How Repairable is Your Mobile Device?

A product guide to best-selling smartphones, tablets and laptops

How repairable is your mobile device? Greenpeace teamed up with iFixit to assess the repairability of best-selling smart devices.

Greenpeace, in partnership with US-based iFixit, conducted an assessment of more than 40 best-selling models from 2015 – 2017, with a total of 17 brands represented.

About this report 

This assessment of the repairability of smartphones, tablets and laptops is based on the teardown score from iFixit as well as the availability of repair manuals and spare parts.  

iFixit’s repairability scores range from 1 (worst) to 10 (best). A device with a perfect score will be relatively inexpensive to repair because it is easy to disassemble and has a service manual available.

Points are docked based on the difficulty of opening the device, the types of fasteners found inside, and the complexity involved in replacing major components. Points are awarded for upgradability, use of non-proprietary tools for servicing, and component modularity.

Greenpeace’s product scorecards showcase iFixit’s repairability score; the ease of replacing the battery and display; whether special tools are needed; and whether spare parts are available.

In sum, this assessment determines whether or not a product is designed with repairability in mind.
Among the 44 models assessed, 26 were purchased by Greenpeace, 10 in China, 7 in Germany, and 9 in the USA. The remainder were models obtained by iFixit.