Samsung Note 7 teardown reveals waterproof components
It has a third camera for iris scanning, as well.
iFixit, famous destroyer of gadgets for the good of all humankind, has busted out its arsenal of teardown tools to take apart a Samsung Galaxy Note 7. In the team's quest to see every single component inside the phone, they found several sealed components that make the device waterproof. If you'll recall, the phone is rated IP68, which means it can withstand being submerged for up to 30 minutes or five feet underwater. The teardown reveals that the company achieved that rating by protecting the device's headphone jack with a sealing gasket, the speaker with several layers of material and its S Pen chamber with copious amounts of glue, among other measures.
The teardown also confirms what people already know: the Note 7 has its cousins' (the S7s') main camera, flash memory and gyroscope. It even has a nearly identical chipset. The newer phone has a third camera, though, that it uses as its iris scanner. When it comes to battery, it's not quite as good as the S7 Edge's, but as we mentioned in our review, the difference is barely noticeable. Further, its batter is "significantly more powerful" than the one found in the iPhone 6s Plus. Besides examining the phone itself, iFixit has taken a closer look at the S Pen, as well. The phone's stylus is apparently more sensitive than both Apple's Pencil and the Surface Pen.
Overall, the device got a low repairability rating due to its modular components, but iFixit says it still "lives up to the hype." You can see the whole teardown on the team's website or watch the highlights below.
