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Here's how to build your own Samsung flagship off the shelf

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Jul 29, 2019, 4:38 AM

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Oh, the streets of Shenzhen, where you can be automatically fined for jaywalking and the fine extracted from your messenger/social app account before you have reached your destination. The other things you can buy there are electronics' parts. Lots and lots of cables, boards, cameras, housing, memory and plenty of other geeky paraphernalia that would make Inspector Gadget proud.

Remember that viral video of Scottie from Strange Parts who managed to concoct his own iPhone by just strolling the streets in Shenzhen and buying spare parts? Well, fast forward two years, and, with a bit more experience in the country, and a bit more Mandarin, that same guy is now trying to replicate the success with an Android phone.

Funnily enough, the task is not easier, as he initially wanted to build a Galaxy S10 but the phone is too fresh on the market, so logic boards and other basic stuff are hard to come by. There were plenty of S9 and S8 parts, though, so the guy went for an S9+.

The process, though, is worth watching in its entirety, and one can suddenly realize why it would be so hard for any company to move production completely out of China. Since iPhones are manufactured there, Scottie from Strange Parts deduced that more than half of the parts for sale in Shenzhen's sprawling underground components market are for Apple's finest, and the rest is for all Android manufacturers combined.

Samsung's phones that are sold in the US are mostly made in Vietnam, for instance, which might explain why he had a hard time putting together a Galaxy S10, and went for the S9+ instead.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.