Converting a Broken Nokia 9 Pureview Into a Gaming Phone!

I had this nokia 9 pureview lying around for quite some time, unused due to its back glass being completely shattered from one drop, and the battery life which had worsened over the years. Instead of throwing it, I decided to convert it into a portable gaming device!

Now, this isn't really a "step-by-step tutorial", it's more of the steps that I took, which you can use to replicate this at home. I decided to make this instructable to show the thought process that I had while making a project like this. Hopefully this can inspire you all, and you can make something similar like this with old phones that you have lying at home! I've been wanting to make something like this for quite some time now, especially after watching some DIY Gaming phone videos on youtube by Geekerwan and Zac Builds. Feel free to check them out, these videos have been my biggest inspiration for this project!

Geekerwan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px1A6XptqhQ

Zac Builds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkWhrfKNmR8

To start this off, you need an old phone (well, obviously)

The other components can really depend, but having a 3D printer is a huge help while designing and prototyping the custom case for it. If you don't have access to a 3D printer, you can always use materials like MDF, PVC board, and more. These materials are easy to work with, and don't require any fancy tools.

To design the custom case, I used Autodesk Inventor, but you can use anything honestly. Tinkercad, onshape, autoCAD, Solidworks, whatever you like! I decided to go with inventor because of the features it has, and how (relatively) easy to use it is.

I also used a 40mm fan, and later ended up using a rocker switch, type c boards, and some wires too.

Type C Breakout Boards: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005874481984.html

(I've uploaded the datasheet that i found on the listing, though it is the incorrect one in terms of pins. For the dimensions, it worked well while I was designing the cutout for it.)

Rocker Switch: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32873386670.html

The first step was to remove the back glass. With enough persuasion, heat, and gloves, I was able to pull out (most) of the tiny glass shards. Make sure to take precaution and having the right equipment while doing something like this, as it can be pretty dangerous. I also ended up removing the wireless charging permanently, as we won't be able to use it with the case design I had in mind.

I started by taking apart the entire phone, down to the motherboard and even the camera. This step wasn't really necessary, but I decided to delve deeper and see the inner working of the phone to satiate my curiosity.

It's honestly incredible how much this phone packed in such a small form factor. I mean, 5 cameras in such a small configuration? That's honestly incredible!

I initially removed the cameras to remove some weight, but ended up putting them back in later on. If you intend to ONLY use the device for gaming, you can remove the cameras permanently. Feel free to remove other component that won't be used, and in my case, I was also able to remove some of the plastic bumpers on the back.

One of the main problems with this phone is how hot it runs when you try to run, well, anything on it. In the first image, you can see the SOC of the phone, which is under the metal cover. This is the portion that produces the most heat, so you would want your cooling solution to be located here. We would have to avoid the battery ribbon cable, as shown in the second image.

After removing the motherboard, you can see the heat pipe with some thermal paste. This heat pipe is what helps take some off the heat off the processor, and helps dissipate it through the display. I ended up reapplying some more thermal paste before putting it back together.

I initially thought of 2 solutions to this problem: Using an M.2 copper heat sink and sticking it on the SOC with some thermally conductive glue, or sticking a fan on top of the heat producing area. The best case scenario would be to create a combination of both of these, but I wasn't in the mood to design something that complicated just yet :p

I ended up going with active cooling using one 40mm fan, positioned right above the SOC. Now it wouldn't make too much sense to stick it on the phone, so i whipped out my vernier caliper and got to work. After taking some measurements and fighting with inventor, I designed a special case that would house the fan right above the SOC.

Now, for whatever reason, I didn't take any pictures of me actually designing the case in Inventor. I just have a photo in between, and the final design, but hopefully it can give you an idea as per what to make.

I was lucky enough to be able to use a 3D printer, but if you don't have access to one, you can always use materials like MDF. It's easy to work with, can be cut with simple hand tools, and is relatively inexpensive.

I had bought a cheap phone cooling fan off of aliexpress a while ago, which I decided use after taking off the plastic housing. I could have bought just the fan separately, but I decided to use what I had lying around.

I went to my university's makerspace to use the 3D printer. The printer I used was the Prusa i3 mk3s+. Despite me printing it at 0.3mm nozzle diameter and using the draft print setting, it still took a whole 4 hours to print this case. I had my doubts the overall quality, but I was honestly surprised at the clean final result!

Of course, my measurements weren't to the millimeter. This design had quite a few shortcomings. The fan cable didn't have enough space to be routed from above it, the side cutout of the speaker was ever so slightly smaller, and a portion of the volume button was being pressed down when in the case.

However, despite these issues, this was a good start! Other features like the fan cutout, and the fan mounts, fit just right. After somehow plugging everything together to a power bank, it worked as expected! (except for those issues above lol)

The fan spun to life, and it was pushing a considerable amount of air from the cutout. It wasn't perfect, but the idea was now in action!

After noting the said design issues, I decided to hop back into inventor to fix things up. I've added a note to each image to show what change I made to it. Feel free to take a look and improvise your own design from this!

(P.S. apparently instructables doesn't like me, deleted all my notes, and won't let me add new ones. So, I'm just gonna type them out here!)

1- Increased speaker cutout length, added fillets to inner edges

2- increased fillet radius (4 to 6mm)

3- increased volume an power button cutout length

4- added supports on the corners to keep phone from falling inside the case and touching internal components

5- adjusted and increased fan channels to allow the fan cable to be routed above

6- reduced hole size for wires to pass through after allowing space on top

7- made side insets larger to allow for the controller to fit in easily

8- inset for controller, closeup

9- supports extruded

10- cutout for passthrough charging cable

11- type c cutout for the breakout board (used datasheet for dimensions)

I also made some design changes here. I decided to add a hole on the right side, to allow for a type c cable to pass through it for charging. I also made a cutout at the bottom for a type c connector, which would be used to both charge the phone, and power the fan. I ended up adding a switch at the top of the case later on, which controlled the power going to the fan. I'll explain these changes in a bit as well.

I printed the new case, which took roughly about the same time. Everything seemed to fit pretty well inside this case as well!

However, another problem had showed up. The fan connector decided to break off, so I decided to just solder a simple circuit to the type c breakout board itself. I've also attached a simple diagram explaining what i did with the cables, as well as an image of how it looks in the case.

Almost there! I ended up finishing the circuit diagram, and everything fit in great! For the most part.

It seems I overlooked some more things again. The Type C charging board was just a few millimeters high, which didn't allow the phone to sit flush with the case. I really didn't want to spend another 4 hours on a small millimeter adjustment, so until I make some serious changes to the case, I won't be re-printing it. I also made a change to the outer case curve for some reason, and I ended up making the gap larger :/

Otherwise, this phone was good to go! I wanted to use this phone with an external power bank, and the charging port worked perfectly for both the fan and the phone.

That's about it! I also ended up getting this phone controller that fits perfectly in the case. That is what I had made the cutouts for as well!

Well, what's next? I definitely have a lot of design changes in mind. For starters, I want to add a rechargeable battery for the fan, which can be charged via the type C port. I also wanted to increase the battery capacity of the phone itself by connecting another battery in parallel, similar to what Geekerwan and Zac Builds had done. However, I wasn't confident enough to mess around with batteries just yet. Better yet, I could connect the fan to the phone's battery as well, and use it as one whole unit too. The design also has a lot of open space, which could be adjusted for. This could not only cut down on printing time, but also make the case a lot more sleek and even more portable.

My main goal was to use the phone with this controller. However, the location of the fan is in a really bad spot when its snapped into the controller. Another solution could be to use a fan that pulls air from the top, and pushes it down, or create a cutout at the back of the controller to use the existing setup. These are all changes that I somehow didn't realize while making the project, but only once this prototype was ready. I guess this is my to-do list for the next prototype!

If you all have any ideas or suggestions for the next prototype, let me know! Hope you all have a great time making projects!