Galaxy S10, S10 Plus teardowns show they're built to take the heat

Samsung may be reaching the limits of shoehorning new tech into its old designs as teardown king iFixit learned when it took its tools to the new lineup of Samsung Galaxy phones -- the S10E, S10 Plus and S10. 

Notably, iFixit found that Samsung stuck a lot of heat-dissipating layers between you and the bidirectional wireless charging coil and that the whizzy new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is glued to the back of the display.

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The new bidirectional wireless charging system lets it act like a charging pad for other devices as well as wirelessly charge itself; as you'd expect, that can radiate a lot more heat than simple unidirectional charging. iFixit found the S10s have layers of graphite and copper for better heat dissipation, along with a copper vapor chamber about the same size as the bigger Galaxy Note 9. And that copper layer needs its own bolstering, since it's so soft.

iFixit also noted that the industry-first, in-screen ultrasonic fingerprint sensor becomes "in-screen" via glue, and that if you need to repair it, you'll probably have to get the whole screen replaced. Which makes sense, given that it's...in-screen. But that will also probably make the cost of replacement pretty pricey.

There's more -- check out the whole teardown.

Samsung introduced four new Galaxy S10 phones, along with the Galaxy Fold, at Unpacked in February. Preorders of the S10E, S10 and S10 Plus should begin to arrive on Friday, the same day the phones will be available from carrier and retail stores. The Galaxy S10 5G is coming later this year. 

Watch this: Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus teardown: What's inside?

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Originally published March 6, 8:17 a.m. PT.
Update, 2:27 p.m.: Adds more background on the Samsung Galaxy S10 phones.