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Teardowns |
What's inside the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
The latest installment in Samsung’s Galaxy series, the S6 Edge, flaunts a curvy figure and slim body that’s sure to bring all the boys to the yard. But it’s like Mama always said: Beauty is more than just skin-deep.
In the depths of this edgy, intergalactic gadget we discovered glue—lots and lots of glue. The rear panel is stuck on rock-solid, and then there’s that display glass. We peeked into Samsung’s manufacturing chain, and found their curved-edge glass supplier apparently has a 50% yield rate—meaning only half the glass they produce can be used in the Edge. No word as to how (or if) they are recycling all that wasted glass—but there’s still a huge environmental cost tied to production that can’t be offset.
Due to the stubbornly-glued battery sandwiched under the midframe, gratuitous glue, and the high probability of destroying the display during glass replacement, the Samsung S6 Edge earns a repairability score of 3 out of 10. That’s one small step for Samsung. One giant leap backwards for the Galaxy.
Teardown highlights: Unlike in every previous Galaxy S phone, the battery is very tightly adhered to the back of the display, and buried beneath the midframe and motherboard. Now you gotta unglue and unscrew. RIP user-replaceable battery. In the connectivity department, Samsung seems to have given up its edge. Gone is the USB 3.0 connector of the S5—in its place we find a standard microUSB port. According to Samsung, the curved glass is created by a process called 3D thermoforming, a process of heating and molding the glass. While it looks cool, it comes at a cost—in this case eight times the cost. That's right, what was once a $3 part could now cost as much as $26 due to low yields. Not to mention the environmental cost.
S6 Edge's hardware:
- Samsung Exynos 7420 Octa-core Processor - 64-bit, 2.1 GHz Quad + 1.5 GHz Quad
- Samsung K3RG3G30MM-DGCH 3 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
- Samsung KLUBG4G1BD 32 GB NAND Flash
- Skyworks 78041 Hybrid Multimode Multiband (MMMB) Front-End Module (FEM)
- Avago AFEM-9020 PAM
- Wolfson Microelectronics WM1840 Audio Codec
- Maxim MAX98505 Class DG Audio Amplifier
- Samsung N5DDPS3 - Similar to the N5DDPS2 spotted in the Galaxy S6
- InvenSense MP65M 6-Axis Accel + Gyro
- Samsung C2N89U
- Samsung Shannon 928 RF Transceiver
- Broadcom BCM4773 GNSS Location Hub
- Maxim MAX77843 Companion PMIC
