Dell XPS 10 and Kindle Fire found to be the most repairable tablets
iFixit is known for their detailed teardowns and comprehensive walkthroughs for manual repairs of devices, and now they've released a Tablet Repairability Guide. The guide grades various tablets based on their ease of repair and use of replaceable materials, and the biggest names don't necessarily come out on top.
Coming in at no. 1 in the rankings, Dell's XPS 10 tablet is the easiest for manual repair thanks to its "modular, clean design". The XPS 10's cover and battery can also be easily removed, while color coded screws and labelled cables make the tablet a clear top choice.
2nd in line was Amazon's Kindle Fire, which benefited from the lack of proprietary fasteners as well as the standard Phillips screws under the hood. Surprisingly, Dell managed to snag another spot with their Streak tablet at #3, while the Motorola Xoom and Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 rounded out the top 5.
As for the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft's Surface Pro was last in line, with the only plus being that the battery wasn't soldered onto the motherboard. Otherwise, the device was held together by "tons of adhesive" and opening the device carried a risk of shearing the display cables. The only plus for Microsoft may be that Apple wasn't far behind, with the iPad Mini and the iPad 2/3/4 all in the bottom 5. Apple's use of excessive amounts of adhesive complicated the teardown while the glass was easily shattered during removal.