In mid-October 2015, EDN ran my teardown of Logitech’s Bluetooth Audio Adapter (a receiver, to be exact) primarily based on a CSR (now Qualcomm) BlueCore CSR8630 Single Chip Audio ROM.
The CSR module covers the majority of the underside half of the PCB topside, with many of the high half dedicated to discretes and such for implementing the audio line-level output amp and the like:
A few weeks later, in a follow-up weblog publish, I discussed (and briefly in contrast) a bunch of different Bluetooth adapters I’d come throughout. Some acted as each receivers and transmitters, for instance, whereas others embedded batteries for transportable utilization. They carried out various Bluetooth profiles and specification ranges, and a few even supported aptX and different elective audio codecs. Amongst them have been three completely different Aukey fashions; right here’s what I mentioned about them:
I not too long ago noticed Aukey’s BR-C1 on sale for $12.99, for instance (each black and white colour scheme choices can be found), whereas the BR-C2 was not too long ago promoting for $1 much less, and the even fuller-featured BT-C2 was not too long ago special-priced at $24.99.
Logitech’s system is AC-powered by way of an included “wall wart” middleman and subsequently applicable for including Bluetooth input-source capabilities to an A/V receiver, as mentioned in my teardown. Aukey’s merchandise conversely comprise built-in rechargeable batteries and are subsequently primarily supposed for cellular use, corresponding to changing a traditional pair of headphones into wi-fi items. Recharging of the Aukey gadgets’ batteries happens by way of an included micro-USB cable and not-included 5V USB-output energy supply.
All the Aukey merchandise also can act as hands-free adapters, by advantage of their built-in microphones. The BR-C1 and BR-C2’s analog audio connections are output-only, thereby classifying them as Bluetooth receivers; the costlier BT-C2 is each a Bluetooth transmitter and receiver (albeit not each on the identical time). However the Bluetooth hyperlink between all of them and a wirelessly tethered system is bi-directional, enabling not solely speakerphone integration with a automobile audio subsystem or set of headphones (by way of analog outputs) but additionally two-way connectivity to a smartphone (by way of Bluetooth).
The basic distinction between the BR-C1 and BR-C2, so far as I can inform, is the shape issue; the BR-C1 is 2.17×2.17×0.67 inches in dimension, whereas the BR-C2 is 2×1×0.45 inches. All different specs, together with play and standby time, appear to be equivalent. None of Aukey’s gadgets provide twin RCA jacks as an output possibility; they’re 3.5 mm TRS-only. Nevertheless, as my teardown writeup notes, the inclusion of a TRS-to-dual RCA adapter cable in every product’s equipment makes a number of built-in output choices a seemingly pointless practical redundancy.
As time handed, my reminiscence of the specifics of that latter piece admittedly pale, though I’ve re-quoted the next excerpt just a few instances in evaluating a key level made then with different conceptually reminiscent product classes: LED mild bulbs, LCDs, and USB-C-based gadgets:
Such range inside what’s seemingly a mature and “vanilla” product class is what prompted me to place cyber-pen to cyber-paper for this explicit publish. The stunning selection I encountered even throughout my temporary interval of analysis is reflective of the creativity inherent to you, the engineers who design these and numerous different merchandise. Kudos to you all!
Quick ahead to early December 2023, once I noticed an Aukey Bluetooth audio adapter supposed particularly for in-vehicle use (subsequently battery powered, and with an embedded microphone for hands-free telephony), though usable elsewhere too. It was marketed at bargains web site SideDeal (a sibling web site to same-company Meh, who I’ve additionally talked about earlier than) for $12.99.
No particular mannequin quantity was documented on the promo web page, just some options and specs:
Options
- Wi-fi Audio Stream
- The Bluetooth 5 receiver permits you to wirelessly stream audio out of your Bluetooth enabled gadgets to your current wired dwelling or automotive stereo system, audio system, or headphones
- Lengthy Playtime
- Constructed-in rechargeable battery helps 18 hours of steady playback and 1000 hours of standby time
- Twin Gadget Hyperlink
- Join two bluetooth gadgets concurrently; free to get pleasure from music or reply cellphone name from both of the 2 paired gadgets
- Simple Use
- Navigate your music on the receiver with built-in controls which can be used to handle hands-free calls or entry voice assistant
Specs
- Kind: Receiver
- Connectivity: 3.5mm
- Bluetooth commonplace: Bluetooth v5.0
- Colour: Black
- To suit: Audio Receivers
- Ports: 3.5 mm Jack
I bit. I purchased three, truly; one every for my and my spouse’s automobiles, and a 3rd for teardown functions. Once they arrived, I put the third boxed one on the shelf.
Quick ahead practically a yr later, to the start of November 2024 (and a few weeks previous to once I’m writing these phrases now), once I pulled the field again off the shelf and ready for dissection. I observed the mannequin quantity, BR-C1, stamped on the underside of the field however didn’t assume something extra of it till I remembered and re-read that weblog publish printed nearly precisely 9 years earlier, which had talked about the very same system:
(I’ve saved you from the boring photographs of the clean cardboard field sides)
Spectacular product longevity, eh? Maintain that thought. Let’s dive in:
The left half of the field contents includes three cables: USB-A to micro-USB for recharging, plus 3.5 mm (aka, 1/8”) TRS to three.5 mm, and three.5 mm to twin RCA for audio output connections:
And a few items of documentation (a PDF of the person guide is out there right here):
On the correct, after all, is our affected person (my photos, this time, versus the sooner inventory photographs), as typical accompanied by a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for dimension comparability functions:
(The opposite three system sides, like the sooner field sides, are bland, so I’ve not included photos of them. You’re welcome.)
(Be aware, amongst different issues, the FCC ID, 2AFHP-BR-C1. Once more, maintain that thought. By the way in which, it’s 2AFHP-BR-C1, not the 2AFHPBR-C1 stamped on the underside, which because it seems is a special system, albeit, judging from the photographs, additionally an car interior-tailored product.)
From previous expertise, I’ve discovered that the underside of a rubber “foot” is usually a fruitful path inside a tool, so as soon as once more I rolled the cube:
Bingo: my luck continues to carry out!
With all 4 screws eliminated (or a minimum of sufficiently loosened; attributable to all that lingering adhesive, I couldn’t get two of them fully out of the holes), the underside popped proper off:
And the very first thing I noticed staring again at me was the 3.7-V, 300 mAh Li-polymer “pouch” cell. Why they went with this battery kind issue and formulation versus the extra widespread Li-ion “can” is unclear; there was loads of room within the design for the battery, and suppleness wasn’t essential:
In pulling the PCB out of the remaining high half of the case:
revealing, amongst different issues, the electret microphone above it:
I inadvertently turned the system on, whereby it instantly went into blue-blinking-LED standby mode (I fortuitously quick-snapped the primary nonetheless photograph whereas the LED was illuminated; the video beneath it reveals the complete blink cadence):
Why standby, versus the preliminary alternating purple/blue pairing-ready sequence that per the person guide (to not point out widespread sense) it was supposed to first-time energy up in? I believe that since this was a refurbished (not model new) system, it had been beforehand paired to one thing by the prior proprietor and the manufacturing unit didn’t absolutely reset it earlier than delivery it again out to me. A protracted-press of the topside button obtained the system into the specified Bluetooth pairing mode:
And one other long-press powered the PCB fully off once more:
The beforehand seen backside facet of the PCB was naked (the glued-on battery doesn’t depend, in my e-book) and, as typical for low value, low revenue margin client electronics gadgets like this one, the PCB topside isn’t very component-rich, both. Within the higher proper is the three.5 mm audio output jack; to its left, and within the higher left, is the micro-USB charging connector, with the solder websites for the microphone wiring harness between them. Under them is the system’s multi-function energy/mode change. At left is the three-wire battery connector. Barely beneath and to its proper (and close to the middle) is the primary system processor, Realtek’s RTL8763BFR Bluetooth twin mode audio SoC with built-in DAC, ADC (for the already-seen mic), DSP and each ROM and RAM.
To the correct is of the Realtek RTL8763BFR is its companion 40 MHz oscillator, with a complete of three multicolor LEDs in a column each above and beneath it. In distinction, you will have beforehand famous 5 mild holes within the high of the system; the diffusion sticker within the earlier picture of the within of the highest half of the chassis “bridges the gaps”. Under and to the left of the Realtek RTL8763BFR is the HT4832 audio energy amplifier, which drives the aforementioned 3.5 mm audio output jack. The HT4832 comes from probably the most awesome-named corporations I’ve but come throughout: Jiaxing Heroic Digital Expertise. And on the backside of the PCB, maybe clearly, is the embedded Bluetooth antenna.
After placing the system again collectively, it seemingly nonetheless labored tremendous; right here’s what the LEDs appear like displaying the pairing cadence from the skin:
All in all, a seemingly simple teardown, proper? So, then, what’s with the “Identification Deceiver” point out on this writeup’s title? Properly, earlier than ending up, I as-usual hit up the FCC certification documentation, final-action dated January 29, 2018, to see if I’d neglected something notable…however the included photographs confirmed a fully completely different system inside. This time, the underside facet of the PCB was coated with elements. And considered one of them, the design’s area-dominant IC, was from ISSC Applied sciences, not Realtek. See for your self.
Confused, I hit up Google to see if anybody else had executed a teardown of the Aukey BR-C1. I discovered one, in video kind, printed on October 30, 2015. It reveals the identical design model as within the FCC documentation:
The Aukey BR-C1 product evaluation from the identical YouTube creator, printed a week-plus earlier, can also be value a view, by the way in which:
Fortuitously, the YouTube “thumbnail” video for the primary video showcases the beforehand talked about ISSC Applied sciences chip:
It’s the IS1681S, a Bluetooth 3.0+EDR multimedia SOC. Right here’s a datasheet. ISSC Applied sciences was acquired by Microchip Expertise in mid-2014 and the IS1681S presumably was EOL’d someday afterward, thereby prompting Aukey’s redesign round Realtek silicon. However how was Aukey capable of take the redesign to manufacturing with out in search of FCC recertification? I welcome insights on this, or the rest you discovered notable about this teardown, within the feedback!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line e-newsletter.
Associated Content material
- Teardown: Bluetooth audio dongle retains it easy
- Bluetooth audio adapters and their inventive builders
- Teardown: Tile Mate Bluetooth tracker depends on software program
- Teardown: Bluetooth-enhanced LED bulb
- Teardown: Bluetooth sensible dimmer
- Teardown: OBD-II Bluetooth adapter
googletag.cmd.push(perform() { googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-native’); });
–>
The publish A Bluetooth receiver, an id deceiver appeared first on EDN.
