Beauty’s Only Skin Deep: What the HTC EVO 4G Looks Like on the Inside
We love seeing what our favorite devices look like under the hood. While we’re too scared to attempt these procedures ourselves, there’s always one outlet out there willing to treat us with a round of device stripping before or shortly after the device launches. Repair site ifixit did just that in their latest Teardown that features the HTC EVO 4G they snagged from Google I/O.
They described the device as a pleasure to disassemble, saying that it was “wonderfully easy” to expose the guts of the device set to launch for Sprint this Friday. This will be a godsend for servicing and repairing should you ever come across any mechanical issues with your device.
Here are some of the highlights ifixit took from their experience taking apart the 4.3-inch device:
* Removing the glass is not terribly difficult. This is great news for those unfortunate enough to drop their shiny phone and crack the glass.
* Like most reasonable phones, changing the Evo’s battery is a snap. All you have to do is remove the back cover and unplug the battery.
* The 3.7 V, 1500 mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery contains 23% more capacity than an iPhone 3GS, 15% more than a Droid Incredible, and 7% more than a Nexus One.
* Look out! There’s a liquid damage indicator on the battery’s top edge — a first that we’ve seen. Of course, you can just replace the battery if you douse the Evo in water. There are other liquid damage indicators on the phone, however, so you can’t fool the manufacturer that easily.
* The Evo’s internal frame houses the stand, antennas, LED flashes, and speaker, and connects to the logic board via several ribbon cables.
* The dual LED flash assembly consists of no more than two LEDs soldered to a small interconnect board.
* The forward facing 1.3 Megapixel camera lifts right out of its enclosure in the top portion of the Evo 4G.
* Big players on the logic board include:
* Broadcom BCM4329 integrating Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM connectivity to provide speeds up to 50 Mbits/s in 802.11n.
* Sequans SQ1210 RF combo chip.
* Qualcomm’s QSD8650 Snapdragon processor.
* Amtel’s AMT224 Touchscreen controller.
* Qualcomm’s RTR6500 CDMA2000 transceiver with GPS.
* Qualcomm’s PM7540 power management IC.
If you fancy technical and mechanical stuff like this, make your way to ifixit’s site now for the full gallery of images showing you step-by-step (with descriptions) on how they disassembled the EVO 4G.