One M8 teardown shows why HTC Advantage is such a good deal

“The display assembly cannot be replaced without tunneling through the entire phone. This makes one of most common repairs, a damaged screen, very difficult to accomplish.” This is how the teardown experts at iFixit describe the situation they found inside the brand new HTC One (M8).

iFixit is a company that creates teardown guides for DIY-ers and professionals, along with related tools and equipment. The company ranks devices on a repairability scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the easiest to repair. Features like irregular screws, glued components, and a very tight fitting bring down the score.

Just slightly so, as the One (M8) scored 2, with only the durable build saving it from the minimal score. iFixit noted that the rear case is very difficult to remove without damaging it, the battery is difficult to access and glued to the mainboard, and work is hindered by “copious amounts of tape, adhesive, and copper shielding”. And then there’s the screen, which as we all know, is the most sensitive part of a phone.

Which brings us to Advantage, the warranty plan that HTC offers in the US. Under the program, if you crack or break your display within the first six months of ownership, HTC will replace it once, for free. Without it, one accident can cost you a lot, as replacing a screen assembly is one of the costliest repair operations. Besides the free screen replacement, you also get up to 50GB of free Drive storage and HTC’s guarantee that you will receive Android updates for two years. HTC Advantage is available with devices in the One series.

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