Nio unveiled its second smartphone at Innovation Day 2024, which also brought a new operating system for cars and the industry’s first 5nm intelligent powertrain. How does the automaker build smartphones? Much the same way smartphone makers do. WekiHome has a detailed teardown video that offers a look inside the phone.
The Nio Phone 2 improves on the original design with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (compared to the Gen 2). The disassembly process starts as usual, with the SIM tray removed. There’s a rubber ring that protects against water (the phone is IP68 rated and claims to be able to submerge in up to 2m of water for 30 minutes). The back panel is made of glass, but there are metal inserts for the rings around the cameras. They’re also sealed against water.
Below that, you’ll find a flap that houses the NFC antenna and wireless charging coil. The Phone 2 also adds UWB — both UWB and NFC can be used for regular smartphone stuff, but they also allow your phone to act as a key to compatible cars. Nio’s cars are compatible, of course, as the company was one of the first to adopt UWB late last year.
Either way, other interesting reveals include SK Hynix RAM (LPDDR5X) and Samsung storage (UFS 4.0), as well as a new vapor chamber to keep the Snapdragon running fast. However, WekiHome did find a few less-than-premium details – for example, the Nio Phone 2 only has two microphones, while most flagships tend to have three (or even four). Additionally, the fingerprint reader is an optical unit that peers through the OLED display. Proximity and front ambient light sensors are also located underneath the display, both on a small sub-board.
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