We disassembled the new Capsule. We know how many microphones and how it works

At the end of January, the “Capsule” was introduced - a smart speaker with an assistant “Maroussia”. You can buy it from April 22. We did a full review of the new features, but it’s always interesting what’s inside. At the request of Hi-Tech Mail.ru, I took apart the “Capsule” and described my impressions.

I was always interested to know how this or that device was made, not only from reviews and reviews, but from my own experience. And this means for me not just to test it in work, but to see how it is arranged inside. How it was designed, thought out, assembled, which components were used, what margin of safety the product has, and whether there are any interesting or rare solutions.

First steps

Let's start exploring the contents of the column from the bottom cover.



There are four screws behind the rubber foot, which prevents the column from sliding. If you unscrew them, then we see a metal weighting material for added stability, as well as a service USB port. In addition, these same screws hold the Capsules side panels. Those. remove the side panels without removing the cover will not work. It also ensures that if it falls, it will not fall apart.







In order to remove the side panels, it is necessary to snap off the tight-fitting latches. I must say right away that this part is the most difficult to disassemble and it is better not to repeat this without great need. Using the wrong tool can risk scratching the speaker case or tearing the fabric.

The panels themselves are a frame made of ABS plastic, covered with a special acoustic fabric. On the rear panel there is a slot under the podium, where the microphone mute button and the power input are located. On the front panel there is an interesting diffuser for the LED ring of the Marusi indicator. The LEDs themselves are small and there are not many, but thanks to this solution, through the perforations on the case and the acoustic fabric, we see a complete closed ring with rather large, but well-drawn divisions. This solution, like many others in the device, captivates with attention to details.

2 GB of memory and a 4-core processor

We return back to the body of the "Capsule".





On the case we see two speakers and one passive emitter. At the top is a tweeter with a power of 5 W (diameter 20 mm). Below, from different sides, there is a low-frequency speaker with a power of 25 W (diameter 76 mm), and on the back - a low-frequency passive emitter (size 82 mm). Total power 30 watts. The sound was really good.

Now the fun begins - printed circuit boards. There are 4 of them. One is responsible for the LED ring. Another is for the sensor located on the top of the device. In addition, there are also 6 digital microphones in a circle and another LED indicating the activity of the device. The smallest board is responsible for the power input and the microphone mute button, also from it goes the USB service port to the device’s main board.

And now, perhaps, the most interesting. This is the capsule motherboard.



The heart of the device is its processor, in this case, Rockchip, model RK3308, was used. It has 4 Cortex A-35 cores and supports a huge number of different interfaces. It was created just for use in all sorts of smart gadgets and elements of a smart home. Next to the processor is a 256 MB DDR3L RAM chip, which should be enough for the device to solve its problems. To store information, a 2 GB NAND Flash drive from Toshiba is used.

In addition, nearby is the combined modern wireless interface module ap6256 from AMPAK Technology. It has fast Wi-Fi 802.11ac / a / b / g / n, including 5 GHz, and Bluetooth version 5.0 LE. There is also a TAP3116 amplifier on the board, which is a fairly popular solution in audio equipment.

It was possible to detect an RFID chip, through which interactive interaction with the column will be carried out using interactive plastic RFID cards. Bringing them to the reader built into the "Capsule", it will be possible to expand its capabilities.

The rest is an acoustic box. Its correct form is the key to good sound. In our case, there are no problems with sound: everything is well designed.







By the way, no hidden microphones or “secret” options for turning on the devices were found.

Total

The first impressions of getting to know the hardware of the product during the analysis did not change. Pleased with a feeling of pleasant surprise. Each detail is thought out and executed with a margin for further operation. Including conditions when there are pets nearby or very curious and restless children.

All cables are in foam rubber and, where required, are glued with double-sided tape to the case. At the top there are also rubber vibration dampers, and at the lowest point of the column there is a weighting compound, which adds stability to the device. Such a meticulous approach to the design and assembly of devices, unfortunately, is not common. The hardware impressed the column, and if the software proves the same, the product definitely expects success.

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