Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Teardown

Written By: Jeff Suovanen
Published: 11/03/16
  • Comments: 86

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Teardown

Published: 11/03/16

Teardown

Introduction

Hot on the heels of our in-depth teardown of Samsung's Galaxy S7, we bring you another future teardown classic: the Galaxy S7 Edge.

With most dual-flagship releases, manufacturers have been trending toward sharing as many design elements as possible. We're expecting this teardown to be a challenging game of "Spot the Differences."

Join us as we tear and compare the S7 Edge. To keep up to date on all of our teardown exploits, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

  1. sL4kx4bD3iUaNR1m
    sL4kx4bD3iUaNR1m
    FMOESs5uTeL2vGfA

    • Specs. Why do they seem familiar? No reason.

    • Dual edge 5.5” Super AMOLED touchscreen display with 2560 × 1440 resolution (534 ppi)

    • Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4 GB RAM + Adreno 530 GPU

    • 12-megapixel rear camera with dual pixel autofocus, 4K video capture; 5-megapixel selfie camera

    • 32 or 64 GB internal storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 200 GB additional)

    • IP68 water resistance rating

    • Android 6.0 Marshmallow

    It has so many variants: N930V, N930A, N930P, N930R4, N930W8. You guys should be more professional to write clearly which one is shown here.

    An10na -

  2. eOiUDMAdQIYPmOGk
    eOiUDMAdQIYPmOGk
    ItX4mArOO3yUCp4H
    sqPQElnXloXOooBu

    • We just had to test out our Edge notifications to show off that curvy OLED. Unfortunately, nobody has our new number.

    • A quick comparison with last year's Galaxy S6 Edge shows that bigger is in. The S7 Edge also adds that same IP68 rating and expandable microSD slot that we saw in the S7, absent from last year's offerings.

    • The camera bump is noticeably reduced as well, which may just be a result of the rising sea level extra 0.7 mm of thickness on the S7 Edge.

  3. HoEKSAiEBSBa5nXx
    HoEKSAiEBSBa5nXx
    S1XQU2JZHyxxnEnW

    • Here again, we have the continuing voyages of the NSEA Protector iOpener, heating up a galaxy near you.

    • The procedure is identical to that of the standard S7: After liberal application of heat, our iSclack and pick combo is super effective despite some extremely stubborn adhesive.

    • Do you remember the days when an easily cracked back panel was at least easily replaced? iFixit remembers.

    Amen. Wish those days were back.

    Susan Nelson -

    yeah right it cost 60$ for a new battery but you could keep two fresh ones in your bag so when 1 died you could take the dead one out and put the new one in keep on listening to your music . 10 years later batteries are Only $10 and they still don’t last but a couple of hours if you keep the screen off but if you don’t shell out $100 to verizon you cant change it yourself because its glued in a glass box with trip wires that void your warranty.

    Walter Bishop -

  4. ygD3TI6IpaAENOhn
    ygD3TI6IpaAENOhn
    JfxEVPi55JRvqeHe

    • S7 and S7 Edge side by side to compare and contrast: Heavy on the compare, light on the contrast.

    • Inside, the two devices feature the same camera, flash, general construction, and even antenna positions (although those squiggles are slightly different).

    • Despite the startlingly similar layout, the curve-boasting Edge is actually less curvy from behind than its standard counterpart.

    • The S7's back mimics the Edge's front, with a curvaceous rear panel glass. The result is a mirror-universe evil twin situation. But with glass curves instead of goatees.

  5. NAshToHPXV1ktTLJ
    NAshToHPXV1ktTLJ
    MWLZ1oJtyDAiRtQL
    cfkB1lYYoxGyJVET

    • Good news, everyone! The battery is no longer trapped under the motherboard, like it was on last season's Edge.

    • Looks like the standardization with the vanilla S7 means some good things for the Edge.

    • We extract the whopping 3.85 V, 13.86 Wh, 3,600 mAh burner of a battery.

    • That's 20% more capacity than the already capacious 3,000 mAh battery in the S7. It seems the tradeoff for a marginally thicker Edge will be longer battery life and less wear from frequent charging. Nice!

    • By Grabthar's hammer, what a savings.

  6. SsN4BfZSM2sLQ1VK
    SsN4BfZSM2sLQ1VK
    j6EBT6DORCtMaCP1
    rhxAr6GfLAylskRa

    • We're deep in the belly of the curved-screen beast, but compared to its flat-faced sibling, everything looks... the same.

    • Unfortunately, in a step backwards from last year's model, this Edge has also adopted our least favorite design feature: soft-button LED cables that wrap around the midframe, to be glued down under the display glass. That daughterboard won't be coming out any time soon...

    • Anyway, let's get that motherboard out.

  7. XCaqDALQQXRVyoHT

    • With that, it's time to digitally convey some chip ID. On the front side of the motherboard, we note:

    • SK Hynix H9KNNNCTUMU-BRNMH 4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM layered over the Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820

    • Samsung KLUBG4G1CE-B0B1 32 GB MLC Universal Flash Storage 2.0

    • Avago AFEM-9040 Multiband Multimode Module

    • Murata FAJ15 Front End Module

    • Qorvo QM78064 high band RF Fusion Module and QM63001A diversity receive module

    • Qualcomm WCD9335 Audio Codec

    • Maxim MAX77854 PMIC and MAX98506BEWV audio amplifier

    Where is the GPS chip ?

    Stefan Vanya -

    with all the other radios(wifi bluetooth, cellular, fm)

    echow2001 -

    Please peel off the cover on the sim/sd card area for us... the pin configuration for the microsd card is of the utmost importance for accessorizing the storage on this phone...

    afterfreeze -

    I second this, please pull off the metal cover on the microSD card area to expose the pin configuration!

    Nicholas Hamilton -

    I also came to this article to find out if the microSD slot has the extra row of pins indicating UHS-II support. It would be really helpful if the answer to this question was backed up by a photograph of the microSD card slot pins. Thanks in advance.

    Brad Stone -

    Hello

    I have s7 edge live demo unit if I change the motherboard it's will work as a phone?

    Bilal hussein -

    Is this the same motherboard for all models?

    Shyamkrishnan Balasubramanian -

    Do you Know where is the magnetic sensor chip ?

    Bakou -

    That little blue marked thingy next to the camera fell off. How do I put it back?

    Elena Elena -

  8. OpHPuo5lMhQBelaF

    • With so many similarities to the standard S7's chipset, it almost feels like we're repeating the computer:

    • Murata KM5D17074 Wi-Fi module (likely contains a Broadcom BCM4359 WiFi/Bluetooth transceiver)

    • NXP Semiconductor 67T05 (PN67T) NFC controller

    • IDT P9221 wireless power receiver (likely an iteration of IDT P9220)

    • Qualcomm PM8996 and PM8004 PMICs

    • Qualcomm QFE3100 envelope tracker

    • Qualcomm WTR4905 and WTR3925 RF transceivers

    • Samsung C3 image processor and Samsung S2MPB02 PMIC

  9. eE1DXQ2EhsSmQgiU
    eE1DXQ2EhsSmQgiU
    kXGKYp6QefYhGRG5

    • IC identification, pt. 2:

    • DSP Group DBMD4 audio/voice processor

    • Zinitix ZF115N haptic driver

    • Maxim Integrated MAX77838EWO power management

    • ETEK Microelectronics ET9529 over-voltage protection switch and an ON Semiconductor FPF2495B over-voltage/current protection load switch

    • Diodes Incorporated AP7346D-3318FS6-7 and AP7340D-18FS4-7 LDO regulators

    • Knowles MEMS microphone

    • NXP Semiconductor NCX2200 comparator and a Toshiba TC7SBD385FU bus switch

  10. 5OLDHjXyqKyc6qck
    5OLDHjXyqKyc6qck
    p56ggFbtL2stml2T

    • IC Identification, pt. 3:

    • RDA Microelectronics RDA6213N FM Radio Receiver

    • TDK D5275 and a D5287 Antenna Switch Module

    • Qorvo TQF6260 Power Amplifier Duplexer

    • NXP Semiconductor BGU8103 GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou Low Noise Amplifier

    • NXP Semiconductor BGS8H2, BGS8L2, and BGS8M2 LTE Low Noise Amplifier

    • Infineon BGSX22GN10 DPDT RF Antenna Switch and another unknown type one

    • Infineon BGS12PL6 and BGS12SN6 SPDT RF Switch and a set of 3 unknown type ones

  11. P1iQxxlulcL3dZlG
    P1iQxxlulcL3dZlG
    BcKrk1WtPVgAasdP

    • IC identification, pt. 4 (sensors):

    • Sony IMX260 12 MP image sensor (likely)

    • Maxim Integrated MAX86902 heart rate sensor/integrated pulse oximetry/UV sensor module (likely)

    • STMicroelectronics LSM6DS3 3-axis accelerometer/gyroscope

    • Bosch Sensortec BMP280 pressure sensor

    • AKM Semiconductor AK09911 3-axis electronic compass

    • ABLIC, Inc. (Formerly Seiko Instruments) S-5712CCDL1-I4T1U Hall-effect sensor

  12. CZDERTEJN3FQhjVl

    • Oh, and one more thing.

    • That whole "liquid cooling" thing? Not really that big of a deal. In case you missed it, we detailed our findings in our S7 teardown, and it's no different here.

    • The S7 Edge's tiny heat pipe is nigh-identical to one we removed from an S7. It should afford the same improved heat diffusion to the metal midframe, improving cooling for those extended Samsung Gear VR sessions.

  13. tuDtO5rbUNNvqyXE
    tuDtO5rbUNNvqyXE
    6bTIjGgE53e3WJSR

    • Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Repairability Score: 3 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

    • Many components are modular and can be replaced independently.

    • Unlike the S6 Edge, the battery can be removed without first ousting the motherboard—but tough adhesive and a glued-on rear panel make replacement more difficult than necessary.

    • The display needs to be removed (and likely destroyed) if you want to replace the USB port.

    • Front and back glass make for double the crackability, and strong adhesive on the rear glass makes it very difficult to gain entry into the device.

    • Replacing the glass without destroying the display is probably impossible.

Author

Jeff Suovanen

Member since: 06/08/13

427153 Reputation

74 comments

When taking the phone apart, I assume that naturally you are throwing some if not all of the water resistant (or proof) capabilities behind, or is that not the case? Maybe you can re-waterproof it again, who knows.

Joshua Leaver -

Hello and good afternoon Joshua,

I have had to perform the same teardown on my Galaxy S7. After putting everything back together, I wanted to test the same theory. My phone was still very water resistant (I literally dropped it in a sink of water by mistake lol). But I've seriously had no problems with my S7 after. Hope the same success follows your projects. Have a great day!

damon sampy -

There is some discussion as to whether the S7 phones support the extra speeds in UHS-II microSD cards - which would require an extra row of pins in the reader. The preliminary benchmarks of UHS-II cards show disappointing performance below the maximum speed of a UHS-I port, so it is doubtful that the reader is a full UHS-II reader, but it would be nice if the teardown could confirm the pin configuration of the microSD port so we can put the issue to rest...

Jim Graham -

Where is the sd card reader ? does it support UHS-2 ?

Alexandre -

I've already cracked the back glass a little. Does this impact the waterproofness at all? I've been unable to locate just a back plate/glass piece yet as well, but this would be my first time looking.

Zach -

Same question. Bump

Anthony Emma -

It depends on how deep the crack is. But it will certanly apply more preasure in that point under water.

Franco -

The back glass needs to be replaced on mys7 edge, can I go on from the back or the front. Also, your review mentioned replacing the glass would mess up the display.. Does this only apply to the front glass? One last question, where should the back glad be purchased. I see Amazon sells it but it's literally only the glass, no components.

Fred Jameson -

If your original back glass cracked, usually it will lost its waterproof function. you could buy a new replacement from amazon or GG MALL, the replacement will came with adhesive. I will add B8000/7000 glue around the adhesive to make sure the waterproof working. good luck

ggmall -

Yes it will make your phone less water resistant, yoi can find them online for cheap(3$+shipping)

Biuro Lul -

is it possible to use S7Edge battery in S7?

Yurii Mykhalchuk -

no their different sizes i think

zakmza123 -

Hey guys, i have one question that is killing me, hope you can help me: accidentally inserted the key to remove the sim tray in the upper mic hole and apply some pressure until realize my mistake, in a brand new s7 edge, i cant identify the mic hole in your pictures, actually looks like is not straight to the mic, is more like a 90 deg orientation, am i right? Thanks for your help, really appreciate your comments

Bernardo Olivas -

i do the same haha i´m a little scared :S

arym06 -

Anyone got back to you on this yet? I too did the same and my main question is whether or not it would affect the water resistance/proof of the phone by pushing the sim removal took through the mic hole.

Steven C -

If you punctured the mic hole, then this does affect the water resistance of the phone. The speaker mesh is like a net across the speaker hole. Since speakers need air to work properly, air can pass through this mesh, but it is fine enough to the point that water cannot pass through as long as it is not over a certain pressure. This is due to the elasticity of water. For example, a jet of water would be high pressure so that would go through the mesh. The same concept applies if you take the phone beyond a certain depth. If you punctured the mesh, then it no longer has the ability to keep water out.

Chris -

I wish they would switch to black PCB like iPhones... It looks a lot better that way...

Andrew spoelstra -

Would I have to take the phone apart from the back in order to replace the front glass panel or can it be done from the front of the phone?

lordlkavo -

Hello! Who knows have motherboards (r4, t, td, l, a) from galaxy s7 edge external differences between each other? can i put any of them in the same galaxy s7 edge or no?

aubhan Baisarov -

The CDMA and GSM variants are very different so beware what screen assembly you put them in. Samsung loves to screw with us and their endless revisions. I accidentally ordered the EU variant of an S6 edge + and I had to use a longer samsung galaxy s4 antenna wire, as the location of the antenna port on charge port is different on the EU and US version. Still managed to make it work with the longer wire. But for a second there I almost lost my guts over it.

Jorge Vargas -

Can you only repair the back glass

Dario moreno -

repair the back glass is quite easy, just buy a new replacement from amazon, watch this tear down guide you can do it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M3PL8ED

ggmall -

whether you can put a motherboard into the frame Snapdragon version of the Exynos version ??? ??? they compatible???

beka -

same question, I have a T-Mobile motherboard and a sm-g935F frame with LCD assembly.

Luis Tremont -

I'm trying to get the LCD assembly where's a good place to buy the parts online for good prices not outraged prices

Austin bering -

Sammy charges $260 to replace it. And it will be waterproof again. Buy the lcd on ebay is about $200. Plus you need the adhesive. Best to just send it to samsung.

Jimmy James -

$200 for an s7 edge LCD? where? Last time I Looked it was still up in the 280+ range.

Jorge Vargas -

the B grade screen for galaxy s7 edge on gg mall is 169usd

ggmall -

where can I buy a replacement screen for s7edge and I need the no& off botton replace as well?

Donte Ebonmane -

I cracked my display on my s7 edge and the LCD screen has a black hole when it was dropped, is it possible to fix that? What type of screen would I need to buy and would I break anything?

Regan Murray -

It is possible to replace the glass only?

Mauricio Hoempler -

It isn't impossible but it sure is hard as !&&*.

Jorge Vargas -

This comment;

**The display needs to be removed (and likely destroyed) if you want to replace the USB port**

> Looking at the last image it appears the usb pcb is separate from the display and can be simply remove by screws, can you clarify this replacement would damage this display?

Stephen Cooke -

No you cant. The buttons are on the same board, you need to remove the screen to free the 2 captive buttons, then you can unscrew the 2 little screws. You can sacrifice the 2 buttons then its easy

Robert Vasile -

Totally radical idea... I have a Sprint S7 Edge with a cracked LCD. If I were to buy a complete s7 (non-edge) chassis and LCD, would it be possible to transfer my mobo/logic board and guts into the non-edge chassis?

Jason White -

hey can you help me with the advise as in what to do with the broken top glass,

the inner display touch are just perfectly working..

GIRISH DHANRAJANI -

i wanna know that too

helberxp -

How much the ic display parts..? And where we buy of the said parts?

Ralp Bolo -

Hi...sir i have s7 edge on time i will conect charging cable..after tunoff mobile..now dont on mobile..

Abdul Rahoof Rahoof -

What is the part number of the Bluetooth Chip here?Manufacturer?

Raul Piper -

Hi, where do we find what the GPS chipset is?

Dave Lowndes -

Hi I dropped and broke the glass on both sides. The LCD is ok and the phone is absolutely functional. Can I just replace the glass, and at what cost.

royanimesh -

Can the front glass be replaced only ?

Like with this kit ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-S...

wesley tejeda -

No. you can replace it unless if you have a series professional machine, hah

ggmall -

My S7 edge got water damaged and I took it apart to see the motherboard, the transistor or whatever it is towards the right of the big rectangular silver 5G WiFi module seems to be have become corroded and a bit black in colour ,I submerged the motherboard in 99% isopropyl alcohol and dryed it completely but it doesn't work. can I replace the couple of transistors that have corroded ? If so can anyone please guide me and let me know what's the exact transistor part that's damaged like it's name or series number? And where can I get it?

Vivek -

Any place where you can buy a metal back replacement? Also if in my current damaged back the camera lens in intack can it be salavage?? If so do i need to purchase a adherence strip or does the one on the back cover include this?

JAMES T GARY -

www.sosav.co.uk and www.sosav.com sell all the components for the Galaxy S7 and all of the other phones in the Galaxy range! They're working on getting the rest on the english site, but the french site has literally everything so I'd give them an e-mail if you want something specific!

Evie -

انا حاسس انو الواي فاي فيه ضعيف بيلقط الاشارة ضعيفة جدا شو بيكو نالمشكلة

احمد خالد -

I cannot get any service on my Samsung S7 Sprint. There is a MIPI device fail. What is the cause of this?

Mehmood Ali khan -

I have the S7 Edge 32GB and my I used my phone carefully to take pictures under water in a swimming pool about 30 cm under for no more than a few seconds each time to take 4 photos as you see on the adverts. after no more than five minutes the camera stopped working,. I dried it out and the charge was gone so I tried to charge by both means (wireless and lead) to no avail. I took it to Samsung and was told that the mother board is more than likely gone and that buying a new phone would be more economical. I was duped into thinking that the phone had a full Samsung warranty. However despite it being bought last September and being told it had a full Samsung warranty it only has a guarantee on the software.

I blame Samsung for saying that it is IP68 (water and dust resistant to 1.5 M for 30 min. which as an engineer I am well aware of. This phone like a lot of Samsung phones does not live up to expectations and unlike Apple will not take responsibility for their mistakes. Samsung excreta again. Don't buy!!

sumarianson me -

My motherboard cooked, and has to be replaced. Does anyone know whether it's possible to remove the part where all the data and apps are stored and soldering it on a new board? In theory, having the phone and data exactly as it was, just with a new board? Any info would be appreciated, have so much work related documents which I have created on the phone and didn't back it up in time..

Johan Gertzen -

how i turn on the antenna on s7 - no service issue

Federico Deledda -

HI anyone knows if you can use the 935f motherboard in the 935fd version?

Nalini Mathura -

YES, the mid frame hosting is the same, and the dock connector is compatible i think

ggmall -

What are the 3 wires for when pulling the wires off the port on the white wire mother board side piped off

Brian -

Is the single SIM G935F screen the same for the dual SIM G935FD??

Donald Eastwood -

Oh, sorry, just seen the question 2 up!

Donald Eastwood -

Is the exynos variant using different pmic, like instead of the pm8996 and 8004, does it use s535 and s515 for power management?

Dennis K -

My Samsung s7 edge 2sims not working. Technician was tell motherboard problem. I want mother borad

Anwar Sanu -

My phone was destoyed (run overy on the interstate) it turns on but the lcd is broke.I have a bunch of pics on the phone. If I buy a newhile lcd and front and back panels will my phone still hold the pictures?

Aaron -

Hi, I'm having a problem with my S7edge USB Port. It's possible to replace it since you said it was hard to remove the front glass.

Henry -

Thank you for details above.

the screen of my phone galaxy S7 edge scratched because it fell down from my hand but it was working for 3 or 4 days and then suddenly didn’t work and I tried to open but I couldn’t. After 2 days I connected it to charger and then I tried to open it, it had worked until unlock screen display the black screen displayed and some programming code in the top displayed for a few seconds and now one month from that happened and still doesn’t work, so please I need solution to get all my data form the device???

Thanks

Mohammed Ali Alajaji -

Is it possible to recover photos from your old s7 edge by putting that mother board into your new glaxay s7 edge ?? my phones completley locked so I cant unlock it from the app. The entire screen is shattered. The buttons will light on but the touch pad doesnt recgonize when im touching the screen. Plus it is blacked out.

diana ayala -

how repair/replace the carrier signal antenna?

ecstacy 777 -

I replaced my battery but forgot to apply some double sided sticky tape to secure the battery to the midframe- is that critical?

Charles -

Is the tape holding down the battery to the metal midframe critical?

Charles -

can you put a galaxy s7 duos mother board in to a s7 body and just get a duel sim card tray

Denis Blais -

Hi, where do we find what the GPS chipset is?

Lin Joe -

What about the pink line.. This really disappoint me.. Expensive yet the quality is bad..

drel_26 -

How do i jail break my galaxy 7s edge

dianaleeandrews -

Why you didn’t remove the screen?

Dinan Blueje -

My s7 just refused to boot nor charge after going off on its on while I was using the flash light and the flash light remained on for about 7-9hours before going off too, what could be the cause ?

I have already taken it to a phone repair shops and the said its the motherboard that got crashed, please is there any way I can replace or get another motherboard to replace it ?

ajenfrank4u@gmail.com

Franklin Nkemjika -

Muy buenas tardes a todos, tengo un pequeño problema mi s7 se me reinicia siento que se calienta y es el problema aun que ustedes me pueden indicar si les ha pasado y cual puede ser el problema gracias

Miguel Cherubini -