Towards the top of my late-April teardown of Walmart’s first-generation Google TV-based onn. 4K Streaming Field, which EDN rapidly augmented by publishing my dissection of its “stick” sibling, the onn. Full HD Streaming Machine, two weeks later, I wrote:

I’ve additionally bought an onn. Google TV 4K Professional Streaming Machine sitting right here which I’ll be swapping into service instead of its Google Chromecast with Google TV (4K) predecessor. Close to-term, stand by for an in-use overview; finally, I’m certain I’ll be tearing it down, too.

With apologies (though I do know of not less than one reader that gained’t be disenchanted), I’m going to change that deliberate content-publication cadence. Due to a gently used onn. Google TV 4K Professional Streaming Machine that I subsequently discovered at notable low cost to MSRP on eBay, you’re going to get that teardown at present. And though I hope that TheDanMan (and the remainder of you) get one thing(s) helpful out of this undertaking, I already did. Extra on that after the break(down).

The onn. 4K Professional Streaming Machine teardown

Let’s begin with some overview pictures of our affected person, as-usual accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for measurement comparability functions. I’d incorrectly talked about again within the late April teardown that this gadget has dimensions of seven.71” x 4.92” x 2.71”…these are literally the bundle dimensions (in my slight protection, each different overview I’ve discovered parrots the very same information from Walmart’s web site). It’s ~4.25” on all sides (a rounded sq. in type issue) and 1.5” tall (rounded prime, too), per my tape measure. And my kitchen scale says it weighs ~9.9 oz:

Across the entrance is a button that, when pressed, causes the distant management (assuming it’s in Bluetooth broadcast vary) to emit a tone so you’ll find it buried between the couch cushions (or wherever else you may need absentmindedly put it). Given its first-time inclusion and placement prominence, such situations are apparently fairly frequent! Unseen behind the mesh on each side of the button are microphones in an ambient noise-squelching array association for the gadget’s also-first-time built-in Google Assistant (now Gemini, I assume) voice interface.

The left-side change controls the mics’ muted-or-not standing. Unmuted in its present state, it exposes a pink background when slid to the proper. You’ll see later what else turns pink:

Across the rear are (left to proper) the reset change, a (first-time as soon as once more) non-compulsory wired Ethernet connector, the HDMI output, a USB-A 3.0 connector (helpful for, amongst different issues, tethering to native mass storage for media playback functions), and the “barrel” energy enter:

Talking of which, now’s pretty much as good a time as any to point out you the “wall wart” energy provide:

Again to our affected person. The fitting aspect is relatively bland:

And final, however not least, right here’s the underside:

with a closeup of the label, revealing (amongst different issues) the 2AYYS-ORPK4VTG FCC ID.

In case you had been considering that the rubber “foot” (particularly, screw heads beneath it) was a probable pathway inside…properly, you’d be proper:

And right here we go (in what follows, I admittedly adopted within the footsteps of this video)…

Hopefully, you’ll learn this subsequent bit earlier than you go forward and rip the highest half off. Don’t. Two wiring harnesses require detachment first, yet another fragile (and troublesome to disconnect) than the opposite:

I’ll smash the shock at this level (sorry). The red-and-black wire combo within the decrease left quadrant goes to the speaker. The flex PCB one within the higher proper finally ends up on the dual-microphone array. Keep tuned for extra revealing footage to return.

The previous was simple to detach:

The latter, a bit trickier:

requiring that I first carry up retaining clips on each side of the connector soldered to the PCB.

Let’s deal with the highest half of the chassis first:

The big steel piece is, possible already unsurprising to you, given the piece of gray thermal switch tape connected to the center of it, an enormous ol’ heatsink for the PCB-housed circuitry usually positioned straight under it (together with including heft to the general assemblage’s weight):

With the heatsink out of the way in which, the speaker beneath it (and on the very prime of the gadget when totally assembled) is clear:

Beneath the speaker are 4 side-by-side sq. gentle guides that route PCB-located LEDs’ illuminations to the outer topside of the gadget; you’ll see them in motion shortly.

And under them is a mini-PCB containing the MEMS microphones:

The mini-PCB is held in place by two brackets, themselves held in place by two screws:

With them eliminated, there’s nonetheless a minor matter of some adhesive to cope with:

Voila:

After retracing my steps to place the mic mini-PCB again in place, I tackled the output transducer subsequent. First, I eliminated the clear housing round its bottom, which each transforms this portion of the design right into a closed-box (i.e., “sealed”) speaker enclosure and suppresses the sound it generates from “leaking” into the microphones’ inputs:

As soon as once more, with aspirations of returning the gadget to a completely useful state post-teardown, I reversed course and put every thing again collectively once more, then switched my consideration to the decrease half of the chassis. You may already inform, even from the overview picture, the place the thermal tape on the heatsink had initially connected:

Earlier than going any additional, right here’s a have a look at each side of the oblong Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) antennae on each side of the gadget, decrease left (inside view first, then exterior):

and higher proper (ditto).

The Wi-Fi subsystem is dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), so I’m guessing there’s one antenna devoted to every band. The cables initiating at every antenna terminate at RP-SMA connectors on the decrease proper nook of the PCB. Additionally proven right here is the Fn-Hyperlink Know-how 6252B-SRB wi-fi communications module that manages each Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth, and the Bluetooth antenna itself. And within the decrease left of the picture is among the 4 PCB-resident LEDs, every surrounded by gray rubber, into which the sq. gentle guides seen earlier are inserted:

Right here’s one other perspective on the Bluetooth antenna:

Above the wi-fi communications subsystem is a bit of gray tape which, when lifted misplaced, reveals what I imagine is the (presumably class D) audio amplifier for the speaker output, judging by its proximity to the speaker cable harness connector:

At decrease left, once more, identity-assumed per its connector proximity (this time for the microphone array flex PCB) is the corresponding (each amplification and digitization?) subsystem for the microphone inputs. To its proper are the opposite three LEDs:

Within the higher left is, I imagine, the gadget’s energy technology, regulation, and administration subsystem (proximity-assessed as soon as once more; word the enter barrel connector above it):

Beneath the piece of froth bridging between the USB-A 3.0 and HDMI connectors is what I initially thought may be one thing substantive, semiconductor-wise:

Alas, it ended up being only a few extra passives:

And naturally there’s the sizeable Faraday cage dominating the PCB panorama. However, placing no matter’s beneath it (though I have already got concepts) apart for a second, let’s first get the lay of the land overview of the PCB underside:

Whaddya know…there’s one other thermal tape-augmented heatsink right here:

And one other foam square-augmented Faraday cage:

Previous to popping it off, I first want to completely free the PCB…which necessitated disconnecting these beforehand glimpsed Wi-Fi antennae connectors:

That’s higher:

Be aware as soon as once more the antennae on both aspect of the underside chassis’ insides, and the heatsink within the center. Above the left-side antenna is the microphone mute change:

which, when assembled, mates with the PCB-mounted change meeting at far proper on this shot:

About that Faraday cage…as beforehand talked about (and as all the time), I’m striving to return this gadget to full performance post-teardown, so I have to be cautious when popping the highest off:

Success! Not a lot to see right here, however a bunch of passives, possible related to ICs on the opposite aspect of the PCB. The thermal tape equally possible assists in eradicating warmth generated by these other-side ICs. Though warmth usually goes up, a few of it should additionally radiate by means of the PCB, in the end destined for dissipation by the beforehand seen heatsink on the underside of the gadget:

Talking of which, let’s return to the bigger Faraday cage on the PCB topside.

Cautious…cautious…

I’m two for 2. And as anticipated, the “meat” of the semiconductor content material is right here:

Within the higher left is the three GByte DRAM, possible multi-die stacked in building (as I’ve mentioned intimately just lately), and marked thusly:

Rayson
RS768M32LX4
D4BNR63BT
2402CNPFV

The outcomes of a internet search on “RS768M32LX4” counsel that it’s LPDDR4 in know-how and 3733 Mbps in peak information switch charge.

To its proper is the Amlogic S905X4 utility processor, whose presence I already tipped off to you in late April. And under them each is the 32 GByte e.MMC flash reminiscence storage module:

FORESEE (from Longsys, strictly talking)
FEMDNN032G-A3A55
H23092453972340
001

Listed below are some aspect views of the PCB, after placing the Faraday cage covers again in place:

And after fastidiously reconnecting the Wi-Fi antennas:

and the microphone and speaker cable harnesses:

squeezing the 2 halves of the enclosure again collectively and reinstalling the screws and rubber “foot”, I linked the wall wart, plugged it in, and crossed my fingers:

Huzzah! The 4 pink lights you see in this picture point out that the mic array is presently muted:

And lest you doubt, the HDMI output is totally useful, too:

About that on-screen remote-control notation…I earlier talked about that the gently used gadget I tore down at present delivered ancillary advantages for me. Had I not been an trustworthy fellow, the advantages may need been even extra bountiful. When it initially arrived, I powered it up and seen that it nonetheless had the earlier proprietor’s Google account information configured in it, together with entry to bought content material (and probably, the flexibility to each purchase and lease much more of it if I so desired). I instantly factory-reset it after which messaged the vendor with a heads-up to be extra thorough about wiping gadgets earlier than transport them to their new houses sooner or later!

The distant management 

However about that distant management…as alluded to earlier, that is truly the second onn. 4K Professional in my possession. I purchased the primary one from Walmart final August, proper after they had been launched:

which you’ll chronologically inform, amongst different causes, as a result of Walmart has subsequently transitioned the packaging’s shade scheme and broader contents:

The opposite technique of indicating after I’d purchased it’s that, though Walmart advertises it as together with a distant management that not solely helps the aforementioned “Discover Distant” performance and embeds a Google Assistant-supportive microphone along with the mics within the gadget itself, but additionally presents backlit keys and a “Free TV” button:

not less than some (together with mine) preliminary onn. 4K Professional shipments got here for unknown causes bundled with a prior-revision distant management absent these latter two options. Right here’s the one which was within the field alongside my unique gadget:

And, to my ancillary-benefits feedback, right here’s the full-featured newer-version one which got here with the gadget I extra just lately acquired off eBay:

Listed below are each remotes alongside my unique gadget and different in-box goodies that got here with it:

mimicking one other considered one of Walmart’s “inventory” photos.

Right here’s a PDF copy of the Fast Begin information that’s additionally within the field. And talking of which, listed here are the outcomes of my packing every thing again into the field, simulating (in reverse, albeit additionally together with each remotes; I now have a spare in case “Discover Distant” ever fails!) what the insides appeared like after I unpacked the unique gadget late final summer time:

With that, having handed by means of 2,000 phrases a couple of paragraphs in the past, I’ll wrap up and await your ideas within the feedback!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line e-newsletter.

Associated Content material

• Walmart’s onn. 4K streaming field: A Google TV improve doesn’t clobber its value
• Walmart’s onn. full HD streaming gadget: Nonetheless not thick, simply don’t name it a stick
• Google’s Chromecast: impressively (and more and more) up for the video streaming job
• The Google Chromecast Gen 3: Gluey and screwy
• Google’s Chromecast Extremely: Greater than only a Stadia consorta
• Google’s Chromecast with Google TV: Dissecting the HD version
• The Google Chromecast Gen 2 (2015): A Type Issue Redesign with Beefier Wi-Fi, Too
• Google’s Chromecast with Google TV: Automobile accent similarity, and a post-teardown resurrection alternative?
• The Google Chromecast with Google TV: Realizing a resurrection alternative

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