The expert hardware hackers at iFixit are at it again, this time with Googleâs and Asusâ new Nexus 7 tablet in hand. Less than a week after Google announced its flagship 7-inch tablet at Google I/O, the iFixit team disassembled the device. And what they found is a tablet thatâs a breeze to open up and repair, but not quite as easy as Amazonâs Kindle Fire.
With the help of retaining clips along the edge of the tablet, the Nexus 7 pops open with ease. It is much more repair-friendly than Appleâs iPad, which is a glued-together device. And according to the iFixit folk, it only took the Nexus 7 one extra millimeter of thickness to make it significantly easier to repair.
âThatâs the negligible difference between extending the life of your device through repair, as opposed to tossing it in a landfill,â iFixit wrote in its teardown. âAnd most of all, nobody will complain about that one millimeter difference in day-to-day use, but the user-serviceability it brings will make all the difference when the device breaks.â
Inside, the tablet features a large 4,326 mAh, 16 Wh battery held in place by a small amount of adhesive. And again, unlike the iPad, the battery is easy to take out and replace, when needed. You wonât need to solder or screw anything in when your battery gets fried and you need put in new one.
The Nexus 7 also features an L-shaped motherboard with standard Phillips #00 screws for its interior fasteners. It doesnât require any special tools to take the tablet apart â" just a Philips #00 screwdriver and a spudger does the trick.
The iFixit team found 1 GB of Hynix H5TC2G83CFR DDR3 RAM, the same model found in the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, on the motherboard. Other components include the tabletâs Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, an AzureWave AW-NH665 wireless module, Kingston KE44B-26BN/8GB 8GB flash, and more.
Overall, the Nexus 7 is an easy-to-repair device. Youâll be able to replace components, like the I/O cable, without having to replace the motherboard. And as mentioned itâs âlike butterâ to pop open the rear case, and battery replacement is simple.
Up to this point, the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 are on equal playing field. The real kicker between the two is the display. The Kindle Fireâs glass and display materials are not fused together, making the cost of repairing a shattered display much lower. The Nexus 7, on the other hand, features an LCD that is fused to the tabletâs Corning glass. If you drop your tablet and break the glass, youâll have to replace both the glass and the LCD in order to fix it.
Beyond that, the only drawback is that the thin copper alloy sheets that shield the Nexus 7â²s display could tear. The iFixit team gave the Nexus 7 a 7 out of 10 repairability rating, compared to the 8 out of 10 for the Kindle fire and the 2 out of 10 for the iPad.
For more on why itâs important for companyâs to make repairable gadgets, make sure to read iFixit co-founder Kyle Wiensâs opinion pieces.
Nexus 7 Teardown [iFixit]
No comments:
Post a Comment