Changes to Step #10
Edit by Jeff Suovanen —
Edit approved by Jeff Suovanen
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Step Lines
| - | [* black] Turning back to the upper half of the phone for a minute, we notice that the space underneath the motherboard is looking decisively less shiny than [guide|131607|previous|stepid=259201|new_window=true] [guide|120331|Galaxy Phones|stepid=232003|new_window=true]. |
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| - | [* black] It looks like Samsung may have already gotten off the copper heat pipe hype train! This new thermal pad looks like graphite. |
| - | [* black] Hold that thought though, [https://youtu.be/rHMOm_3whOM?t=966|some other Note 20 phones] ''do ''have copper heat pipes... The graphite pad might be an upgrade to handle 5G heat? |
| - | [* black] But hold ''that'' thought, [https://youtu.be/-SKoM4YzizA?t=423|here's|new_window=true] a non-5G vanilla note with graphite. Maybe this is some kind of A/B test? There must be some logic to this, but we can't figure it out. Let us know in the comments if you have any ideas. |
| - | [* black] Both phones are also equipped with the caterpillar-looking millimeter-wave antennas we first saw in the [guide|125590|Note 10+ 5G|stepid=242801|new_window=true], though curiously we only find two in each device, instead of the three found in previous mmWave equipped phones. |
| - | [* black] Back on the bottom end of things we note that the vanilla Note 20 has been deemed "not Ultra enough" to have a square vibration motor—also first seen in the Note 10+ 5G. |
| + | [* black] The strangest thing about these phones so far is, of all things, the space underneath the motherboards. |
| + | [* icon_reminder] To soak up all the heat from each phone's octo-core processor, we expect to find a sprawling copper vapor chamber here—the kind Samsung was always quick to brag about in [guide|131607|previous|stepid=259201|new_window=true] [guide|120331|Galaxy Phones|stepid=232003|new_window=true]. But instead, we find a multi-layered graphite thermal pad. |
| + | [* black] Stranger still, it seems [https://youtu.be/rHMOm_3whOM?t=966|some other Note 20 phones|new_window=true] ''do ''have copper heat pipes—but not our US-spec model. Does the Exynos SoC on international models require different cooling hardware than our phones, with their Snapdragon processors? |
| + | [* black] Maybe not—because our friend Zack, of JerryRigEverything fame, tells us [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eQG8mRlYHM&t=1s|his international model|new_window=true] ''also'' has graphite. Stay tuned for more details on that. |
| + | [* black] Our next thought was that maybe this comes down to heat-prone 5G mmWave hardware, which not all Notes have—but that doesn't line up either. Is this some kind of A/B test on new cooling hardware? There must be some logic here, but we can't figure it out. Let us know if you have ideas. |
| + | [* black] Speaking of mmWave modules—both our phones have them, but they only get two each. In contrast, both the [guide|125590|Note10+ 5G] and [guide|131607|S20 Ultra] had three. Has the hardware improved to the point where only two are needed, or is something else going on? |
| + | [* black] Before moving on, we note a subtle difference in the vibration motors. Per our X-rays, both seem to be Z-axis shakers—but the Ultra gets a slightly more massive, square-shaped version. |