Xbox One Kinect Gets Its Own Proper Teardown

The Xbox One Kinect sensor is pretty unique, and it’s the first time that Microsoft used in-house technology for the Kinect (previously, a company called PrimeSense worked on the Xbox 360 Kinect). While the new Kinect is essentially a part of the Xbox One console (as it comes with the system by default), the folks at iFixit decided to give the sensor its own teardown.

What we’re most impressed with, is that the Xbox One Kinect unit comes with its own cooling fan, so you know that there are some pretty high-performance components on the inside, but this isn’t too surprising, seeing as how Microsoft has been boasting about the improvements over the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor.

Whereas the Xbox 360 Kinect had two cameras and an infrared projector, the Xbox One Kinect just has two cameras, one of which is 1080p HD wide-angle camera and the other being an active infrared camera for sight in the dark. The sensor also comes with a multi-microphone array with noise cancellation (for all of those voice commands).

As for repairability, iFixit gave the new sensor a score of 6/10, which is about the middle of the road for gadget repair. iFixit notes that the fan is about the easiest thing to repair, and it’s really easy to access once you break open the sensor. There’s also not a lot inside, but most of the components are modular and held in place with some simple screws.

Other components, however, are a bit harder to replace. The IR blasters, for example, are held in place with soldered-in straps, and a lot of the screws that gain you access inside the sensor are security screws that not everyone would have the proper screwdriver for.

Overall, we doubt many people would want to repair their Kinect sensor themselves, but it’s good to know that some components (like the fan), are really easy to replace, and it could help owners save a ton of money by not having to send it in to Microsoft for repairs.