© iFixit
Electronics Production | September 12, 2011
Teardown of a Motorola Droid Bionic
Motorola's Droid Bionic ties its cousin, the Atrix, as the most repairable smartphone we've torn down. All you really need is a Torx T5 screwdriver (and some non-trimmed fingernails, if you want to forego plastic opening tools) to take the whole phone apart!
Not surprisingly, it received a 9 out of 10 repairability score, as the phone is held together with a limited number of screws and plastic clips. Adhesive is minimally used in its construction, and many components can be replaced individually -- they're not tied together with long, delicate ribbon cables. Heck, you can even replace the LCD separately from the glass!
It warms our DIY hearts to disassemble devices like the Bionic. It gives us hope for a world where people fix their devices instead of tossing them in the trash.
The highlights:
- A sticker, some clips, and a few -- ahem, ELEVEN -- screws around the perimeter of the Bionic are all that prevent us from peeking inside. All screws are of the Torx T5 variety, which are easily surmountable using iFixit's 54-piece bit driver kit.
- We were greeted by a forest of EMI shields once we removed the rear cover. It took us forever to desolder all the shiny squares.
- We disconnected the loudspeaker from the otherwise unexciting rear case; it looked to be ideal for proclaiming the characteristic "Drooooooiiiiid" upon powering on the phone.
- The 4G LTE SIM card module is held in place by two additional screws -- and that's the extent of screw-type fasteners inside this phone. They're also the same T5 Torx size, meaning you only need one screwdriver to take apart the phone.
- We're relieved to see that Motorola isn't using the same long ribbon cables found in some of their other devices. This is wonderful, since it means you don't have to replace two or three fully functional components that are tied to the same cable as your dead component.
- The rear-facing camera simply pops out. Inscription on the component is this wonderful gem: "NCAABA 65161 0100698 2001 SH." We think that's code for "8 MP behemoth," but that's just speculation.
- The camera measures in at 7.1 mm x 9.3 mm (length x width) and weighs a porky 1.2 grams! Much like the Droid X and Droid X2, the large camera seems to be the main reason behind the "hump" at the top of the phone.
- The back of the motherboard is absent of any notable features. It is possible that Motorola placed all of the chips on one side of the board to keep the thickness of the device to a minimum.
- The qHD display in this phone originally appeared in the Motorola Atrix earlier this year, and we've seen one in every Motorola Android phone since.
After some slash-and-burn on the EMI shield forest, we found the big players on the motherboard:
- Elpida B8064B2PB-8D-F 1 GB DRAM and TI OMAP 4430 processor
- SanDisk SDIN4C2-16G 16GB Flash memory
- ST Ericsson CPCAP 006556001
- Qualcomm PM8028 chip that works in conjunction with the Qualcomm MDM6600 to provide wireless data connection to the phone and speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps.
- Hynix H8KCS0SJ0AER and Hynix H8BCS0QG0MMR memory MCP containing Hynix DRAM and STM flash
- ATMEL MXT224E-CCU Touchscreen Controller
- Motorola T6VP0XBG-0001 mystery chip
-----
As always, the full teardown can be found at iFixit! Just follow this link. / All images © iFixit


NCAB's CEO: 'I am pleased that we have continued to expand'
Swedish PCB supplier NCAB is reporting a positive end to its last quarter of the fiscal year...
Komax expands precense in North America - acquires Artos
The Komax Group further expands its presence in North America with the acquisition of...
ABB wins $42 million order for train technologies from Indian Railways
ABB has won its largest traction equipment order in India, worth more than USD 42 million to...
North American semi equipment industry posts January 2019 billings
North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted USD 1.89...
Continental to develop driverless car technology from new Budapest office
Germany technology company Continental has chosen Hungary to build its newest R&D centre...
Comtech recieves order from satellite antenna manufacturer
Comtech Telecommunications says that during its second quarter of fiscal 2019, its...
POET Technologies to launch design center in Ottawa
POET Technologies has entered into an agreement with MillView Photonics Inc. to establish a...
ZKTeco expands into Georgia
ZKTeco, a global manufacturer of RFID and biometric technology security solutions, is...
KLA completes acquisition of Orbotech
KLA-Tencor Corporation says that the company has completed its acquisition of...
NCAB Group acquires Danish Multiprint
Swedish PCB supplier NCAB Group, has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of...
NAND flash giants suffer revenue loss of 16.8% in 4Q18
The rising economic uncertainties caused some server manufacturers to delay restocking or cancel orders, and compelled those upstream in the supply chain to make adjustments to their production lines, damaging their ability...
Neways passed €500 million in turnover in 2018
The Dutch EMS provider has presented record figures for the full fiscal year of 2018. Not only...
myFC & Krusell to develop a smartphone case with fuel cells
myFC has decided to develop a smart smartphone case with fuel cells. The case will be the...
1,750 more jobs for Intel’s newest Oregon plant
With Intel’s latest phase of its Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro confirmed by Intel recently, the...
HK Wentworth acquires UK distributor of HAKKO equipment
HK Wentworth Group announces that it is acquiring Dancap Electronics, a UK...
SK Innovation partners with US company to develop lithium metal...
PolyPlus Battery Company, a privately-held company focused on the development of...
Contract prices of DRAM products projected to prop by 15% QoQ in 2Q19
The ongoing oversupply will result in significant price declines for DRAM products during 1H19...
ST Engineering & DSO form JV for new space technologies
The electronics arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering)...
Dorigo Breaks Ground on new manufacturing facility
Canadian EMS provider, Dorigo Systems has officially broken ground on its new...
Nortech Systems names Jay D. Miller president and CEO
Nortech Systems has named Jay D. Miller as president and chief executive officer, effective...
Honda to close shop in Swindon - 3'500 jobs at risk
Honda has announced that it will restructure its global manufacturing network. This...
GN Audio picks up Altia Systems, expands UC solutions
In a move designed to integrate GN Audio’s intelligent audio systems with digital video...
Most Read
Load more news