so that it will not accidentally touch the motherboard.
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crwdns2935267:0crwdne2935267:0Tweezers$4.99
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Use tweezers to peel up the tape at the top of the interconnect cable.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the interconnect cable from the motherboard.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the interconnect cable from the bottom daughterboard.
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Continue peeling the interconnect cable from the bottom daughterboard.
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Remove the interconnect cable.
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Use the edge of an opening tool to carefully push the vibration motor connector out of its socket.
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Remove the two 3 mm T5 screws securing the daughterboard to the frame.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry up and loosen the right edge of the daughterboard.
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Swing the daughterboard to the left to move it out of its recess.
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Slowly lift the left edge of the daughterboard up, pulling the antenna patch off of the loudspeaker.
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Flip the daughterboard over onto the battery and secure it out of the way with some tape.
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Use the point of a spudger to pry up and loosen the loudspeaker from its recess.
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Insert the point of a spudger under the loudspeaker flex cable and pry gently to loosen it from the frame.
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Use the spudger to pry up the loudspeaker.
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Remove the loudspeaker.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Google Pixel XL Answers community for troubleshooting help.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Google Pixel XL Answers community for troubleshooting help.
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This guide has been updated!
Great guide! Don’t be like me (on step 14) and sever your power and volume cable while sliding the pick up the right side of the mid-frame.
I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve updated the step to hopefully mitigate that potential damage.
I installed a new battery and screen and now the loadspeaker does not work. I never removed the daughterboard so I'm not sure what I did to cause it not to work. Is there anything else to try before I take it back apart?
Hi Stacey,
Does the vibration motor still work? Does it charge properly? The first thing I would check is to re-seat both ends of the wide ribbon which connects the motherboard to the daughterboard. Make sure there are no particulates in the sockets.
You can test the phone without the midframe installed—the earpiece speaker just won’t work as it’s attached to the loudspeaker. If you do, be careful not to short anything!
Add me to the list of people who cracked their screen trying to open up the device :-(
In other news: The antenna patch connecting the daughterboard to the replacement loudspeaker isn’t adhering properly. I tried taping it down with electrical tape but it won’t stick. What are my options here? Will superglue work? Does the midframe hold down the patch or is it fully dependent on the adhesive?
Thanks!
Hi Zeev,
I’m sorry to hear about the cracked screen. It is definitely a difficult feat—we’re trying to work out an easier and more reliable method.
The midframe will definitely hold down the patch once it is in place. Make sure that the patch is not creased when you install the midframe. Double-sided scotch tape works well also.
Hi Arthur,
Thanks for the prompt response, really appreciate it. I’ll get rid of the electrical tape on the loudspeaker patch and let the midframe do its thing.
Regarding the guide: I watched several Pixel XL disassembly videos on youtube, and believe that despite copious amounts of glue, the top and bottom should be propped up first, followed by a gentle prying of the sides. The initial entry on the side is what caused me to crack my screen. In any case thanks again for the guide, it was helpful nonetheless.
Yes, that may be a safer option. I’ll look into updating the guide.
What is the function of a loudspeaker antenna patch? I think that it might be the reason that my speakers don't work, since when I replaced the charging port (daughter board) on my Pixel xl I had a lot of trouble getting it to stick to the loudspeaker and in the end I'm not sure that it stuck. The loudspeaker worked before the daughter board replacement, but now it doesn't.
Hi Nachum,
The antenna patch shouldn’t affect whether the loudspeaker works or not. The daughterboard has spring contacts for the loudspeaker. Check that the contacts are aligned and touching the loudspeaker’s patches.
From my experince, it’s better to use a heat gun (if iFixit sold a good heat gun in volume, they should spruik that). Also, heat ALL sides at the same time BUT concentrate on the top part of the phone where the foam adhesive tape is thickest, second on the bottom where the foam is almost as thick. It also helps to use the 2nd & 3rd images in the series to visualise where the adhesive is.
Jon T. - crwdns2934203:0crwdne2934203:0
Ty for the advice I prefer heat gun but my first pixel
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