Amazon Kindle Fire HD Scores High Marks For ‘Repairable’ Hardware

The Amazon Kindle Fire HD seven-inch version is fairly easy to break down and repair according to the team atiFixIt. According to the group the Kindle Fire HD is far more repairable than recent Apple products that have scored poorly because of their infused design structure.

The group found that the new tablet is internally different than the original Amazon Kindle Fire with most components easy to access and easy to replace. iFixIt gives the Kindle Fire HD a repairability score of 7 out of 10.

To open the tablet the team used a plastic opening tool, a Phillips screwdriver, T5 Torx screwdriver and a razor blade. Researchers found that the components came apart fairly easy and that the batter was protected by a metal casing that also appeared to offer structural support while shielding the battery from electrical damage.

The device also features standard flash storage provided by Samsung while the power management side is handled by Texas Instruments. Elsewhere the devices features an easy to spot Broadcom GPS chip and offers Bluetooth 4.0 alongside an FM receiver.

iFixIt does note that the LG display and its Atmel maXTouch touchscreen controllare are fused to the front glass of the tablet which brought the Tablet Fire HD’s repair score down slightly.

While the 7 out of 10 is lower than the original Amazon Kindle Fire it is still on par with the Google Nexus 7 which also features a 7-inch touchscreen with the Google Android OS. The Google Nexus 7 also features a fused display which brought down its final score.