#17: "Disassembly" FengPods PRO (1562A).

April 29, 2021

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FengPods Pro v4.5 (Airoha 1562A / BT 5.2)

In PM people ask a lot about the "inner world" of replicas. On specialized sites, photos of the insides of "branded" models are periodically published but photos of specific (discussed here) no-name replicas are not often found.

This is the first part of the photo review - the FengPods Pro model (the second part FengPods Classic is here). Samples for parsing below are the FengPods Pro and FengPods Classic versions - the usual serial positions, nothing was specially selected. An overview of the functionality of the Pro and Classic versions will be published in the blog shortly.

Since I did not have the task of preserving the working capacity and appearance of the "guinea-pigs", I did not stand on ceremony and used a metal tool (knife, screwdriver) for parsing. In case of repairs, I strongly recommend using only a plastic tool - the materials are quite soft and any metal immediately leaves noticeable traces. The presented samples were assembled without glue, so disassembling the cases was not a problem (not all manufacturers assemble their headphones this way).

The Case consists of 4 main plastic parts: "body", "insert" (with electronic circuits), lid, "insert" of the lid. Magnets and "plummet" are installed in the appropriate places, with the help of which the weight of the replica is adjusted to the weight of the original. The hinge is completely metal, made and assembled very carefully, the metal is soft (I think silumin). All parts are securely fastened with latches along the perimeter of the connection (for disassembly, I recommend using plastic picks or strips of plastic from old credit cards):

The "Insert" of the case is also assembled from several units: a wireless charging coil, a pcb with a control button, a pcb with electronic components, a loop with a Hall sensor, a battery (3.7V, 240mAh), a figured plummet and round magnets for fixing each earphone inside the case:

Each Earphone is a rather complex system assembled from micro-"units": a case, a cover, a speaker unit, a flat ribbon cable with a microphone and an "in ear" sensor, a battery, a main pcb with a chip and components, an antenna, a charging "tip":

The case and the speaker unit: the earphone case consists of two parts - the cover and the "leg" (I could not remove the lid with my fingers, had to press with the tool), there is a small magnet inside the "leg" for fixing the earphone in the case, on the back wall you can see a hole closed with a mesh. On the front wall of the cover there is a black (IR-transparent) plastic overlay with a seat for an "in ear" sensor. The speaker unit (12.5mm speaker) is a black plastic tube, in a special hole on the body there is an additional microphone (FeedBack) for the ANC noise reduction system. The microphone and sensor are connected to the main board with a flat ribbon cable through a micro connector:

The Battery (3.7V, 22mAh, 7.5x7.5x3mm) is rather "weak", in my opinion, the space allows you to install up to 30mAh and, possibly, more:

Main board, antenna and charging "tip": the pcb (Airoha 1562A chip) is located in the "leg" of the headphone, it was removed quite easily with just fingers. The antenna is latched on one side of the board (spring-loaded contact with the board is under the antenna), on the other side of the board there is a microswitch (covered with a red plastic cover) - it's which is responsible for controlling the "squeeze" of the headphone leg. A plastic charging "tip" with two contacts is attached to the end of the board, the main "spoken" microphone is installed inside the "tip" (filled with rubber compound). The same microphone is used as the second (FeedForward) microphone for the ANC system:

Actually, that's all the main components. In my opinion (as a radio engineer), something is quite maintainable even at home. Yes, it is quite difficult to solder the main chip or other components without special equipment but, for example, it is not difficult to replace a battery that has degraded over time (well, if you are at least a little friends with a soldering iron).