Russians already tearing down the Samsung Galaxy S7

The official reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge took place only a couple days ago, but already some Russians managed to get their hands on a unit and proceed to tear it down. What might make this teardown more interesting than some is the opportunity to figure out how Samsung implemented a couple features that were highlighted during their keynote address when announcing the devices. That includes the impressive IP68 waterproof certification and the heatpipe implemented to help control the temperature of the main processor when it is engaged in heavy calculating.

The first issue noted during the teardown was how the Galaxy S7 is being sealed against water intrusion. Instead of using a dedicated gasket for this purpose, Samsung relied on the glue used to hold the back panel to the rest of the device. The only gasket that was present was to protect the tray used to hold the SIM and microSD cards. The Russians think this could pose a problem later in the life of a unit if it is routinely left out in the hot sun which may cause the adhesive glue to start to break down and not be effective at stopping water.

The next item of note is the heatpipe used for cooling. The teardown revealed the piping is constructed of copper as Samsung joins a small list of manufacturers to employee a liquid cooling solution in a smartphone.

A few other items were noted as the Russians explored deeper into the device. They noted that Samsung appears to have tried to address problems with power buttons failing by making some modifications to the design. They also noted that Samsung tried to avoid soldering components to the motherboard, opting instead for a more modular design with several components plugging in to their appropriate slots. This should make repairs easier down the road. Although Samsung did not plaster their name all over the components inside the device, a practice they noted Apple engages in, they did think Samsung tried to source most of the components in-house.