iFixit’s HTC One M9 teardown shows a phone just as infuriating to repair as last year’s model

iFixit has long been a fabulous resource for definitive smartphone teardowns. You guys may remember that not too long ago, they even launched Android dedicated section on their site where regular users, such as yourself, can snap pics of any repairs you do on your device to share with others.

Now we already got a look at a sort of rough HTC One M9 teardown last week. The video was a tad overexposed and out of focus, but it got the job done. Definitely not as comprehensive as iFixit’s usual step-by-step process. The one thing last week’s video and iFixit agree on: the HTC One M9’s display is hard as balls to fix.

According to iFixit, the One M9 gets a few points for ditching a lot of the sticky tape found on the One M8, but loses even more points for continuing to use “intense” adhesives that make removing components tough and even dangerous in some cases. When it comes to replacing the display — the most common smartphone component in need of repairs — you’ll have to tunnel through the entire phone just to replace it. Not cool.

In the end, iFixit was not at all amused with HTC’s infuriating internal design and even joked that HTC should be an acronym for “Has To Change,” The HTC One M9 received a repairability score of 2 out 10. Suddenly, it makes sense why the HTC offers that amazing Uh Oh protection because, let’s be honest, ain’t no way in hell any normal person is going to be repairing their One M9 should the screen break.

[iFixit]