iFixit's Essential Electronics Toolkit
ZDNet

As devices have become smaller and thinner, getting inside them to carry out repairs has become more and more difficult. Not only do you have to contend with tiny fasteners no bigger than grains of salt, and huge gobs of adhesive, but you also have to work around delicate ribbon cables that want to break at the drop of a hat.

Enter the new iFixit $20 Essential Electronics Toolkit, a compact set of tools that gives you the power to get into a smartphone or tablet or PC to troubleshoot and carry out repairs.

Want to change the cracked display on your smartphone? No problem. Need to swap out the battery in a tablet? Easy. Want to get inside your PC or laptop to add more RAM or upgrade the storage? This kit has you covered.

iFixit's $20 'essential' electronics toolkit SEE FULL GALLERY

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The kit comes with the following:

Magnetized driver handle
Angled ESD-safe precision tweezers
Spudger
Jimmy
iFixit opening tool
iFixit opening picks (set of 6)
Suction handle
Easy-to-open magnetized case
Lid with built-in sorting tray
Sixteen 4mm precision screwdriver bits

The precision screwdriver bits consist of:

Phillips: 000, 00, 0, 1, 2
Pentalobe: P2, P5
Flathead: 1, 2.5, 4 mm
Torx: T4, T5
Torx Security: TR6, TR8, TR10
SIM eject bit

Everything is held in place in a precision-cut foam tray, and the lid is held in place by strategically placed magnets.

All this for $20.

And don't be thinking that this is some cheap toolkit made up of shoddy parts. I have one of these kits and let me tell you that everything in it is of the highest quality.

If you feel that you need more tools -- and, in my mind, who doesn't? -- then iFixit has the bigger, more fully-featured Pro Tech Toolkit, which is a bargain at only $65.

Every day carry pocket tools and gadgets SEE FULL GALLERY