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Video Overview

Step 1 Samsung Galaxy Note8 Teardown

The Note8 is a tall phone. Let's see what occupies all that space:

• Edge-to-edge, 6.3" Super AMOLED display, 18.5:9 aspect ratio with 2960 × 1440 resolution (521 ppi) and Gorilla Glass 5

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 6 GB RAM

• 3300 mAh battery

• Dual-lens, dual OIS main camera system with one 12 MP wide-angle lens with ƒ/1.7 aperture and one 12 MP telephoto lens with ƒ/2.4 aperture

• 64/128/256 GB of internal storage with 256 GB available via microSD expansion

• S Pen slot, USB-C port, and headphone jack

• IP68 dust and water resistance rating

Step 2

• You can see right through this phone if you squint hard and have the ability to fire high-energy photons.

• The X-ray intel suggests a somewhat familiar layout, but a little physical poking and prodding is definitely in order. Ready the tools!

• But first, a quick exterior comparison of the Note8 and Note7 Fan Edition reveals a bigger display, slimmer bezels, and a fingerprint sensor that has migrated to the back of the phone—where it's now joined by not one, but twocameras.

Step 3

Cracking open the phone, we spy a delicate fingerprint sensor cable. This makes carving through all that glue a bit treacherous as the cable might be easy to slice right through if you aren't expecting it.

Step 4

• We are pleased that we get to use a Phillips driver to remove the midframe/NFC antenna/PMA and Qi wireless charging coil combo.

• After removing that maxed-out midframe, we remove the bottom speaker assembly to get our first peek at the internals.

• Familiar components, unfamiliar places— the battery is placed nearly dead-center, and the vibrator migrated to the bottom right. Goodbye standard Note/Galaxy S layout.

• Is this a subtle response to past battery woes, or just Samsung working to tidy up? Time to take a look at that power plant.

Step 5

• In line with other recent Samsung phones, the battery squats in a little pit of glue-lined sadness, but we quickly set to work digging it free.

• A little heat can help soften the glue here, but heat and lithium-ion batteries form a combustible mix—so we opt for a different solution.

• This Samsung SDI-made battery plonks down12.71 Wh (3300 mAh at 3.85 V) of capacity.

• That's 6% less than the Note7's 13.48 Wh—but keep in mind that battery burned in more ways than one. The safely revamped battery in the Fan Edition clocked in at only 12.32 Wh, so this actually represents an improvement (assuming of course no fire).

Step 6

• Next we get our hands on the motherboard, along with the Note8’s many cameras.

• If we were impressed with the number of cameras last time, the new Note ups the ante with four cameras:

• Facing the front of the phone we have an iris scanner and an 8 MP, ƒ/1.7 camera.

• Facing the rear we have Samsung's new dual camera module: one wide-angle and one telephoto camera, both with OIS. This system allows for some pretty cool new features.

• OIS confirmed. This magic bonus image reveals a squad of dense, dark shapes—those'd be the magnets—surrounding both camera lenses. Neat!

Step 7

Let's notate what powers all of this screen:

• Samsung K3UH6H60AM-NGCJ 6 GB LPDDR4X SDRAM layered over a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835

• Samsung KLUCG4J1ED-B0C1 64 GB UFS flash storage

• Qualcomm WCD9341 Aqstic audio codec

• Skyworks 78160-11 power amplification module

• Avago AFEM-9066 power amplification module

• Wacom W9018 touch control IC

Step 8

Flipping the board over we find:

• Qualcomm WTR5975 RF transceiver

• Avago AFEM-9053 power amplification module

• Skyworks 77365 quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE power amplification module

• Qualcomm PM8998 PMIC

• Murata KM7628048 Wi-Fi module

Step 9

• We reserve the right to continue bellyaching about the opening procedure on these phones, but once inside it's not all bad news.

• The USB-C port, a component that will experience wear, can be removed with the daughterboard.

• Meanwhile, the 3.5 mm headphone jack is present (huzzah!) and completely modular. We find this essential on premium handsets.

• All that, plus an IP68 water/dust ingress protection rating that bests Apple's efforts. Not too shabby.

• The front-facing sensor assembly is also present on its own little board—another easily replaceable module!

• Next we open up the S Pen compartment … to find the S Pen. Kind of obvious I guess, but we couldn’t help ourselves.

Step 10

• The Note8's OLED panel has been much ballyhooed, with many superlatives, but we're mostly just interested in how it comes off.

• Answer: bring heat and alllllll your opening picks.

• This Samsung-manufactured display bests all previous smartphone displays and represents a significant step forward from what we saw in the S8 series just a few months ago. Small wonder that a certain fruit company wants in on the action.

• Along for the ride: Samsung S6SY661X (likely touch controller)

Step 11

• With both the Note7 and Note8 styluses on hand, we couldn't help but do our own comparison—Star Wars style.

• After glorious combat we asked our friends at Creative Electron to show us the inner-workings of the S Pen.

• Unfortunately, they found no kyber crystals.

Step 12

• We hope you took notes along the way, because this Note is kaput!

• Big thanks to Creative Electron for once again bringing our teardown into a new dimension!

• Feast your eyes on all the bits and stay tuned for a score.

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