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JerryRig’s latest teardown shows what a clear-backed Pixel 4 XL would look like

iFixit treated the Pixel 4 XL to a full teardown not long after the device’s announcement, but one could say that one was a bit too careful. And professional. The latest Pixel 4 XL teardown from JerryRig is definitely a bit more on the messy and fun side, and gives us another look at various internal components and a clear back.

First, Zack pulls apart the back glass housing and shows how colored glass works on just about every phone. If you didn’t know, non-clear smartphone glass usually gets its color by internal paint, which means you can scrape off the paint to easily make a clear-backed device.

Last year, JerryRigEverything showed a Pixel 3 that looked pretty stunning, but this year he says that the 4 XL looks a bit like it let itself go. He also notes that, well, going all-clear on your Pixel 4 XL back might not be the best of ideas and drops some shade for Pixel 4 XL resell values.

Making your phone clear will void the warranty, so if you wanna do this wait til your phone drops in value, which for the Pixel it’s like two weeks…

He also takes a closer look at the Soli radar chip, the camera housing, the electronics that power the Google Pixel 4’s Active Edge feature, the acceptably-large Pixel 4 XL battery, and more.

pixel 4 xl soli

There’s not much else new in this teardown, but Zack does rip the phone to shreds in the most earbleed-prone way possible; definitely don’t watch this video if you don’t want your skin to crawl when he scratches his razor up against the various internal metal and glass fixings…

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Avatar for Stephen Hall Stephen Hall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Twitter. Or, email at stephen (at) 9to5mac (dot) com, or an encrypted email at hallstephenj (at) protonmail (dot) com.