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This teardown is not a repair guide. To repair your Xbox One Kinect, use our service manual.

  1. Xbox One Kinect Teardown, Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 1, image 1 of 2 Xbox One Kinect Teardown, Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 1, image 2 of 2
    • Oh, did you need to be more Kinected? Microsoft has you covered with some impressive upgrades to the Kinect lineage:

    • 1080p HD wide-angle camera

    • Active infrared camera for sight in the dark

    • Multi-microphone array with noise cancellation and voice command

    • Processing capability of 2 gigabits of environmental data per second

  2. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 2, image 1 of 1
    • This cable comes fully connected—very solidly—to the Kinect's brainstem, making removal harder than expected.

    • Xbox, disassemble.

    • Apparently, that voice command isn't live, yet. We'll have to do this teardown the old-fashioned way...

  3. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 3, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 3, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 3, image 3 of 3
    • It's time to seek some hidden screws.

    • Beneath the goops of adhesive, we root out and dispatch two long T10 Security Torx screws and two short T10 Torx screws.

    • This adhesive has Microsoft written all over it, literally.

    • Our Pro Tech Screwdriver Set makes screw removal kinetically pleasing.

    • With a few twirls of the driver—and then a few twirls of ourselves around the room, just in case the hokey pokey really is what it's all about—we bypass the outer case and start rummaging around inside.

  4. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 4, image 1 of 2 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 4, image 2 of 2
    • With the screws out of the way, we can finally open the Kinect and leer inside.

    • Microsoft has designated the Xbox One Kinect as model 1520.

    • Once again, Microsoft sends a friendly greeting from its headquarters in Seattle.

  5. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 5, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 5, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 5, image 3 of 3
    • The fan assembly requires minimal disassembly. We scatter the grille, cowling, and fan as we go.

    • The 5 volt DC fan is manufactured by Nidec and is labeled as U40R05MS1A7-57A07A.

    • Little kids get excited about presents under the Christmas tree; we get excited about components under plastic casings. Out of the way, wrapping paper! It's time for some goodies.

  6. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 6, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 6, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 6, image 3 of 3
    • With the casing gone, we catch glimpses of green. As tempted as we are to grasp and pry, we go about removing components the right way.

    • Starting at the foundation—well, the foot anyhow—we remove the camera assembly from its stand, hoping to catch it off guard.

    • We peel back some rubber padding, revealing some wily screws, but quickly find ourselves at a dead end.

    • It's time to resort to Plan B…

  7. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 7, image 1 of 2 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 7, image 2 of 2
    • We reach for the office chainsaw, but the boss steps in and shoots down that idea…

    • Plan C: we dis-kinect this little light board.

    • Small but important, this board plays host to an LED and a sensor.

  8. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 8, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 8, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 8, image 3 of 3
    • We remove another layer of cowling standing between us and teardown glory.

    • That face! How can you say no to that face? Microsoft seems to have taken the old triclops in for some plastic surgery; this year's model has moved the IR projector, making for a more human-esque two-eyed robot.

    • IC U too!

    • Microsoft X871141-001 - Per our honored cohorts at Chipworks, this "replaces the Prime Sense chip used in the first Kinect. By the look of the font and package codes it's from STMicroelectronics"

    • Likely a STMicroelectronics STV2000 I2C Deflection Processor/RGB Preamplifier

    • Samsung K4B1G1646G-BYH9 1 Gb (128 MB) DDR3 SDRAM

    • ON Semiconductor NCP6922 Power Management

  9. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 9, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 9, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 9, image 3 of 3
    • This teardown is beginning to feel a bit like playing Operation…

    • Carefully remove the camera.

    • And now the lens. Don't shock him!

    • We set aside the robot monocle and examine the camera.

    • If you don't speak ASL, here is what your Kinect is looking for.

    • Be careful what you say around your Kinect—it may be able to detect lies! Allegedly, "the Kinect literally reads the pulse in your face."

  10. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 10, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 10, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 10, image 3 of 3
    • Modular cameras make us smile, reminding us a little bit of another robot.

    • The back side of the second camera has the following labels:

    • S/N: S1337573123

    • P/N: X861135-001

    • A/N: 1337-MS2802-09

    • The front side has a bit more circuitry. Among that circuitry we find:

    • Texas Instruments TPS54325 - Per the evil geniuses at Chipworks, this is an adaptive on-time D-CAP2™ mode synchronous buck converter.

  11. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 11, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 11, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 11, image 3 of 3
    • Brace yourself; this frame bracket is coming out.

    • Layers of metal add rigidity to the Kinect, while leaving room for components.

    • Function over form—this bracket also serves as a heat sink, as evidenced by the adhered thermal pads.

  12. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 12, image 1 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 12, image 2 of 3 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 12, image 3 of 3
    • Pretty purple filters cover what appear to be the three IR blasters. If humans could see in infrared, we're guessing this would be pretty psychedelic.

    • As it stands, you'll have to settle for invisible IR magic bathing your living room, such as only your Kinect can see.

    • Microsoft is claiming three times the fidelity of the previous Kinect. We shall deem this technology Tri-Fi.

    • Microsoft also claims new Active IR technology, enabling your Kinect to see you in the dark—which seems the same as the night vision mode on every camcorder since the 90's.

  13. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 13, image 1 of 2 Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 13, image 2 of 2
    • All a'board!

    • Suspects 1-3 for the IR projectors

    • We'd like some more silicon with our teardown, please!

    • TI LMV339I Low-Voltage Comparator

    • Intersil ISL58302 Triple Output Laser Diode Driver (likely)

    • ON Semiconductor NB3L14S LVDS Fanout Buffer

    • ON Semiconductor NCT75 Temperature Sensor

  14. Xbox One Kinect Teardown: step 14, image 1 of 1
    • Xbox One Kinect Repairability: 6 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

    • It's super easy to replace the fan once you get inside.

    • While there isn't much to fix inside, most components are modular and held in place with screws. If you need to replace one of the eight million cameras, you can…

    • …but, not so much the three little IR blasters in the center of the sensor bar. Those are held in place with soldered-in straps, because Microsoft.

    • Screws hidden under tamper-evident tape and tricky clips make it tricky to get inside.

    • The same screw types from the original Kinect are back, (still) including one repair-inhibiting T10 Security bit.

13 Comments

What would be the first thing to go out if it stopped powering up ? What would the first weak link be in your opinion ? Thanks

mrsking01 - Reply

Had a terrible time finding a replacement fan. Only one I could find is

http://www.pchub.com/uph/laptop/656-1449...

spent hours looking for a 4 pin fan that size.

Mike - Reply

Can you also do a teardown of the *hub*? I mean the hub for connecting the Kinect for Xbox ONE/Windows v2 to a Windows PC.

I wonder if there is anything interesting in it, or if it's just patching the USB and power pin-outs from one end to the other.

Kal Sze - Reply

please help me change the words

pappasjeremy - Reply

anyone know where to get a hold of the main logic board fuse?

Richard - Reply

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