Touch screens  have largely changed the way we communicate by making typos socially acceptable in business communications.

But in many circles, acurite tiping isstillvery important and people feel a physical keyboard helps them. Moreover, the tactile feel of a keyboard is often faster and more comfortable for the high volume user.

Blackberry is here to help with their latest Q10 phone, based on their BB10 operating system and with the traditional BB keyboard design, in addition to a 3.1″ Super AMOLED capacitive display.

In the interest of peeling away the onion, we are showing the back off and shields intact here. Once we pry these off, we’ll provide a list of some of the key suppliers.This (public) teardown isn’t going to be exhaustive, but the images are high resolution if you need to learn more.

A two-sided circuit board with design wins that keep the phone on par with all the major smartphones.

The primary camera is the OmniVision OV2B8BG.

The secondary camera is the Aptina C25B.

Despite having a huge number of SKUs when compared to (for instance) Apple, Samsung’s leading devices seemed to have settled into a few best selling form factors at 5″, 7″, and 10″. The Samsung Galaxy S4 is not all that distinguishable from the S III. However, on the spec. front, the bar has moved. Features include:

•  1920×1080 Super AMOLED 5″ diagonal display
• 13 MP primary camera with a 2 MP secondary camera
• Samsung Exynos 5 Octa 5410 processor with PowerVR SGX 544MP3
• A host of wireless standards, up to and including 802.11ac
• Pressure, temperature, and humidity sensor
• Android Jelly Bean

Between the application processor, memory, and new PMIC, we are seeing a lesson on in-sourcing. Here are a few of the flagship devices from Samsung:

This latest powerhouse is a Quad 1.8 GHz (max) ARM Cortex-A15 Harvard Superscalar processor core + Quad 1.2 GHz (max) ARM Cortex-A7 Harvard Superscalar processor core, ARM big.LITTLE architecture, 64/32 bit multi-layer AHB/AXI bus, ARM TrustZone, ARM NEON SIMD engine, dual-channel DDR2, LPDDR2, LPDDR3, DDR3L SDRAM interface, NAND flash, moviNAND, SATA, eMMC 4.5 interface, eSD 3.0, USB 3.0, embedded GPS module, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenCL support, HDMI 1.4, triple display controller, and 533 MHz 3-core PowerVR SGX544MP3 GPU.

The device is fabricated in a Samsung 28 nm low power process and sits under the DRAM (X-ray and die photo at right).Note: the LPDDR3 DRAM is nothing new, having  seen it previously in the Nexus 10.

Pictures at right show the top metal. The dimensions are 10.73 mm x 11.28 mm from the die seal and 10.88 mm x 11.37 mm for the entire die.

Based on evidence from the stacked technology and a resolution of 13 MP, we are comfortable saying that the primary sensor is the Sony IMX135 stacked image sensor. We first saw this in the Oppo Find 5 X909.Vias are shown at right. The secondary sensor is the Samsung S5K6B2YX03 2 MP sensor. At time of publication, this is a fairly new 1.34 µm pixel sensor.

• Samsung S2MPS11 power management IC
• Wolfson WM5102e audio hub codec (showing their national pride with a die mark of Scotland at right)
• Intel PMB9820 baseband processor
• Intel PMB5745 RF transceiver
• I274 U311 – likely Bosch BMP180 or STM 331 pressure sensor; to be verified (shown)
• Sensirion SHTC1 humidity and temperature sensor
• Synaptics S5000B touch screen controller (shown)

The Wi-Fi module is quite complicated. It is a two-sided board featuring the state-of-the-art Broadcom BCM4335 on one side, along with two GaAs chips and the Skyworks 2.4 GHz SKY85303-11 (two die) inside a cavity on the underside. An impressive looking SiP. The following were identified from their markings:

The fact that Intel has the baseband design win for a world-leading phone (non-US version) is impressive. We all know that they are pushing hard to become a player in the handheld chipset market, but to date, we haven’t seen them in many Tier 1 phones. However, their dominant position and deep pockets might mean it is only a matter of time. Perhaps winning in the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the ESPN Turning Point.

A nice top metal and polysilicon die image are provided at right.

Also shown is the Broadcom BCM4752 GPS device. This is their third generation solution that provides sensor integration technology with the other sensors to improve urban navigation performance.

(update added May 17)

The gyro and accelerometer are a 4-die combination part by STMicroelectronics featuring separate ASICs and MEMS for both the gyroscope and the accelerometer. ST has been shown to used various combinations of ASIC and MEMS structures in their other design wins. Based on package size and specifications, this one corresponds to the LSM330. It is, however, unique to the prior version of the LSM330 that we looked it which used a single MEMS combination die and the same 2 ASICs. So it is some variant by ST, we just aren’t certain which one of the two is described on their website.

We’ll be looking at the North American variant to confirm whether things are the same across the world, but that is data that will live in our database I am afraid. At this point, the teardown article is closed.

Keeping the whole thing as thin as possible means you have a very large and pancake-flat battery with the one-sided board and everything else nicely laid out. It is a win for the Qualcomm chipset with major design wins that include:

• Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon 600 Applications Processor (die not confirmed, but we are showing the “avenger2″ variant shown at right)
• Elpida EDBA164B1PF-1D-F 2 GB DRAM
• Qualcomm WCD9310 Audio CODEC
• Toshiba THGBM5G8B4JBAIM NAND Flash
• OnSemi NCP2993 Audio Amplifier, NCP373 charge control
• Maxim MAXQ614V
• TI TPS61263 Li-Ion Management Chip
• ROHM BD8184MUV Power controller
• NXP 44701 NFC Chip
• Synaptics S7300A Touch Screen Controller (with die photo)

As a side note, we are continuing to see Atmel TSCs being shut out of major new devices. Based only on our recent flagship teardowns, there appears to be a bit of a shift going on in the touch screen space.

Keeping it thin means keeping it 1 dimensional so there is nothing to see here. Lets instead use this space to catalog some of the RF chips:

• Qualcomm MDM9215M Modem
• Qualcomm WCN3660 WiFi SoC
• Qualcomm PM8018, PM8821, PM 8921 Power Management ICs
• Qualcomm WTR1605L Transceiver
• Skyworks SKY13414 RF Switch
• Skyworks SKY77351, SKY77725 Power Amplifier
• Sony CXM3582UR RF Switch
• Murata SWEJ (unclassified)

Both primary and secondary sensors are home grown Sony parts.

The primary sensor is the Sony IMX111 which we have seen in other flagship devices such as the Nexus 4.

A new trend is the presence of a 1.12 µm pixel generation device in the secondary camera module.  To date we have only cataloged a 1.1 gen. device in one other secondary module.  Die markings for the secondary sensor here are simply, “SONY”.

This may well be a first. Most flagship devices these days have had at least one ST Microelectronics inertial sensor in it. Here we have the expected 9 degrees of sensing and several winners.

• Bosch BMA220 Accelerometer (shown at right)
• Invensense MPU3050 Gyroscope
• AKM AK8973 Hall Effect and Geomagnetic Sensor (shown at right)

Unlike the other competitors thus far, the i’m Watch is designed to be a standalone Android device (running a lightweight 1.6 version). Others, like the Sony SmartWatch are designed to extend the display of a smart phone and so basically require tethering. We have seen the latter approach lack flexibility for the consumer and not resonate commercially, so the idea of putting low-cost processing power in everything we own seems to be the trend. So, what hardware does it take to give a watch/android experience. Here is the cataloged silicon:

• Focal Tech Systems FT5206 Touch Screen Controller (die photo at right)
• TI TPS6101 LED Driver
• STMicroelectronics LSM303DLHC combination 3D accelerometer and a 3D digital magnetic sensor (aka Compass)
• STMicroelectronics STA2500C Bluetooth Device
• 2 X Micron MT46H32M16LFBF-6 is a 32Mb Mobile LPDDR
• Freescale I.MX233 Applications Processor (runs up to 450 MHz)
• Micron MTFC4GMTEA-WT 4-Gb NAND Flash

Before entering the teardown lab we take 20-30 minutes with each phone.  We aren’t talking about running benchmarks in Passmark or Antutu, but simply getting our impressions. While we took some time with it at the Mobile World Congress, having it in house without the fancy booth and shiny lights gives us a better impression. For HTC, who has been losing ground, this flagship phone seems to be ready to help them bounce back. It is very nicely designed, good weight, fluid screen, and a feeling of solidity. Featuring a 4.7″ screen, Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1.7 GhZ, and 2 GB of DDR2.

Okay – we’re saying it.  On the inside, this thing isn’t a looker.  The lesson that you can learn from going with a larger screen seems to be that you have more space to implement an “old school” one-sided board and copious amounts of tape and still have room for the 2300 mAh battery. On the plus side, as we dig in the board has all its functional areas nicely organized for us.

• Synaptics 32028 Touch Screen Controller (based on part number it appears to be the ClearPad 3200 series)
• NXP 650121 Near-Field Controller (confirmed to be the  PN544)

The front end is courtesy of a number of (primarily) Avago devices.  The devices identified include: Avago A5508, Avago A5020, Avago A5007, and the Triquint TQM7MS02. Over on the wifi side of things we have identified a Skyworks 85302-11 2.4 GhZ WLAN/BT Front End Module.  Also present are the Skyworks 77762 and 77764 front end chips.

At right we see the Qualcomm applications processor package (with Elpida EDBA164B1P DRAM) markings with APQ8064 on it. This is the same markings as the S4 variant and no “T” present as one might expect from the published part numbers (see wikipedia).A depot of the device shows that the Snapdragon 600 has some subtle differences from the S4 in the top metal.  It also has “Avenger2″ die marks versus “Avenger” as we have seen in the past. However, the device is the same 28 nm, 9.92 mm x 8.88 mm die with a higher clock speed . This won’t be a surprise to most, but is documented here for those who may not have known.At right we are also showing the MDM9215 modem (2 chip package with the Shelby processor fabricated on Samsung 28 nm LP CMOS line and a Samsung DRAM for LTE support) and the PM8921 PMIC. There are also a PM8018 PMIC and a WTR1605L RFIC to back up the MDM9215. And finally, we have the Qualcomm WCD9310 Audio Codec (not shown).

Broadcom - perennial leader in WiFi SoCs is here with a brand new BCM4335. The exclamation mark we put in the title above aside, we do admit that this is not *that* much of a surprise since the HTC One specification sheet sports the 802.11 ac designation. The device supports all the same standards as the BCM4334 and is fabricated at the same 40 nm generation.  A high res. die photo of the BCM4334 and low res. die photo of the BCM4335 are shown at right.

The HTC One bucks the trend. Based on the 1/3″ form factor of a camera module and today’s state-of-the-art 1.1 µm pixels, all the latest competitive phones sport 13 Mp resolution.  HTC has gone with a larger 2.0 µm pixel (confirmed) and a 4 MP sensor. They are pitching the low light sensitivity as a key feature.  The device is a back-illuminated sensor fabricated by STMicroelectronics with die marks 58698A. This is the first BI sensor we have seen from ST.The camera uses the IDG-2021 gyroscope by Invensense for motion stabilization. It is a dual-axis gyro with high resolution ADCs designed specifically for optical image stabilization.The secondary sensor is a 2 Mp, 1.4 µm sensor by OmniVision with die marks OV2A9BA. It is a nice secondary sensor that we have seen before in other phones.

• NXP TFA9887 Audio Amplifier (great little device that allows the speakers to be over-driven – times 2.
• Maxim AKF DC-DC Converter
• Maxim MAXQ614V power device
• SiC Sil9344BO RF Transmitter
• AKM AK8963 Hall Effect Sensor (compass)
• Texas Instruments TPA2011D1 Power Amplifier
• Texas Instruments TPS61311 LED driver
• Bosch BMA220 Accelerometer
• STMicroelectronics H3G2 Gyroscope

At the right is a little screen grab of a genealogy chart from our database. (click to enlarge).

It’s always pretty interesting to see how a rigid circuit board can be adapted to fit the round form of this fitness bracelet by incorporating the displayed orange flexible circuit boards. Nike has inserted the monopole antenna into the substrate of the circuit board.

• Spansion S25FL032PIF Flash
• STMicroelectronics C3H Accelerometer
• Texas Instruments TXB0108ZXY Power Supply and Device Controller
• Texas Instruments TPS78218 Voltage Regulator
• Texas Instruments CC2564-TIWI-UB2 Bluetooth
• Texas Instruments MSP430F5328IZQE Microcontroller
• STMicroelectronics-STM32L151QCH6 Microcontrollers
• Nike BRS11
• Nike WM0105-001_LED1
• Texas Instruments BQ24040 Li-lon Management

A title that plays on the old “Just do it” slogan is dating the author of this teardown.  But you know we had to say something to draw attention to it, because seeing a chip branded by a consumer athletic equipment and apparel juggernaut is  newsworthy.

Are we going to see Nike ads featuring attractive (and sweaty) engineers in clean-room outfits in the coming months?

In this case, no.  A depot of the chip reveals a device with die markings ST and UI47AA. Given its proximity to the LED strip and the look of the top metal die photo, we believe that this is the chip driving the LEDs and is likely a custom-designed ASSP from STMicroelectronics.

The C3H is a sports-tested three-axis accelerometer that allows the Fuel Band’s user to track steps taken and calorie burned over the course of various daily activities. Pictured is an x-ray shot of the accelerometer. Shown to its right are (respectively) the depotted die shots of the STM-C5L23A and the STM-V656A.

TI gets the power supply and device controller with their TXB0108ZXY, the voltage regulator with their TX-TPS78218, Bluetooth with their CC2564-TIWI-UB2 and the RDL with their TEX-BQ24040 (Li-lon management). The BQ2404x series of devices are highly integrated Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer linear charger devices targeted at space-limited portable applications (4th picture on right).

TI also wins a microcontroller slot with their MSP430F5328IZQE (5th picture on right). According to TI, “The Texas Instruments MSP430™ family of ultra-low-power microcontrollers consists of several devices featuring different sets of peripherals targeted for various applications. The architecture, combined with extensive low power modes, is optimized to achieve extended battery life in portable measurement applications. The device features a powerful 16-bit RISC CPU, 16-bit registers, and constant generators.”

The medium density plus ultra-low-power STM32L15xxC incorporates the connectivity power of the universal serial bus (USB) with the high-performance ARM Cortex -M3 32-bit RISC core operating at a 32 MHz frequency, a memory protection unit (MPU), high-speed embedded memories (flash memory up to 256 Kbytes and RAM up to 32 Kbytes) and an extensive range of enhanced I/Os and peripherals connected to two APB buses.

• The Invensense ITG 3050 Gyroscope
• STMicroelectrics continues its success by providing the accelerometer
• The compass is as yet unidentified (check back for updates).
• Avago (ACPM-7051) and RFMD (7803-K76P band 3 PA+bi dir coupler)) deliver some of the RF functionality.
• Samsung KLMAG2GE4A 16 Gb flash device supplemented by a micro-SD card slot.

• Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon (die shown at right) application processor chip, in a package-on-package configuration with with the K3PE0E00DA 2 GB Samsung memory
• Qualcomm also gets the power management and transceiver slots with its PM8921 and RTR8600.
• Texas Instruments WL1287 has nomenclature consistent with WiLink 7.0 with a Triquint AC8358 front-end RF part adjacent. What is different is that the TI device has different die marks from prior generations we have analyzed (die marks at right) but appears to be exactly the same die and the WL1283 and WL1285 we have analyzed. Broadcom is the longtime incumbent for the WiFi SoC with its BCM-43XX line and probably holds 80%+ market-share. But the TI solution is an advanced 40-nm product from a strong player in the space and includes GPS where Broadcom does not. Die photos will be be up in our online store soon for those who are benchmarking.

The third image is the WCD9310 audio codec from the Qualcomm chipset.

We had one of our readers spot another really good chip story, and one that perhaps helps to differentiate Blackberry in terms of their vertical integration and wireless capabilities. There are three impedance matched BST (Barium Strontium Titanate) IC’s that were developed by a company called Paratek, which was acquired by RIM in March 2012 (the orange devices at right). They play a key role in tuning the antenna. One of the investors in Paratek calls the solution a. “game changer by allowing users to upload data faster and experience fewer dropped calls.”

The BST devices allow for the antenna tuning to be optimized depending upon conditions, thus making them adaptive. Voltages to the BST tuner IC’s are modified to maximize tuner efficiency, thus saving power and reducing dropped calls.

So the hardware story is – there’s not a whole lot to tell! We have seen most if not all of the chips before.  BB has made great use of state-of the art technology, and it speaks well of the software engineers at Blackberry/QNX and the power of the Snapdragon processor that it can cope well with the heavy-duty capabilities that this device delivers.

The camera uses Wi-Fi for communication with other devices (like phones and PCs) and owners can download iOS and Android apps. Wi-Fi  is a relatively high power way to communicate for a handheld device, but it makes sense when considering the benefits of transferring large video files “in the field.” Notably, even with the available bandwidth, it has a fair bit of lag for real-time viewing on devices. Other specifications:

• 12 MP resolution
• Designed for recording audio in over 100 mph winds (sort of) with noise reduction in the audio chip
• Sensor-processor combination capable of 1010p-60; and can capture 12 MP still photos at up to 10 per second for short bursts

According to their website, it is ”Atheros’ third-generation Wi-Fi solution, featuring 802.11n for portable consumer electronics devices. Based on the game-changing AR6003 Wi-Fi chip, the AR6103 brings 802.11n throughput, range and power efficiency to portable CE devices…”

• ChipSip CT49248DD962D 1 Gb NAND flash + 4 Gb DDR3
• Freescale SCK20D Kinetis 50 MHz microcontroller
• Atheros AR6233G Wi-Fi Soc (802.11n + BT)
• Texas Instruments TLV320AI audio codec
• Texas Instruments SN74AVCT245 & SN74LVC1T45 transceivers
• Texas Instruments TS5A23159 power switch
• Texas Instruments SN74CB3Q325 MUX device
• Texas Instruments LMV339L amplifier
• Ambarella A7 single chip H.264 codec with Samsung S4LL011X01 die markings
• Austria Microsystems AS3711 System PMU with charger and back light driver

We are showing an X-ray of the module and pixel pitch confirmation at right.

Inside, we find two dies. The first with markings EGRET (2.42 mm x 2.54 mm) and the second VENUS (3.55 mm x 3.5 mm).

At right, we are also showing the Ambarella A7-B0-RH single chip H.264 codec chip. This device is fabricated in a Samsung 45 nm LP process with an ARM11 core, and is capable of supporting 32 bit DDR3 DRAM.

The Freescale K20 MCU die, plus markings (second and third images).

The Austria MicroSystems PMU die is quite a bit smaller than the 7 mm x 7 mm QFN56 package. For this teardown, we haven’t looked at the competition, but if AMS has a smaller die, they may have a cost advantage (fourth image).

• Toshiba TMP19A44f Microprocessor
• Wolfson WM8946E Audio Codec
• Spansion S29GL256S90D 256 Mbit NOR Flash
• Rohm Semiconductor BU9795 LCD Driver
• Rohm Semiconductor BU9798KV LCD Driver
• Rohm Semiconductor BD8965 DC-DC Regulator
• Rohm Semiconductor BD65490 Driver

Why is it a surprise to see Toshiba?  If you had to pick a new vendor for Nikon APS-C class sockets you would likely pick Aptina.Aptina has the design wins in the Nikon 1 system cameras (1” format V1, J1, V2), and it has previously marketed an APS-C device.  The MT9H004 is a 16 Mp sensor employing Aptina’s dual conversion gain approach as part of its DR-Pix platform.  The device is intended for use in APS-C class DSLR and MILC applications, but we haven’t seen a design win for it yet.  Due to the existing relationship between Aptina and Nikon, you would expect that the 24.1 Mp sensor for the D5200 would have been developed by Aptina.

From the exterior shots we can’t help but draw the obvious comparisons with a certain market-leading phone. While we are the first to admit that you can’t do all that much different with a large touch screen, we can also admit that the rounded edges, the size and shape of the bezel, the sides, and the microphone port all feel a little familiar.

Since we are drawing comparisons, then lets look at the battery too. Apple has (oddly) always had a somewhat sexy looking battery – if you are into that type of thing. Xiaomi has gone a flashy route in a battery that is a little hard to spot at first blush.  Look hard to find the orange rectangular thing at the right. This battery provides 7.4Wh so no loss there versus most other phones.

FYI – The other orange thing not on the main board is the touch screen control courtesy of the market leading Atmel MXT336S – designed for screens up to 5.5″ with 336 nodes.

Okay – the first thing to note is that the approach to board design is not the most modern and the result is a phone that is a bulky 10.2 mm thick. Shields are built into the back and the way they have been implemented would conceivably provide structural rigidity. It is also one-sided.  But systems analysis aside, here is the major silicon showing Qualcomm to be a major winner by providing the chipset solution:

• Qualcomm MDM 8215 Baseband processor with PM8821 & PM8018 power management
• Qualcomm WCN3660 WiFi SoC
• Qualcomm WCD9310 Audio CODEC
• Qualcomm WTR1605 HSPA+/CDMA2K/TDSCDMA/EDGE/GPSChip
• Audience eS310B Audio Processor
• Toshiba THGBM5G8A4J 32 GB NAND Flash
• STMicroelectronics L3G4200D Gyroscope
• Bosch C3H Accelerometer
• Knowles S932 MEMS Microphone
• AKM AK8963 Hall Effect Sensor (compass)
• Texas Instruments TPA2015D1 Audio Amplifier

First off, the heralded Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (low res only at right). This puts the phone right up at the top of the processing ladder for a price that one would expect to pay for last generations phone. Memory is courtesy of Elpida (2 GB) in a modern PoP design. No compromises here.

The camera is the Sony IMX145 back-illuminated 8 Mp design found in the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S3. The secondary camera is the OmniVision OV2A9BA. No compromises here.

The touch screen itself is a modern HD IPS display from Sharp and delivers higher (1280 x 720) resolution that most other phones on the market today considering the 4.3″ screen. No compromises here.