• Despite its waterproofi ng (which is evident in the form of a rubber gasket on the underside of the rear cover), peeling o the back of the Samsung Galaxy S5 is easier than peeling a banana. At least that’s what the guys at iFixit.com tell us. So, that plastic, dimpled case isn’t so nasty after all.
• The only way to get into the Galaxy S5 is glass- fi rst, and that’s a lot trickier than you might expect, with both the home button cable and some sticky adhesive proving masterful oppositions. Unlike previous Galaxy smartphones, the S5 “sandwiches components between the display and the battery in their own diffi cult-to-access compartment”, according to iFixit.com. The Samsung Galaxy S5 also has not one, but two midframes.
• The exact chips found inside are as follows: Elpida FA164A2PM — the same 2GB RAM package as inside the HTC One (M8), and diff erent from the 2GB Samsung chip found in Chipworks’ analysis; Quad-core 2.5 GHz CPU likely layered beneath; Samsung KLMAG2GEAC-B0 16GB onboard memory; Avago ACPM-7617 multi-mode, multi-band RF front end; Murata KM4220004 (likely Wi-Fi module); C1N75R UMR3; Maxim Integrated MAX77804K (System PSoC) and MAX77826; STMicroelectronics 32A M410; WEP GRG28 antenna switch module; Qualcomm WTR1625L RF transceiver (another encore from the HTC One M8); Qualcomm WFR1620 receiveonly companion chip; Qualcomm PMC8974 power management IC; Lattice LP1KSD 84071R25 lowpower FPGA; Invensense MP65M gyroscope/ accelerometer; Qualcomm WCD9320 audio codec; SIMG 8240B0 mobile HD-link transmitter and NXP 47803 NFC controller.
iFixit.com awards a repairability score to all the devices it tears down. It awarded the Samsung Galaxy S5 fi ve out of a possible 10 points — the same score as the OnePlus One phone. It’s easy to take out the battery and all the parts will be easy to get hold of, but the need to get past the display to undertake any repairs adds risk.
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