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Samsung's Galaxy Note7 is touted by many reviewers as one of the best, if not the best, smartphones around today. Its most interesting features are waterproof design, curved screen and, for the first time in a Samsung smartphone, an iris scanner. 。
Now that the phone is out, iFixit tore it down to pieces, resulting in one of the most interesting gadget teardowns we've seen lately. 。
SEE ALSO:Feature for feature, the Samsung Galaxy Note7 beats the iPhone 6S Plus。First, the Galaxy Note7 is relatively repairable, scoring 4 out of 10 by iFixit's standards. You cannot replace the curved screen, and it's hard to get inside of the phone due to the strong adhesive on the rear glass. But the battery, the charging port board and several other parts can be replaced, which is not common among top smartphones of today. The iPhone 6S, however, scored far better when it comes to repairability. 。
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On the waterproofing front, it appears Samsung has achieved that IP68 rating by using lots of glue and rubber in strategic spots Not ideal if you want to open the device, but great for keeping water and dust out of it.
。Credit: ifixit 。
The most interesting part of the teardown, however, is the iris scanner, which consists of an IR blaster and a separate front camera (meaning that the Note7 actually has two front cameras; pretty cool for bragging rights) that captures the image of the user's irises. We assumed that that second camera was there, but it's still cool to see the technology behind Samsung's iris scanner in the electronic flesh. 。
Other highlights of the teardown include the device's 3,500mAh, 13.48 Wh battery -- just slightly less powerful than the one in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, the heat pipe-based cooling design we've seen in the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, and a case that seems additionally strengthened, either for better structural integrity or for waterproofing purposes. 。