Removing the Galaxy Note 9’s physical buttons is easier than you might think

The JerryRigEverything YouTube Channel has subjected the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to its typical set of durability tests and made a surprising discovery. Presenter Zack put the Note 9 under the knife in a video published yesterday and found he could easily pull off the phone’s physical buttons.

While scraping his knife across the edges of the Note 9 — one of the regularly-featured trials which also include burning, scratching, and bending — Zack accidentally popped out the Bixby AI button, before swiping off the volume button too.

This doesn’t typically happen during JerryRigEverything tests, and though Bixby haters might laugh at the prospect of physically remapping the button, Zack notes a person could cause a significant problem if they pulled out the device’s power button. See what I’m talking about at around 01:45 in the video below.

Yet while the buttons can come off with a knife, they don’t appear to be in danger of falling out accidentally and when they are replaced in the unit they continue to function the same as before.

Otherwise, the Note 9 holds up well as far as durability is concerned. Its display scratches at the same level as other modern flagships and it survives the bend test without cracks. It’s display also recovers nicely from the burn test, though the S Pen stylus can, unsurprisingly, be snapped with two hands like any other thin plastic object.

What do you think of the Note 9’s durability and pop-out buttons? Let me know in the comments.

Up next: Calling it: the Galaxy Note 9 won’t sell as well as the Note 8.