Teardowns

Dell Streak Teardown

Dell Streak phone teardownWe’ve been looking forward to the Streak for a long time. This not-so-little half-tablet, half-phone defies easy categorization, and Dell seriously piqued our interest. So we took it apart.

The Streak’s internals are quite easy to access. Dell designed the device so that a mechanical engineering degree was not required for a successful disassembly. We were able to reverse engineer the assembly process within minutes.

Teardown highlights:

  • The LCD is bonded to the front panel glass to increase the strength of the device, as well as the sensitivity of the capacitive touch panel. The front panel’s solid construction should withstand drops from above waist height.
  • Sadly, the Streak’s LCD is permanently adhered to the front panel glass. However, that LCD/glass subassembly is held in the front panel with some very strong adhesive, and could be removed with enough careful prying.
  • The five T5 Torx screws holding the unit together are found right underneath the bezels on the front of the device. It’s super easy to open it and take it apart.
  • The 1530 mAh battery is easily replaceable and is covered with a sheet of steel, rather than plastic, to decrease its overall thickness. We wonder if the Streak can double as body armor, but we find it unlikely.
  • The Streak has a second 2 GB microSD card near the top of the motherboard. This card is used to house system and applications files only, and Dell doesn’t want you to remove it.
  • The “C”-shaped motherboard comes out easily after disconnecting some cables. Rather than using daughterboards like the Droid 2, the Streak has all components attached to this singular motherboard.
  • Big players on the motherboard include:
    • Qualcomm: QSD8250 Snapdragon processor, MXU6219 RF transceiver, PM7540 power management chip
    • Analog Devices ADV7520 Low Power HDMI™/DVI Transmitter
    • Hynix H8BES0UU0MCR NAND-based MCP
    • TriQuint Semiconductor TQS 7M5012 Power Amp (Quad-band GSM)
    • Texas Instruments TPS 65023 integrated Power Management IC
Dell Streak teardown
Unplugging the display
Final layout of the Dell Streak teardown
Final layout