HTC EVO 4G splayed, found to contain wires, chips

By Chris Ziegler

posted June 1st 2010 12:46PM

Often, iFixit needs to wait for a product to be released before it can spend a few hundred bucks buying one and tearing it asunder -- but in the case of the EVO 4G, Google's pre-release of units to attendees at IO appears to have been just the kind of event these guys needed to get in the door early. Taking the phone apart is described as a "wonderfully easy" process, and changing the screen's glass is said to be pretty easy as well -- good news considering how easy it'll probably be to crack those 4.3 inches of pure WVGA glory. There aren't any surprises in terms of silicon, but we've got one tip for you, HTC: if you're going to take this color-the-inside-of-the-phone business seriously, would you do us a favor and match the color of the circuit board, too? Seriously guys, go big or go home. Follow the break for iFixit's full rundown of the process.

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We snagged an HTC Evo 4G at Google I/O before it went on sale to the general public. We turned it on, played with the gorgeous screen for the drive home, then immediately relegated it to the carving table.

The Evo 4G was wonderfully easy to disassemble, which should make servicing/repairing the phone very simple. Even so, HTC managed to avoid "ghastly" visible screws by using a removable back panel. Once the panel was removed, we were able to access the six T5 Torx screws and underlying components using a bit of care and precision.

Teardown:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC-Evo-4G-Teardown/2979/1

Highlights:

* 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.