Cell phone board teardown
Very dense multilayer · 60 × 30 mm · 15–30 g
High grade — $20.50/lb, the densest gold-per-gram in consumer e-waste
Era read: Shield cans, gold antenna springs, gold pads under the shields, dozens of tiny BGAs. Density is the whole story.
Where the value sits
RF shield canSoC under shieldCamera connectorBattery connectorAntenna springsChip antennaSIM / microSD
- RF shield can
- Gold-plated pads and dense BGAs underneath. The cans themselves are nickel silver.
- SoC under shield
- Application processor and PMIC. Gold-corner BGA territory.
- Camera connector
- Board-to-board connectors, gold-flashed.
- Battery connector
- Remove the lithium cell before anything else.
- Antenna springs
- Gold-flashed BeCu spring contacts at the board edge.
- Chip antenna
- Isolated ceramic block at the edge with no ground plane under it.
- SIM / microSD
- Stainless and plastic. Almost worthless — keep them out of a gold lot.
Strip order
Value first, hazards first, heat last.
- Remove the battery
Non-negotiable and first. A punctured pouch cell goes into thermal runaway and vents hydrogen fluoride. Backup batteries & Dallas RTC modules ☠ →
- Remove the display
Pre-2012 panels are CCFL-backlit and contain mercury. Don't crack them. LCD Panels (ITO / CCFL vs LED) →
- Stop. Sell it populated.
Refiners pay a premium for assembled phone boards and penalise stripped ones. Harvesting a phone board is usually value-destroying. Cell phone boards →