As they do so often, iFixIt has presented us with another of their delightful teardowns. This time around, they pull apart the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX, and reveal exactly what it’s cracked up to be, and then some. Though it’s solidly built, there are a few issues that would prevent even some skilled tinkerers from taking one apart.


In the corner of good news, the Kindle Fire HDX has some really small speakers made by Dolby. Said to thump out 77 decibels, the sound and quality shouldn’t be of any concern to users. The device is also really solidly built, with the iFixIt team running into tape and screwed-down components where they don’t seem to think they should.

When it comes to strikes against the Amazon tablet, the hits keep coming. The iFixIt crew notes the thin plastic bezel running along the outer rim of the device is really flimsy, and a cable connects the outer shell to the main components for some reason. The battery was a major point of concern, as it’s held in place by spring connectors beneath the motherboard and some adhesive, which caused a very touch-and-go scenario for getting the battery out. Essentially, to replace the battery, you have to remove the motherboard.

The overall score for the teardown was 3 out of 10, with 10 representing an easy fix. The battery/motherboard situation was of particular concern, as a battery replacement is a fairly common fix that’s needed in devices. They did give Amazon credit for making the power/volume rocker assemblies seperate, but the bottom line is that you wouldn’t want to try this fix at home.

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.