The Xiaomi Mi 8 Explorer Edition offers a unique look that leverages a transparent rear panel to show off the innards of the smartphone. Although it looks nice, proudly displaying the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, there was evidence that this was just a display piece and not the actual processor. Now, a new teardown video of the Mi 8 Explorer Edition has popped up on YouTube, showing just how Xiaomi pulled off the look.
As you can see from the video, it"s quite a process getting to the innards, requiring patience and diligence. After removing the glass back cover, you can clearly see the decorative PCB. Once the faux unit is removed, you can see the actual SoC residing right underneath.
The presenter of the video states that while the Snapdragon SoC feels like plastic, the other parts feel like genuine resistors and capacitors. Although the real components might not look as pretty as the decorative parts, it still would have looked pretty good in its raw form.
Source: Sami Luo (YouTube)