Introduction
In the age of Galaxy smartphones and Galaxy tablets, Samsung adds a Galaxy Watch to its mobile Universe. There was already some gear floating in space, forming a belt around the Samsung sun, but a few months ago, this new celestial body has emerged. Today we’ll go where no tinkerer has gone before, and probe the depths of this timepiece with a teardown. Everyone, ahead full, sensors ready—and set weapons to Dismantle.
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Our initial telemetry of the Galaxy Watch brings up:
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1.3” (33 mm) circular Super AMOLED with 360 × 360 display (1.2" / 30 mm on the smaller 42 mm version)
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Dual-core, 1.15 GHz Exynos 9110 processor
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1.5 GB RAM + 4 GB internal memory (768 MB RAM for the Bluetooth version)
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Wireless charging and 5 ATM water resistance with IP68 rating
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472 mAh battery (270 mAh for the 42 mm version)
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A quick orbital survey reveals twin mechanical buttons on one side of the watch, with a small
wormhole for the microphone. -
On the far side, we spot three more holes for the loudspeaker. There's also a heart rate sensor cluster at the bottom.
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There seems to be an additional small opening on the rear face, possibly for a proximity sensor or pressure valve.
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This Galaxy’s official designation is SM-R805F.
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The standardized 22 mm arms of this galaxy are rather easy to detach from the center …
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… and reveal access to a five-pin port at the lower end of the centerpiece.
The five-pin port is a remnant of the original Gear S, which used the same 5-pin setup for charging and USB connection. In fact, with a little bit of modifications (mainly filing away a bit of the plastic), the Gear S’ charger dock’s PCB can be used to establish USB connection with the watch for recovery purposes. Samsung uses a custom made tool in repair shops for diagnostics.
Thanks Joszef for the additional info on the Gear S’ charging dock. Very intriguing.
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Equipped with our aluminum Precision Bit Driver with swivel cap, we tackle the vortex-shaped tri-point screws.
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These screws seem to be attracted by three magnetic fields that handle docking to the wireless charging stand.
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But we are not distracted by that common fundamental interaction and crack open the watch core with a little stronger force.
The Galaxy Watch is rated for 5ATM (5 Times the Atmosphere Pressure) so 50m as the Pressure increases 1 ATM per 10 Meters under water.
I lost the bottom screw. could anyone share specification for them?
You might want to have a look here: Ouverture de la Galaxy Watch
Is their any thread locker used on the screws if so what colour???
is the screwdriver Y00 or Y000?
Tri-point #00 screws (4.2 mm length) as mentioned in the Opening Procedure guide
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Expecting a booby trap, we're surprised by the generously long ribbon cable connecting the heart rate sensor back to the internals.
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The blue rubber seal around the Galaxy's edge might need replacing before reassembly if damaged, but there's no glue so far—we like that.
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Speaking of sealing: We also spot rubber gaskets for the microphone, ambient light sensor, and pressure sensor.
You have put together a great guide here. Nevertheless, I still have a question ... Can I replace the Micro without any problems? How do I have to proceed? Best regards, Stefan
donde consigo la junta azul y las otras tres de los sensores?
where do I get the rubber seal for the back cover multiple people have asked but I don't see answers please help
I’m quite positive that the blue rubber seal around the Galaxy's edge has a lot to do with the water seal, mine didn’t have it and I had several issues with moisture and pool swimming where both the display and side buttons stopped working well and needed replacing.
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After disconnecting the display, this nucleus separates nicely into a few smaller elements. Encouragingly, there is still no sign of that fifth fundamental force: glue.
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The display’s flex
cablecarpet carries the ambient light sensor, which peeps through a small hole in the display to gaze at the outside world.
I confirm ripping the cable carpet damages the display, I ruined mine before reading the guide I got a new one, now’s good to go.
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Although the display is circular, it is not spherical—which seems to support the controversial "flat display theory." With foldable displays coming in the near future though, this theory may soon be disproved for good.
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The Super AMOLED display on our 46 mm version has a diameter of 1.3" (33 mm). The vertical and horizontal max resolution is 360 pixels.
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We spot a chip with the markings S88YA1YF1X01 (most likely Samsung's AMOLED driver)
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... and the ambient light sensor with its peep hole.
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The
gravitationalcomputational center of the galaxy looks like a little flat bug’s head, with its two button cables as antennae. -
There's not much else to show on this side, save for two flat monolith-ish blocks of resin—similar to the one in the Apple Watch Series 4.
Hi,
Can you show how you separated the two "bug" connectors on the motherboard from the lower portion?
Thanks
Podważa się czymś ostrym w okolicy guziczka 😏 odchodzi lekko, tylko musi być coś jak igła bo jest mało miejsca
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The other side though has a bit more to offer:
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Samsung Exynos 9110 SoC (dual-core, 1.15 GHz)
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NXP Semiconductor PN80T NFC controller w/ secure element
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Broadcom BCM430131 WiFi/BT chip and BCM47758 GPS/GLONASS w/ sensor hub chip
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Skyworks SKY77651-21 and SKY77652-11 multimode/multiband power amplifier modules for 3G/LTE
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Samsung Shannon 910 envelope tracker (likely)
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STMicroelectronics LPS22HH barometric pressure sensor
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ST Micro ST33G1M2 32-bit ARM® SecurCore® SC300 (secure element)
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We return to the back cover in search of satellite components. Equipped with a halberd spudger, we probe the heart rate sensor and the wireless charging coil.
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The four photo cells of the heart rate sensor are gathered around the light source in the middle.
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On board is a single Texas Instruments SN1712025 ultra-small, integrated AFE (analog front end) heart rate sensor chip
Isn’ that supposed to be the antenna/coil for wireless charging instead (and not for NFC)?
Speculating that the NFC antenna should be somewhere on the top side…
Hi Wanderfalke, you’re probably right. Those coils are most of the time dual function (NFC/charge). But in this case, it is more likely that it is just the charging coil. I’ve corrected it in the step. The NFC is more likely on the motherboard (probably the coil located near the barometric sensor). Thanks for your pointer.
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The last parts to come out of the back cover are the service port and the loudspeaker, held fast by two Phillips screws, with a rubber gasket for ingress protection.
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From the midframe, we extract an ordinary vibration motor and a hall sensor array, which we set aside to investigate later with the rotating bezel.
In picture 3, what part is in the lower right hand corner? I was disassembling mine and the cable broke. Do you have any idea where I can purchase parts for my smartwatch? I’m also in need of a new screen/digitizer and the back sensor glass is also busted.
Hi Brandon, the part in question is the hall sensor assembly which is explained later in this teardown. Unfortunately, we don’t have any parts for the Galaxy Watch, yet. There is a link in one of the comments in the next step for a possible parts source.
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This galaxy has its own outer ring, and we are eager to lift it free. An opening pick helps us push the ring out of its orbit.
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What comes to light is a separate plastic ring and four metal ball bearings.
This black scaled ring should be made of hard plastic ?
Is there no possibility of seepage at all here ?
thanks..
Hi Planck, yes the black scaled ring is made of a hard plastic. The ring mechanism is not connected to the inside of the watch, so no seepage is possible. It sits on top of the aluminum casing and the sensor reading the movement is on the inside.
What are the 4 black oval “stickers" on the case? I have had my watch for about 2 months and 2 of them have actually come out as i rotated the bezel. Do the actually do anything?
There is nothing underneath those elongated/oval black sticker. I checked all four of them and can’t see any reason why your watch should not keep working as it did. All should be fine.
Hi Tobias, please tell me when removing the rotating bezel for cleaning.. thing I did yesterday.. is anything affected or does anything changes regarding the 5ATM water proofing? Thanks.
Hi Jacouille, since the bezel is on the outside removing (and re-applying) it should not affect water resistance of the watch.
How can I get a replacement glass?
When putting it back together, you should put the white ring first into the black one. Then you can gently push the it back into place.
Do you know where can I find the bearing replacement??? One bounce out of my mat and I can't find it
You can order from www.rounded.com
I ordered from them both rotating bezel and gasket ring.
Hi were can I buy the plastic ring and four metal ball bearings.
Where can i buy that shell
Where can I buy a replacement bezel ring?
The gasket (white plastic ring) is not flat. It has some embossements perpendicular on the plane of the ring. Does anyone know, or can check 2hether these embossements should face upwards or downwards ?
Many thanks
Those face downwards.
For re-assembly you might want to try to put the white bezel in the metal ring (mind the reversed orientation then—embossed parts looking towards you). Make sure it sits snug on the inside so that the ends of the white plastic bezel have some space between them. Then place the ring onto the watch and press it down with your palm.
Where I can get that plastic ring?? I had an accident and the metal ring is fine the rest of my watch too but I loose that part??
Si potrebbe avere un tutorial del montaggio con le 4 sfere e molle . Grazie
Sergio
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To read the turning of the bezel, the Galaxy Watch uses a different approach than the optical encoder of the Apple Watch.
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There are three hall sensors (Seiko Instruments) on the small PCB, at the same distance from each other as the grooves on the bezel.
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And every third groove has a small magnet inside.
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When the bezel is turned, two of the three sensors read a change in their magnetic field (either on/off or off/on). The third sensor does not read a change. With this method, it can be clearly determined in which direction the bezel is rotated.
Basically yes, you can get the rotating bezel off without opening the watch. Don’t lose the small ball bearings or springs. Also, it’s a bit of fiddling to get the white plastic ring back in place.
The hall sensors sit on the plastic mid frame. You can spot them on the bottom right of the first picture in step 8.
Hi aschaudt, the markings on the sensors say “6WN”. Not sure if this helps you anything. These are hall switches (not linear hall sensors) and just tell on or off (digital sensor).
I don’t have it at hand right now, but should be <1mm in diameter, height=?
I guess the bezel can be acquired separately on the internet.
There are several missing magnets, try to get 1mm dia. x 1mm thk fix it.
Ling -
Gdzie kupię głośnika ??
Czy jest problem z wymianą głośnika? I gdzie można go kupić
Hi Tobias, I tried to make the bezel smoother by washing it under water. Now my watch does not recognise bezel movement. I tried removing and refitting bezel, but to no avail. Did I damage the halls sensors by washing it in water? Stuck now! Thanks
Possibly you've managed to de-magnetize those little magnetic spots. Not sure how. Heat can de-magnetize, but it seems unlikely washing even with hot water would do this.
On my watch, I seem to have managed to de-magnetize just one of the dots. In every rotation there are 3 "clicks" which are not recognized but the others are.
Only after I found this teardown page do I now understand why.
From image 8-1 I can see that the hall effect sensors are aligned 90 degrees clock-wise to the side with the buttons as the watch faces up ... so along the "bottom" edge ... and by moving the bezel until the "middle" of the 3 clicks is at the bottom and marking it, I know which one is giving me trouble.
Now to figure out how to re-magnetize it. -
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This one won't give away its secrets that easily, so we have to bring out our thermally-enhanced particle accelerator (also known as an ordinary heat gun).
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Eventually we succeed with strong (hand) force and the use of a pair of flat needle nose pliers ...
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... which lays bare the charging coil with its ~14 windings (front and back).
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A small
warshipPCB lifts off from the charger, and it's carrying some new silicon: -
Renesas (Formerly IDT) P9235A-16NDGI wireless power transmitter with a 32 bit ARM® Cortex®-M0 processor
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Micro USB for power supply
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Not four, not five, but one LED light on the tail.
Any idea about how the watch knows when it’s not on an official charger? I want to say a hall sensor seeing as they already have the magnets there.
Hi Charlie, I doubt that a hall sensor can in some way recognize the charger. If the watch and charger are NFC compatible it may work this way. But maybe it is just a minor difference in geometry/layout/design of the charger/watch. Did you experience any problems between models/chargers? If yes, which ones?
Hallo :)
Die galaxy watch meiner Frau misst leider kein puls und schritte zählt sie auch nicht mehr hast du einen Tipp was das sein Könnte ich vermute das es der sensor sein könnte aber welches Teil muss ich dafür tauschen ? Vielen lieben Dank für deine Mühen.
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All the pieces of this Galaxy are now spread across the
skytable. -
Our galactic journey ends here. The space-time continuum remains stable and we filled our explorational void with a little knowledge and insight.
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So stay tuned for future teardowns, and remain curious.
Muy explicativo, soy relojero de la vieja escuela, mecánicos y de Quartz, está fácil, pero donde se consiguen las partes para remplazarlas, quien las vende
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- Display repair is prioritized.
- No overlapping design of cables, no fragile ZIF connectors.
- Despite the water-resistant construction, the opening procedure is straightforward and glueless (though it requires an uncommon tri-point driver).
- The battery only uses mild adhesive, but the motherboard must be removed for access.
- A lot of components are modular and can be replaced separately—except for the frequently-used twin button cables, which are soldered to the motherboard.
- The glass digitizer and screen are fused together—meaning a full replacement will be quick and easy, but glass-only repairs will be impractical.
Dernières pensées
Indice de réparabilité
(10 étant le plus facile à réparer)
Équipe
44 commentaires
Is there anyway for me to order the spring and barring that goes under the bezel?
Did you manage to get the parts, I need the same bits for my bezel. Thanks
steve -
Have a look here: Where to get a replacement bezel gasket for the Galaxy Watch?
In step 12, 3rd pic, there is a speaker..can i get the information of where to get that speaker part??
Same question as posted earlier around sourcing the bezel bearings, springs and gasket. Any thoughts?
My bazel ring got scratched.from where can i get a new bazel ring?
The sensor cover on the bottom of the watch keeps falling off, especially if I wear it on a hot day. The adhesive seems to soften, and it slides off. I don't see this part listed in your tear down. I need to replace this part. Any thoughts?
Where can I get the watch parts new?
Where can I find a watch face replacement?
my watch battery dies very fast
Where might I be able to purchase the internal wireless charging coil for a sm-r800 46 mm smartwatch?
Thank you
does anyone know how much getting a scratched screen would cost to replace ?
My galaxy 46 mm watch speaker not working where can I get part or get replacement?
You might want to post your video on the Samsung Galaxy Gear S2 device page (make a teardown-guide) and delete it from this device, please.
Does anyone know the what the part is called with the numbers on it and where I can get it?
Me podríais decir el modelo del conector del sensor del pulsómetro que está en la placa, donde se conecta dicho sensor, se me rompió y voy a intentar soldar uno nuevo. Gracias, impresionante despiece jeje
Do you sell the battery for Samsung gear S2 watch?
I bought and replaced one I purchased from amazon but its useless. By the 3rd day it wouldnt even charge enough to turn on.
The rear glass disc cover of the sensor on my Samsung Active 2 has come off . Everything works still and it charges, it that an easy fix?
Thank you
How to assemble new button connector
Did you do the active 2 4g model as there is a hidden camera I believe
I found this camera by accident when I bought the watch I would like a different view as Samsung say there isn't one but I believe there is
Can i order part for back button?
where can I purchase the case gasket the one blue that goes between the case and the bottom
I just can’t find a place where they sell the bottom gasket mine it was meltled ,useless and no longer waterproof I think.
can’t belive I search everywhere and just can’t find it. I apreciate you’r input.
If you can’t find an original gasket you might want to think about using some “liquid gasket” to apply it. Be careful not to use too much so it doesn’t spill into the watch and onto other components.
Can upgrade samsung galaxy 46mm bluetooth version to Lte esim version
how can i remove that inner bezel
Buenos dias
Alguien me podria decir si en el samsung galaxy sm-r810 para cambiar solo el anillo del bisel hace falta abrir el reloj o se puede cambiar desde fuera
Alguien me podria decir si en el samsung galaxy watch de 42mm sm-r810 para cambiar el anillo del bisel hay que desmontar todo el reloj o sale desde fuera y se coloca desde fuera
Básicamente sí, puedes sacar el bisel giratorio sin abrir el reloj. No pierdas los pequeños rodamientos de bolas ni los muelles. Además, es un poco mañoso para conseguir que el anillo de plástico blanco se vuelva a colocar en su lugar.
Someone should make a charger that can be worn within the band and that plugs into a long sleeve shirt with USB C rigged with small solar panel cells in a tartan pattern :)
can i just order a bezel. Mine is broken for a galaxy 3
SM-R500 GALAXY WATCH ACTIVE. Where can I purchase the 44mm adhesive tapes.? Both the front and back are now worn out and the glass circle just slides off.
Where can I find the miniature e clips that fit on the buttons
Thanks a lot, you saved me losing my watch as I managed to replace the battery otherwise 😞 no more smartwatch for me. Please continue helping like this.Thanks again I really appreciate you.
Is it possible to know approximate rating of vibration motor used in smasung galaxy watch 4 ,I am working on a thesis which examines the feasibility of smart watch haptile Feedback with deaf community requirements
