Samsung Galaxy S 2 (International) Review - The Best, Redefined
by Brian Klug & Anand Lal Shimpi on September 11, 2011 11:06 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Galaxy S II
- Exynos
- Mobile
Inside SGS2
There have been a number of teardowns of the SGS2, and for the most part usually there isn’t a need to open up devices unless the FCC photos don’t suffice. This time around I still have a number of questions about what component choices had been made for the SGS2, so it went under the screwdriver (and emerged unscathed) just so we could get a glimpse at the goods.
SGS2 comes apart easily enough, with a few philips (no Torx bits) screws on the back and then a couple prods with a plastic tool to get the snaps off. Construction in this regard is very similar to the original SGS. After that, you have access to the PCB, backside, and frame.
You can see how SGS2 achieves its thinness by looking at the layout. The PCB doesn’t run underneath the battery - the majority of device thickness is defined by the SAMOLED+ panel plus battery thickness.
In addition, the SGS2 locates the cellular antenna at bottom in a modular speaker plus antenna module that snaps in and out of the plastic backside. The depth of SGS2 at its thickest seems governed by this speaker and its resonating chamber. Off to the other side is the bottom microphone, cellular feed cable, and gold contacts for getting that connected to the silver antenna.
There’s another second antenna to the opposite side of the module, which is for Bluetooth and WiFi.
If we turn our attention to the PCB we can see the rest of SGS2’s interesting bits.
The EMI cans thankfully snap off easily, and underneath we can see right next to the microSD card slot is the Infineon/Intel X-Gold 626 HSPA+ (HSDPA Cat. 14 - 21 Mbps / HSUPA Cat. 7 11.5 Mbps) baseband.
On the opposite side is the Audience 1026 noise cancelation IC, MAX8997 PMIC, and Yamaha YMU823 audio codec.
On the same side further down is the GPS that SGS2 uses, which is a SiRF GSD4T GPS. That particular die is absolutely tiny and difficult to photograph. More on the SGS2 GPS in a moment, however.
The other side of the PCB is much more interesting.
With the cans off, first we get a shot of Exynos 4210 with its PoP memory. This particular part has two mobile LPDDR2 die in the stack. Next to it, a Samsung combo NAND + DRAM part, with 16 GB of NAND and 64 MB of RAM, no doubt for the Infineon baseband.
Moving right is the Infineon Smarti UE2 RF transciever marked 5712, and the large IC below that marked RFMD RF6260 is a quad-band multi mode power amp which is a bit interesting. It works between 1710 and 1980 MHz, and 824–915 MHz, supplanting somewhat the need for individual power amps for each band.
Down on the long and skinny part of the PCB is a large package which I believe probably houses the BCM4330 WLAN module (more on that later), and next to it is a button cell battery, which seems curious.
Now remember that camera part I mentioned earlier? Well, at the top of the board you can see a ZIF slot, a relatively large IC< and then the camera module.
Compare these two, and it seems pretty obvious that this is exactly that same camera module from earlier, and most likely the large IC with Korea written on it is the Fujitsu M5MO ISP which controls it.
Also up at the very top is another gold connector which meets up with the SGS2’s third antenna, whose purpose is either for WLAN/GPS or another Rx finger for the cellular baseband.
The circular thing with a foam backside is the SGS2’s vibration motor, and other than that there really isn’t much more to talk about. Heat gets carried away from ICs through the EMI cans which double as heatsinks, and on the backside of the plastic back you can see a metal region and small thermal pad.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
132 Comments
View All Comments
ph00ny - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
Btw you can launch search by holding down the menu buttonAloonatic - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
Just curious, but have MS given up on the smartphone market? Or have I just missed out on all the new (or soon to be release) WP7 devices?At this rate, I'm just going to have to go with Android and a SGS II, even though I'd love a WP7 phone, but what there is out there are just all old handsets, and I'd have to change carrier to get one now too, as T-Mobile (UK) don't seem to sell them at all any more!?!?!?111!
dagamer34 - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
If I had to guess, OEMs are working on their new handsets, but want to load them with Windows Phone 7.5, which only RTMed officially a few weeks ago.My best guess is we'll see some more phones around October or so, with a Galaxy S II shaped WP7 device.
Aloonatic - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
Well, October is what I figured too, but... We're already over a week into September and there still aren't any "coming soon" 7.5 devices to be seen anywhere, so I'd be surprised if October (as in the start of October) is anything but wishful thinking.It starting to seem like MS just aren't that bothered. Where's the "ooh, look at this coming soon phone" stuff? The SGS 2 like WP7 phone has been mentioned all over the web for months, but there's nothing remotely official, and with only the odd photo shopped image from net dreamers.
It's a shame, as I'm not a fan of Apple, their products or how they behave. And I've tried Android and been annoyed by their poor updating system, where too many companies have been allowed to let year old hardware languish at the back of the update queue (if it's lucky) while the new devices get all the attention and you're left with juddering menus and in some cases shocking security holes.
Maybe it's just me, and my problem, for hoping that WP7 might offer a solution to my woes, but MS are just leaving this all waaaaaaayyyyy too late. By the time they get to the party someone will be handing them a bin bag and asking them to help clear up.
ph00ny - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
What do you mean? It was in the video presentation for the mango announcement month or two agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABO_LyD_SXs
right around :40 he whips it out of the pocket. I guess he couldn't wait to use it as his daily phone
Aloonatic - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
Oh, so they have a few units the they showed on a video presentation that who saw exactly?Yes, I may have been exaggerating slightly before (and I know that that doesn't stand on geek boards) and we've all (well, a reasonable percentage, as I am sure that at least 1 person reading this hasn't) seen the "leaked" video that no one *wink wink* should video and get out.... But really, there's nothing to be seen here. Those videos are no more proof of a finished product than a concept car at a motor show.
I'm just disappointed that they hare dragging their feet on this product, and really don't seem to care either.
ph00ny - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
This was posted on a lot of major tech blog/news sites. As for devices, there are quite a few announced devices but they're all waiting for the mango updatevision33r - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
Samsung phones are outdated in one quarter. They release small updated features to the same platform.The Galaxy line had 4-5 different variant versions within the same year.
This makes update very difficult for them and also buyer confusion.
I'll stick with HTC, since Samsung takes forever to fix software and issue timely updates.
ph00ny - Monday, September 12, 2011 - link
which device outside of the US carrier branded ones didn't get updates as soon as HTC devices? In fact, which android device manufacturer doesn't release 4-5 different variants within the same year?aegisofrime - Sunday, September 11, 2011 - link
Had mine here in Singapore for about 3 months now, and you Americans will be joining the party with plenty of custom ROMs and kernels to choose from :)So yeah, welcome to the party!
This forum will probably be your new best friend now:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f...
(Galaxy S II Original Android Development)