Inside of Google's newest smartphone is a lot of solid, though fairly standard-issue hardware. One item on the outside of the phone raises a few eyebrows, however.
(http://i56.tinypic.com/1zxb761.jpg)
The Google Nexus S' battery is
'extremely easy' to remove,
according to iFixit.
Google's spanking-new smartphone--made by Samsung and available at Best Buy--packs widely used components like a SanDisk 16GB NAND flash module and a baseband processor--used for 3G--from Infineon, according to teardown virtuoso iFixit (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus-S-Teardown/4365/1). (Note that Intel is in the process of acquiring Infineon's wireless business unit so that would technically put Intel inside the phone.)
The Nexus S is cut from the same cloth as the Samsung Galaxy S, boasting many of the same hardware specs, according to iFixit. Departures from the Galaxy S include NFC (Near Field Communication) support--for exchanging data between devices over very short distances--and a Super AMOLED display.
iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens, however, takes Google/Samsung to task for a feature he believes could be construed as a little misleading. "We feel the phone's curved glass is more of a gimmick than anything else," Wiens wrote in a note sent out Thursday. "Our teardown reveals that only the glass itself is curved, but that the LCD and touch screen are just as flat as any phone's. Although Google/Samsung technically doesn't lie on their site--they clearly mention a curved glass panel, not curved LCD--we still find their 'Contour Display' name a bit misleading," according to Wiens.
Other highlights from iFixit:
Display: The Super AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display eliminates the digitizer and integrates the capacitive touch sensors into the display though the display itself is as "flat as a board, just as any other phone on the market," according to iFixit.
Processor: a S5PC110A01 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird Processor based on an ARM design. 1GHz processors have become the norm for high-end smartphones, though higher-speed dual-core processors are expected next year.
Memory: Main system memory is supplied by Samsung, while the flash memory for storage is from SanDisk. The SanDisk flash uses multi-level-cell, or MLC, technology. MLC allows flash chipmakers to increase data density at a lower cost.
3G: An Infineon 8824 XG616 X-Gold baseband processor and a Skyworks SKY77529 Tx Front-End Module for Dual-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE.
Audio: a Wolfson Microelectronics WM8994 ultra-low power audio codec.
Battery: a 1500 mAh, 3.7 V, 5.55 Watt-hour Lithium ion cell provides up to 6.7 hours of talk time on a 3G network, and up to 14 hours on a 2G network. "That's slightly higher than the 1400 mAh and 1420 mAh battery ratings of the Nexus One and iPhone 4, respectively," according to iFixit.
And a heads up for AT&T customers. "Just a quick reminder that the Nexus S does not support the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz HSPA frequency bands required for 3G mobile data [on AT&T's network]," according to iFixit.