Nexus Q Teardown: USA Boast Pans Out Partially

Google's Nexus Q was arguably the least-polished launch of the IO opening keynote, but there's no denying that the media streamer itself is a solid and handsome piece of kit. That's catnip to teardown merchant iFixit, which has opened up its toolkit of screwdrivers and spudgers and promptly stripped the "Designed and Manufactured in the USA" orb down to its nude essentials.

As you may have guessed, Google's homegrown boast doesn't necessarily encompass every component inside the spherical shell. Exactly which parts are US-made and which come from the traditional suspects in Asia is unclear, though the hefty outer casing – the lower half of which contributes almost 46-percent of the overall weight – is believed to have come from local suppliers.

A TI OMAP4460 chipset, NFC, 16GB of Samsung flash memory, 1GB of RAM and Texas Instruments TAS5713 25 watt digital audio power amp are all lurking inside. What there's currently no sign of is the speculated ZigBee mesh connectivity which could allow the Nexus Q to one day be a home automation hub.

Overall, iFixit rates the Nexus Q eight out of ten for repair potential, scoring it highly for the disassembly process (though warning it's all too easy to lose some of the numerous components) and the minimal use of glue or solder. However this isn't something the casual tinkerer should crack open: the power supply, for instance, is quickly exposed, which could lead to a nasty shock.

More on the Nexus Q in our full review.