Inside a Smartphone: 7 Components You Should Know

Smartphones are amazing pieces of technology that many of us couldn’t live without. Not only do they enable us to stay in touch with our family and friends, but they can also be used for several other reasons including playing games, listening to music, or even doing our shopping. But how do smartphones work and what’s inside them? In this article we’re going to look at some of the components found inside mobile devices:

1.     The Display

One of the main things we look at before buying a mobile phone is the quality of the display. A smartphone display is an extremely important internal and external component of a mobile phone. Currently, there are two types of display technologies in smartphones. These include:

• LCDs – otherwise known as liquid crystal displays. The lights in LCD smartphones are located behind the screen.
• LEDs – otherwise known as light-emitting diodes. The lights in an LED-lit smartphone can either be located behind the screen, like in an LCD smartphone or around the outside edges. LED smartphones are usually thinner than LCDs. They are also more energy-efficient and can provide a better picture too.

2.     A Camera

Smartphone cameras comprise of three main parts:

• A sensor – this detects the amount of light in a room
• The lens – this is the component which light comes through
• The processor – this is the component that processes the image

Since most smartphone cameras have small sensor sizes, they tend to perform poorly in areas that are poorly lit. However, this is starting to change. Over the last few years, camera sensor manufactures have been finding new innovative ways to make smartphone cameras work better.

3.     RAM

All smartphones require memory and RAM in order to function. RAM not only improves the battery life of a phone, but it can also increase the speed and efficiency too. This makes it an extremely important component of a mobile phone

4.     A Battery

In the past, the majority of smartphone batteries were built with nickel-based cells. These batteries were well known for being unreliable or having issues. Over the last few years, batteries have improved a great deal. Most smartphone batteries today now use lithium-ion technology. While this type of technology can still have its issues, it’s much more reliable than batteries built with nickel-based cells.

5.     A Printed Circuit Board

Printed circuit boards like the ones from Octopart.com are often classed as the brain of the smartphone. This is because they are responsible for running all parts of the device. They consist of flash memory, microprocessors, ROM chips, and computer chips. Each element of the board is made using precious metals like lead, copper, gold, palladium, and silver.

6.     Sensors

In order to give users the functionality of a touch-enabled smart device, most smartphones have five main sensors installed. These include:

• Gyroscope – this sensor detects the rotation of your phone.
• Digital compass – all phones include a digital compass. This compass can be used for navigational purposes.
• Accelerometer – this clever sensor can detect when you pick your phone up. It can also tell things like if you’re shaking your phone or if you’re walking.
• Proximity sensor – the proximity sensor can detect when a smartphone is brought close to an ear during a phone call. It then locks your phone so that you don’t accidentally click on things during your conversation.
• Ambient light sensor – this sensor will adjust the brightness of the screen depending on the surrounding light. It can also help to conserve battery life.

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7.     A Modem

Smartphones need communication components to send and receive messages and calls. This is what modems are for. A modem is a device that converts data into signals so that it can be sent and received over a phone line, satellite connection, or cable.

The smartphone is one of the most revolutionary technological advances in modern times. More than ¾ of adults in the U.S. now use a smartphone for things like online banking, social media, and taking photos. However, most people in the U.S. don’t know how a smartphone is built. Knowing how a smartphone is built and what components are included can help you to make better smartphone purchases in the future.