Samsung Galaxy Watch3 Teardown

Written By: Tobias Isakeit
Published: 14/08/20
  • Comments: 21

Samsung Galaxy Watch3 Teardown

Published: 14/08/20

Teardown

Introduction

The Galaxy Watch3 only just landed in Samsung’s realm of wearable devices (alongside the Galaxy Buds Live, a.k.a. “Galaxy Beans”). And this particular specimen has landed directly in the realm of our teardown table. How does Samsung justify skipping directly from the Galaxy Watch to the Watch3—with only a brief stop at the Active Watch 2? What a timely question. Let’s crack it open and see.

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    • Check out the specs (and X-rays!) on our 45 mm teardown unit:

    • 1.4 inch (34 mm) circular super AMOLED display with 360 × 360 resolution

    • Exynos 9110 Dual-core, 1.15 GHz Cortex-A53

    • 1 GB RAM and 8 GB storage (its predecessor had 1.5 GB RAM and 4 GB internal storage)

    • Wireless charging

    • ECG sensor, optical heart rate sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope

    • IP68 ingress protection, rated for water resistance to a depth of 50 meters (5 ATM)

    • All that in a package that's reportedly 14% thinner and 15% lighter than the previous gen. Check out this X-ray from our friends at Creative Electron to see it all at once, then keep reading to watch it come apart.

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    • First thing we note: the cool rotating bezel makes a triumphant return. Compulsive fidgeters, rejoice!

    • Encircling the rear side, we find a constellation of holes for the mic, alti-barometric sensor, and speaker, as well as a brand new layout for the heart rate sensors and ECG functionality.

    • Haven’t we seen this ECG-layout before? It sure looks a lot like the Apple Watch Series 4.

    • This should also mean that one of the buttons has a sneaky upgrade to allow for pulse reading, so keep your eyes peeled!

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    • But let’s not compare apples to oranges galaxies. Here's an original Galaxy Watch (left) for a game of "spot the differences."

    • The Watch3 has a smaller body, but a bigger screen (albeit at the same resolution). Also, its buttons are more classically watch-like.

    • But it's what's inside that counts, right? The Watch3 now has eight optical sensors and ECG capabilities—but in this edge-on X-ray, the most recognizable bit to our eyes is the wireless charging coil.

    • There's a lot of layers in there, so let's start teasing it apart.

    What is the button on the back just under the top strap or what looks like a button? Thanks in advance.

    wayne morgan -

    That’s a cover for the service port. It hides some contacts for diagnose purposes.

    Tobias Isakeit -

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    • Opening the Watch3 is a familiar—and relatively painless—procedure, featuring tri-point screws and a rubber gasket.

    • These tri-points are tiny, but at least they're captive (hard to lose and easy to re-seal).

    • While the back cover does feature a booby-trap sensor cable, its ample length makes it fairly benign. No traps were tripped in the making of this teardown.

    • The ECG sensor, heart rate sensors, and wireless charging coil are all packed tightly into the monolithic back case—but not this freewheeling little speaker, with its nifty gasket.

    • The optical biosensing is handled by the Texas Instruments AFE49I30.

    • Texas Instruments TLV9002 1 MHz Operational Amplifier

    • Modularity is neat! We approve. (Of the speaker, that is. We'll withhold approval of the other stuff until we find a way to extract it safely, which might take time.)

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    • Scooping out this vaguely disc-shaped motherboard next, we peek under the shields and find:

    • A Samsung SiP FO-PLP combining the Exynos 9110 dual-core, 1.15 GHz Cortex-A53 processor, their in-house 1 GB DRAM and Power Management IC

    • The SiP FO-PLP stands for System-in-Package Fan-Out Panel Level Packaging and is Samsung’s take on getting as much tech in the tiniest package—which was already used in the original Galaxy Watch.

    • Samsung Shannon 915 Intermediate Frequency IC

    • NXP PN80T NFC controller w/ Secure Element

    • Broadcom BCM430132 WiFi/Bluetooth module and Broadcom GNSS Location Hub for GPS/GLONASS/etc

    • Qualcomm Atheros QPA5580 Power Amplifier (likely)

    • IDT P9222S wireless power receiver

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    • IC Identification, Pt. 2:

    • STMicroelectronics ST33G1M2 Secure Element

    • STMicroelectronics LPS22HB Pressure Sensor

    • STMicroelectronics LSM6DSOP 3-Axis Accelerometer and Gyroscope

    • Kinetic Technologies KTS1681 OVP Switch

    • Infineon BGSA14GN10 SP4T Antenna Tuning Switch

    • NXP Semiconductor BGU8309 GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/COMPASS low noise amplifier

    Buon giorno, ho sostituito la scheda del mio orologio, ma adesso dovrei configurarla,come posso fare?

    gaetano puci -

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    • Only mild adhesive secures the battery pack, which we can dig out without using any heat. (Granted, the 90° F / 32° C weather here may have helped).

    • Our little friend is rated at a sober 1.3 Wh (340 mAh @ 3.85 V)—but with a claimed 2-day battery life, maybe Samsung just isn't concerned about winning the smartwatch battery spec war.

    • This puts it behind the original Galaxy Watch (1.81 Wh), and the Huawei Watch GT (1.56 Wh), but still ahead of the 44 mm Apple Watch Series 5 (1.129 Wh).

    • We half expected to find a novel battery design with a metal pouch—but so far, Apple seems to be the only watchmaker experimenting with that.

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    • Our carbon fiber spudger is overkill for this midframe, which actually cooperates nicely as we lever it out. It reveals:

    • What might be a rubber-ensconced alti-barometric sensor

    • A modular cable combo with two turntables switches and a microphone.

    • One of those switches comes with a bracket to enable the ECG function by closing the circuit of your finger and wrist

    • Hall effect sensors that track the rotation of the outer bezel

    • And the vibration motor, slightly glued to the frame.

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    • With the watch gutted, we finally have access to the circular AMOLED, always-on display. Except, well, it's not on right now. Obviously.

    • Although it was a journey getting here, the final step in this display removal only takes a single finger to pop it free from its frame.

    • No surprise, the display itself is manufactured by Samsung Display. It pays to be your own customer!

    • Samsung was of course an early adopter of AMOLED tech in its mobile devices. But with Apple reportedly moving to microLED displays in the near future, it'll be interesting to see what happens next.

    • With that, it looks like we're out of time!

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    • Another dismantled galaxy: Bands, little comets, discs, and energy floating around. Only the repairability scoring will tell us how easy it will be to bring back order to this chaos.

    Debajo del bisel, (además de las 4 bolas y sus correspondientes muelles, más el aro de plástico) en la caja del reloj, hay pegados 4 adhesivos alargados. Que función tienen? uno de ellos se ha despegado por uno de sus extremos al desmontar el bisel para su limpieza.

    Josep -

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    • The Samsung Galaxy Watch3 earns a 7 out of 10 on our repairability scale (10 is the easiest to repair):

    • The opening procedure is straightforward and glueless.

    • No overlapping design of cables, no fragile ZIF connectors.

    • The battery and display are easily accessible with some disassembly.

    • An uncommon tri-point driver is needed for the back cover—regular Phillips on the inside.

    • Most components are modular and can be replaced separately—except for the rear sensor array which is fixed to the back cover.

    • The glass digitizer and screen are fused together—meaning glass-only repairs will be impractical.

Author

Tobias Isakeit

Member since: 31/03/14

120823 Reputation

17 comments

Where is the location of the esim?? Waar is de lokatie van de esim??

Erwin -

Hey. Wie sieht es mit dem homebutton aus, ist dieser austauschbar? Ich würde ihn gerne tauschen.

Chris D. -

Hi there. Wondering how easy it is to replace the glass on the back casing. Kits can be found online but haven't seen any pictures of it. Thanks.

Andrew Lock -

I'm Curious. I wrote a comment in Januari and still no response regarding my question. Thanks for creating it, but where can put down a quest about it and get a respons.

Erwin -

Hi Erwin, this is a good place for your questions, another good place would be in the answers forum of the according device. Anyone who has an answer to your question can answer. Unfortunately I don’t know where exactly the eSIM chip is located, sorry. Usually those things are listed on the motherboard step of a teardown.

Tobias Isakeit -

Would replacing the motherboard (PBA) get rid of any of the knox settings that may have been loaded/setup?

Leslie Zettler -

How did you guys manage to open up the watch, I’ve been trying to pry it open with the IFixit Prying kit for the past 30 minutes, but I think all I’ve done was damage the opening tool. My thumb is really sore, but I’ve made no progress, please tell me how you managed to pry it open after unscrewing the four outer screws!

Abuda -

I guess you’ve looked at this guide? You might need a watchmakers knife if you watch is too tight. Or for tight spots like these we sometimes use the iFlex, but you can carefully try it with a regular knife.

Tobias Isakeit -

que pasa si lo vuelvo a usar para nadar en piscina, aun se puede utilizar para eso ?

Nery Velasquez -

Since it has a screwed on back swimming in a pool should be fine if you closed it up properly.

Tobias Isakeit -

Where is a good place to find the button circuit replacement? My home button works intermittently, and I’d like to replace the whole button assembly.

Jeff _ -

You could get lucky here: https://rounded.com/samsung-en-9/ until we manage to source some spare parts.

Tobias Isakeit -

Hi Jeff, did you find a replacement part? I am after the same part. Cheers, Jenna.

Jenna Sieffert -

Great video.

To unbrick my watch 3 I need to do a non-wireless download. Can you show me were are located the pins for hard download and eventually how can I do it (which other equipments I need).

Thanks

Gogu Steliade -

I need to replace the inner number ring bezel for my r850 41mm but I can't seem to find it for purchase anywhere.

Angelisa Neapolitan -

Good afternoon, I am looking for a new battery for my 41mm Samsung Galaxy Watch3.

I end up with the EB-BR830ABY if I'm right. But the EB-BR840ABY is also mentioned here and there and because it is now slightly heavier than the former battery, I really want to know whether it also fits in my 41mm Watch3 without any problems. I assume it will last longer than my current battery. I really have no idea how big and thick the battery are or may be. I can replace it myself.

I would really appreciate it if I could get a conclusive answer to this.

R.J.G. Beerten -

I have just bought a watch3 from back market and when I have received it there was a small part missing at the back, next to the ECG sensor. You can see through it in the inside. It is rectangular and less than a cm wide. Can you tell me what it is it and if it can be bought and where? Thank you

Daniel Casado -