Lenovo K5 Note Repairability Assessment

Packaging.

Front and back reference shots.

Rear case is a tight fit, but with the SIM card removed it pries off with determination and a couple picks. No screws or glue.

Spring contacts connect the camera flash module and presumably some case antennas.

Camera flash module is lightly adhered to the rear case.

The battery connector is secured underneath a bracket attached to this fingerprint sensor. Three Phillips screws secure the bracket.

Once the bracket's removed, there's a pull tab for easy battery removal.

On the way to removing the motherboard we had to break through a tamper-evident sticker.

The motherboard is booby-trapped with cables on both sides.

The power/volume button assembly is glued to the chassis and soldered to the motherboard.

The headphone jack is soldered to the motherboard.

A handful of Phillips screws secure the daughterboard—all the same size.

The vibrator motor is soldered to the daughterboard.

The primary speaker connects by way of spring contacts.

The primary camera is firmly glued to the midframe. It might be possible to extract it without first removing the motherboard, but only with some risk of pry damage to the motherboard.

The selfie camera is installed on the back of the motherboard, requiring removal of the motherboard for access.

Both cameras are modular.

With the interconnect cables out, this is as far as we go. The display looks to be firmly secured to a mid-frame for rigidity and would be impractical to separate. While it's the most likely component to break, everything else mounts to it—making it effectively the last component to be removed.

The Lenovo K5 Note earns a 6 out of 10 on our repairability scale (10 is the easiest to repair):

• Battery is replaceable with just a couple of tools.
• A single Phillips 00 driver takes care of all the screws.
• Some parts are modular, but high-wear components like the headphone jack and charge port are not.
• Sparing use of adhesive.
• Replacing the display assembly requires removing every other component from the device first.
• Manufacturer does not provide user-accessible repair documentation.