HTC One M8 teardown reveals complicated assembly
Planning to grab yourself an HTC One M8 (announced just yesterday) without accidental insurance coverage? You’ll want to think twice about that — the latest teardown by iFixIt reveals that the device is one of the hardest to repair in recent years. The repair specialists dug into the thing the moment they got it, and found a ton of components were very difficult to access thanks to HTC’s zero-gap unibody aluminum construction.
Specifically, copious amounts of glue and tape make it difficult to repair one of the most commonly broken components — the display. They also mention that it’s impossible to open the device without damaging the rear of it, and that the battery’s new home under the motherboard makes it virtually impossible to replace.
They did award the HTC One M8 a couple of points on grounds of durability, though, noting that this tight construction should hold up well over time. You can read the full disassembly notes over at iFixIt’s website if you’re interested, and perhaps it’ll persuade you to ponder some insurance options if you weren’t already.