Fairphone 3 Rear Camera Module Replacement

Written By: Adriana Zwink

Comments: 23

Fairphone 3 Rear Camera Module Replacement

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

10 - 20 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace the rear camera module in your Fairphone 3.

Tools

Parts

Fairphone 3 Camera

Step 1

Power off your phone before beginning disassembly.
Insert a thumbnail, or a prying tool like a spudger, into the notch at the bottom right of the back cover.
Pry the back cover up to start separating its plastic clips.

Step 2

Slide around the bottom right corner of the back cover to loosen the lower plastic clips.
Lift the back cover to release the rest of the plastic clips and remove it.
To reinstall the back cover press it firmly into place until you hear a snap from the plastic clips to form a seamless connection with the rear side of the phone.

Step 3

Use a fingernail or a prying tool at the marked notch to lever the battery out of its recess.
Lever the battery up until you can get a good grip.

Step 4

Lift the battery out of its recess and remove it.

Step 5

Whenever a Phillips #00 screw is mentioned you can also unfasten it with a size #0 bit/screwdriver.
Remove the thirteen Phillips #00 screws (4 mm length).

vis M 1.4/4 mm

Felice Suglia - 04/09/20

Attention : pour dévisser les deux vis du haut il est nécessaire d’avoir un tournevis assez fin, certains tournevis #0 seront trop gros et risquent de marquer les bords du trou, voire la caméra.

pichel - 28/02/21

I used the knife edge (on my suiss knife) and it worked fine. Of course, be very very carful not to damage the screws. In one hole I had to "sacrifice" a little bit plastic since the hole was a little bit too narrow for the knife.

Evaf70 -

no opening pick supplied with phone or part, it seems, and no picture of where to insert it

Jean Anne Campbell Leith -

Step 6

Make sure to insert the opening pick between the midframe and the display module and not into the small gap next to the screen. Otherwise you're going to pry up the screen instead of the whole display module.
Insert an opening pick between the midframe and the display module on the right edge of the phone.
Slide the opening pick down to the bottom right corner to pry open the plastic clamps of the display module.

Hello. I do not have an opening pick; one was not provided with the telephone or the camera module. How am I supposed to install the item if I have not been either provided with, or informed of the requirement for, a necessary tool? This makes it extremely difficult for a customer to make their own installations or repairs. Also, I do not have a spudger, and I had to look up what a spudger is. These are not everyday items found in most people’s toolboxes, so I feel that they should be provided, or a warning should be given when buying items (such as the camera module) which will require additional tools to install.

Helen Pearson - 23/03/21

Hi, you are right, there should be a hint to buy those tools. Maybe you have a guitar pick or a very thin spatula or putty knife. It is better to not use metal, to not damage the frame, but if you have no other tool this may help.

Fabian Gugger - 19/05/21

Attention de bien insérer sur la rainure la plus à l'extérieur, vous allez sinon decoller le joint fixant l'écran à proprement parler au reste du module.

Si ça vous arrive, vous le saurez en voyant que la partie décollée est toujours reliée par une nappe à la partie inférieure de l'écran. Pas de panique, appliquez quelques points de colle par dessus le joint d'origine et recommencez la procédure, cette fois dans la bonne rainure (et la procédure devrait vous paraître beaucoup plus simple ;) )

Geoffrey Fernandez - 19/04/21

Punaise, moi cette partie de mon écran se décolle toute seule. Juste un tout petit peu, par le haut. Vous me conseillez de le décoller plus pour pouvoir y mettre de la colle ?? Quelle colle serait le mieux ? (pas envie d’acheter un écran vu que le mien fonctionne très bien quand même)

Lucy sann -

Hello, I got frustrated when I didn’t find any opening pick. I’m not a guitarr player either ;-) , so I took a old credit card instead. It worked fine! I got a spudger when I bought the FP3.

Anyway, these tools are not common in most households, so they should be provided or at least they should be hinted that they are needed.

Mattias Ahlstedt -

Hey, I cut the edge off a stiff plastic packaging and inserted it. It was itself too wobbly, but widened the gap enough so I could insert the edge of a credit card which worked just fine.

Corinna Fischer - 07/04/22

Ich hatte kein Plektrum habe es mit einer Chip-Karte probiert, das ging auch.

Britta Hammer -

If you have somewhat long nails you don't need a special tool to begin opening it. Following the frame afterwards is easy with a plain screwdriver.

Carlos Izquierdo -

Step 7

Slide the opening pick around the bottom right corner and use it to disengage the plastic clamps at the bottom of the display module.

Hallo

nachdem mein Handy ausversehen runtergefallen ist, war das Display dunkel; ein/aus half nichts, akku raus/rein auch nicht. Es gab Brumgeräusche wie beim Starten wenn ich Start gedrückt habe, das Display blieb dunkel. Ich konnte das Display mit etwas mühe(ungeübt) ausbauen und wieder einbauen. Danach ging es wieder; Danke euch hier für die Anleitung. So ein Plektrum habe ich leider nicht mehr, ich glaub es war eines dabei. Ich habe mir mit einem kleinen Plastiklöffel geholfen, der ist jetzt mein Star :-)

Timo Strauß -

Sehr gut! Viel Spaß mit deinem Fairphone!

Fabian Neidhardt -

Step 8

Slide the opening pick along the left side to pry the display module up.
The display module should pop out of the midframe during this process. In case it doesn’t, check for remaining clamps you might have missed.

Step 9

Remove the display assembly.
To reinstall the display-module press it into place on all sides until you can hear a snap from the plastic clamps to make sure it sits flush with the frame.
If you install a new display: The new display module comes with a white plastic cover held by 2 screws over the processor and the connectors. This needs to be taken off.

The new display module comes with a white plastic cover held by 2 screws over the processor and the connectors. This needs to be taken off!

Joe -

ATTENTION !l’écran neuf comprend un cache plastique qui tient avec 2 vis ! pour monter le nouvel écran il faut dévisser les vis et enlever le cache plastique

Félix Béranger -

Die weiße Plastikabdeckung an dem neuen Modul muss vor dem Einbau noch gelöst werden (2 Schrauben).

Christian Schmidt -

Vielen Dank für die kleinschrittige Anleitung, dir mir als Reparaturmuffel geholfen hat, mein Handy wieder zu aktivieren. Hintergrund: nach einem Sturz war das Display total verpixelt. Durch aus- und Einbau des Displays wurden die durch den Sturz gelockerten Kontakte wieder neu verbunden und - siehe da - es funktioniert wieder alles wie am ersten Tag! Da bin ich froh, daß ich mich für ein fairphone entschieden habe.

Technikmuffel -

Sehr gut! Weiter viel Spaß mit deinem Fairphone!

Fabian Neidhardt -

Step 10

Remove the two 4.1mm-long Phillips #00 screws.

Step 11

Use a spudger to pry up and disconnect the camera connecting cable.

Step 12

Use a spudger to pry up the rear camera module.

Step 13

Remove the rear camera module.

An dieser Stelle nicht vergessen, die blaue Abdeckfolie zu entfernen beim Einsetzen eines neuen Moduls!

Matthias Freese - 21/11/20

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Information on what to do with the old module can be found on the FairPhone support page and in the FairPhone forum.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Answers community for help.

Author

Adriana Zwink

Member since: 18/12/19

54794 Reputation

3 comments

How NOT to remove the display!

I just destroyed my display module a bit and had to fix it with glue. :(

This works better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGTYZNzg...

caroline - 20/04/21

I think this guide should mention that the camera connecting cable can become disconnected accidentally on its other end (under the metallic cover) which is easy to miss. This forum post helped me: https://forum.fairphone.com/t/be-careful...

The metallic cover can be removed easily after screwing off two Torx screws. Couple of people on the forum experienced this and it helped me solve my problem.

cmur2 -

Pas de problème pour changer le module. Les explications données par ifixit sont claires et aisées à suivre.

Eric Beaucarne -