iBasso DX160 Replace Battery

I recently bought a broken 2nd hand Ibasso DX160 (2019 Version) with its battery and the rear cover glass damaged. My plan in getting this unit is to replace the rear cover glass and the internal battery myself. I have verified with the previous owner that the unit was working well before the battery was damaged.

After searching for where to get the replacement rear cover glass and replacement battery, I found the contact for Paul, (paul@ibasso.com) from the iBasso DX160 official thread at head-fi.org.

Rear Cover Glass

I emailed Paul to inquire about the rear glass and the internal battery. After a few email exchanges, I managed to buy rear cover glass for USD21 including shipping to Malaysia. Unfortunately, they cannot ship the internal battery to Malaysia due to restrictions from the courier company, so I have to buy the battery elsewhere.

Internal Battery

I found the HSABAT 4800mAh Battery for Ibasso DX160 on Aliexpress for MYR113.19, and bought 1 unit. However, do take note that the capacity is not as advertised, you can refer to my previous article: Digital Audio Player Replacement Battery from Aliexpress, where I tested the actual capacity of the battery.

The battery that I received after almost 2 months (sea shipment by Aliexpress):

iBasso DX160 2019 vs 2020

There are 2 different versions of iBasso DX160 on the market, 2019 and 2020. I did some research, mostly on the head-fi.org forum and some reviews, DX160 2019 version has issues with wireless connectivity, Bluetooth, and WiFi, but they improved the wireless connectivity on DX160 2020 version.

DX160 2019

On the unit that I received, there is a metal cover, and supposedly the battery is placed beneath this metal cover. There is also an opening on the side of the unit that I suspect is used for the antenna. Normally, the antenna is not placed near any metal part to avoid the metal affecting the signal strength of the antenna.

Also, from the image shared by another headfier on the head-fi.org forum, it seems like the antenna is really placed on the side opening, and even pasted onto this metal part.

I believe more or less this contributed to the WiFi and Bluetooth signal issue on the DX160 2019 version.

DX160 2020

For the DX160 2020 version, the only disassembly video that I found is this one:

Take note at around 0:49 when the case is being opened, and there is no metal cover between the battery and the back cover. The battery is pasted onto the back cover. Also can see that the antenna is at the top section of the unit.

I suspect that this unit is the 2020 version where the metal cover has been removed to improve the wireless signal.

I’ve also verified this with Paul from Ibasso, and he confirmed that the metal cover can be removed without any issues.

So, it could be that for those who owned iBasso DX160 2019 version, you can remove the metal cover, to improve the Wireless signal. (at your own risk)

New Battery and Rear Cover Glass

So, after getting all the replacement parts, and the rear cover, I begin with the fixing. I first test the new battery to make sure that everything is working well:

I have also explored a few places to put the antenna, and in my testing, if I place the antenna on the top section, it sometimes (rarely) causes glitches to the LCD. I am not 100% sure if it is really due to the antenna, but as soon as I move the antenna to its sides, the glitch issue is gone.

The best antenna position, in my point of view, is still on its side, and I added Kapton tape and conductive tape to shield the PCB from the antenna.

After confirming with the antenna position, I paste the antenna to the rear cover glass, leaving some space for the double-sided tape later. I also position the battery as far as possible from the antenna.

Next, I added double-sided tape to the Battery to stick the battery to the back cover. It’s quite hard to paste the battery accurately directly to the back cover. What I did was I added the double-sided tape to the battery, and put on the cover with the battery at the right position, that way the battery stuck itself to the back cover. The next time the back cover is opened, the battery is already on the back cover, I just apply some force to make sure that it sticks properly.

After that, I add the double-sided tape to the edge of the back cover. Take note that for the side of the back cover, from my experience, you need to let the double-sided tape slightly exceed the side edge to let it stick properly onto the body. For the top and bottom sides, the double-sided tape should not be exceeding

And the final steps, apply the back cover onto the body, and ensure that the battery cable and the antenna cable do not block the double-sided tape.

Now, I have my iBasso DX160 fixed, and working properly.

Affliate Link:

• Used Ibasso DX160 on Aliexpress
• Ibasso DX170 on Aliexpress