Back in July, iFixIt began to sell spare parts and guides for all Google Pixel phones barring 2016’s original. Last month, the company added the Pixel 6a to the collection, and now the site has a whole host of spare parts available for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
So if you’ve been delaying getting your Pixel 7 fixed due to the sky-high cost of repair shops, you could save a few bucks by doing it yourself. Though how many bucks depends on the kind of repair you need, with prices ranging from $3.99 for a custom-cut adhesive film for the screen, to $199 for the Pixel 7 Pro’s 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with its integrated fingerprint reader.
Something that’s pleasingly competitively priced is a replacement battery, which is excellent news as it’s something that will definitely deteriorate over the lifespan of your phone. It’s $42.99, whether you’re buying the 4,270mAh Pixel 7 battery, or the 4,926mAh Pixel 7 Pro cell.
For battery replacements, the operation isn’t quite as simple as ‘just’ opening up your phone and popping in the new part. iFixIt says you should calibrate the battery by charging it to 100%, leaving it plugged in for a further two hours and then using it until it hits zero. You then need to leave it charging “uninterrupted” until it hits 100% again.
If your camera is busted, it could be a cheapish fix or something pretty pricey, depending on whether you went Pro or not. For the regular Pixel 7, the two parts are sold separately with the ultrawide rear camera costing $42 and the main wide rear sensor setting you back $89. The Pixel 7 Pro’s triple camera array only comes as one unit costing $152.
The most expensive piece, as already mentioned, is the Pixel 7 Pro’s AMOLED screen at $199, but it’s a less painful outlay if you opted for the standard Pixel 7. The regular Pixel’s 6.3-inch AMOLED screen is $129.
Although you need a set of specialist tools to undertake most fixes, iFixIt will include a Fix Kit with each part for an additional $7.
At the time of writing, the kits appear to mostly be provided ‘as is’ without online instructions, though the screen replacement does have a guide (it’s an ‘easy’ fix that’ll take between ten and 20 minutes, apparently).
Hopefully more guides will appear soon so you can decide in advance whether to take it on yourself or outsource to a professional. But even if they don’t, this is a great step forward for repairability and should be applauded.
