Note 9 S Pen Disassembly

Video Overview

Introduction

Samsung is at information technology over again with the Note9, right on schedule. Amidst a fell anti-Apple advertising entrada, they're hoping a cool new S Pen is enough to deport the day. Could there be more waiting for us under the hood? We'll tear downwardly to find out!

Phone in to our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to go on the teardown hotline!

This teardown is non a repair guide. To repair your Samsung Galaxy Note9, use our service transmission.

Here are some initial Notes on the 9:

Here are some initial Notes on the 9:
Notchless border-to-border 6.4" Super AMOLED display with 2960 × 1440 resolution (516 ppi)
Octa-cadre Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor paired with 6 GB RAM (viii GB optional)
4,000 mAh battery
12 MP OIS dual rear camera system with dual-discontinuity ƒ/1.5-ƒ/2.4 wide-angle and ƒ/two.4 telephoto modules, plus an eight MP selfie cam
128 GB internal storage (512 GB internal storage optional), with boosted 512 GB available via microSD expansion
S Pen stylus with Bluetooth connectivity
IP68 dust and h2o resistance rating

The Note9 looks very (very) similar to the Note8—and in principle at least, we're fine with that. Smartphone evolution has slowed, and even we don't think you should try to fix what isn't broken.

The Note9 looks very (very) similar to the Note8—and in principle at least, we're fine with that. Smartphone development has slowed, and even we don't recollect you should endeavor to set up what isn't broken.
That said, we would like a fix for the Note series' history of depression repairability.
And so what is new? Well, information technology'due south very slightly wider and shorter than the Note8, with an extra 0.1 inch of display—and it's a hair thicker at 8.viii mm versus 8.half-dozen mm.
In an increasingly rare (but welcome) move, Samsung has kept the analog headphone jack.
Not only does this reduce habiliment on the charging port, it prevents the scourge of built-in-battery wireless earbuds.

Some other subtle (but practiced) change: the fingerprint sensor has packed its things and moved to a happier location, south of the rear photographic camera.
Result: less time spent smearing the camera lens with wayward finger pokes.
Spoiler alarm: nosotros got an early glimpse of the Note9'due south innards thanks to Creative Electron's wallhack abilities.
Now that we have a map, let's glide on into boxing.

We'd like to hit the ground running, just this back console adhesive is yet pretty OP. Nerf it please, Samsung?
Our usual strat of rut, suction, and careful slicing does the trick somewhen.
The newly relocated fingerprint sensor is a welcome modify here—that flex cable location is much less vulnerable to adventitious slicing and dicing.
That said, it'due south still too curt. A few flappy folds like we saw on the Surface Get would make reassembly a happier affair.

The bombardment's nonetheless glued down in a miserable sticky well—only the Note8 didn't blow upwards so the blueprint is justified, eh Samsung?
The Note9 bombardment weighs in at a ludicrous 15.4 Wh, eschewing the cautious 12.71 Wh Note8 battery, and eclipsing both the infamous Note7 (xiii.48 Wh) and the iPhone 10 (a "mere" 10.35 Wh).
Since we know you'll inquire, here are some dimensions: 87.7 mm x 41.5 mm x 6 mm. Weight: 54.vii thousand. Now go forth and calculate energy density! Or any it is you practise.

The chips that move the bits and bytes:
Samsung K3UH6H60AM-AGCJ 6 GB LPDDR4X SDRAM, with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 layered underneath
Samsung KLUDG4U1EA-B0C1 128 GB eUFS storage
NXP Semiconductor PN80T NFC Controller
Skyworks SKY78160-51 Front end-Stop Module WLAN
Avago/Broadcom AFEM-9096 Front-Stop Module LTE
Qualcomm WCD9341 Audio Codec
Maxim MAX77705 PMIC

More chips on the flip:
Wacom W9018 digitizer controller with Southward Pen capability
Murata KM8423057 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module
Qualcomm SDR845 RF transceiver
Qualcomm PM845 PMIC
IDT P9320S wireless charging receiver
Samsung S2DOS05 display PMIC
Qualcomm PM8005 PMIC

IC Identification, pt. 2:
Qualcomm QET4100 Envelope Tracker
RDA Microelectronics RDA6213N FM transceiver (likely)
Samsung S2MIS01 MST Driver
Qualcomm QDM3870 high band diversity front end module
Skyworks SKY13716-eleven low-band LNA front-end module
NXP Semiconductor BGU8103 GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou low noise amplifier
Antenna Tuner

IC Identifications, pt. 3:
Maxim Integrated MAX585128 sound Amplifier (likely)
Samsung S2MPB02 camera power management
Samsung S2MPB03 photographic camera power direction
ON Semiconductor FAN48618BUC53X i A Boost Regulator
Vishay DG2730 480 Mbps DPDT analog switch
NXP Semiconductor PCAL6524 24-bit I/O expander
Knowles MEMS microphone

IC Identifications, pt. 4 (sensors):
STMicroelectronics LSM6DSL 3-centrality accelerometer/gyroscope
AKM Semiconductor AK09918C 3-centrality electronic compass
STMicroelectronics LPS22HB pressure sensor
Maxim Integrated ? center rate sensor
Semtech SX9320 ? proximity sensor
Diodes Incorporated hall sensor (probable)

The motherboard has absorbed yesteryear's daughterboard, leaving a modular USB-C port (with a Knowles hanger-on microphone) ripe for the picking.
Samsung continues to provide sanctuary for the now endangered headphone jack, while saddling information technology with a super thin spring-contact-connected cable.
The heat pipe has significantly more than surface surface area than prior generations. Perhaps those pipes proved the concept, or proved they needed to be that much beefier (because Fortnite).

Time for Southward Pen extraction. We couldn't find a non-destructive manner to fissure it open, then we swapped in the heavy weapons—the ultrasonic ~~blaster~~ cutter!
Now that Fortnite is here we were prepared for a tomato update, but the S Pen peels open like a banana.
What's in this loot llama? How almost a DA14580 Dialog Semiconductor Bluetooth Smart SoC ...
... and a K8373 Seiko Instruments supercapacitor.
Nosotros'd gauge that the supercapacitor powers the Bluetooth radio, which is just used for the single button. Other stylus functions operate without born ability.
We'd also conjecture that the S Pen charges via the sensing coils near the tip. We constitute a grey pad almost where the coils reside when the stylus is stowed—perchance an inductive charging pad.

And that's all we note!
The Samsung Milky way Note9 isn't a radical redesign, simply it's fresh enough to keep our teardown engineers happy. The Note line tends to evolve slowly—bigger motherboard, a dissimilar pen, cipher radical—except for a bombardment that merely exploded in size.
Sometimes information technology feels like watching paint dry out. But sometimes you get to cut open a tiny pen! (Something we haven't done since the Apple Pencil.)

Final Thoughts

This Note's components are more than modular than ever, thanks to subtle changes to the USB-C hardware, headphone jack, and the S Pen dock'south flex cable.
The just screws used are standard Phillips screws.
You can replace the battery if you're determined—two extremely stubborn glue barriers brand it unnecessarily difficult.
To service whatsoever component yous must first painstakingly un-gum (and after re-glue) the glass rear panel.
All-too-common display repairs require replacing the unabridged chassis or tediously separating the mucilaginous croaky glass.