Currently, the standard is a large touch screen installed in the smartphone. Unfortunately, it is the screen that is damaged the fastest. Repair can be done by replacing the glass, digitizer and sometimes even the display. A damaged smartphone is best taken to service, but you can also take care of replacing the screen yourself. If you are just wondering what to do with your smartphone’s broken screen, our article will help you solve the problem.
A cracked screen or exactly what?
At the beginning it is worth realizing that in modern smartphones the screen consists of three layers: external glass, digitizer (i.e. touch screen) and display (e.g. LCD or AMOLED). As suggested by Mobile Phones Direct, cracked or broken glass can therefore mean various problems:
If the screen still responds to touch, the glass itself can be replaced, but if it is factory connected to the digitizer, it may be necessary to replace the entire component;
If the screen does not react to touch, it is necessary to replace the digitizer and fast;
If the screen does not display anything, the display also needs to be replaced.
The complexity of quick replacement and the cost of repair depends on the correct diagnosis of the problem. Due to the fact that manufacturers increasingly use homogeneous panels combining touchscreen and display, phone repair costs can be quite high, which is particularly true for those who go to service with their defective smartphone.
Self-replacing a cracked screen
This is an option for the cost-saving, who are not afraid of ambitious challenges. Manual repair of broken glass tempts many people because it is the cheapest option to remove this type of damage, and in addition, there are many instructions on how to carry it out on the Internet.
You can also order original spare parts or their cheaper equivalents via the Internet. Interestingly, many spare parts manufacturers offer complete modules including display, digitizer and screen with a set of tools necessary to carry out repairs! However, be careful with non-original and very cheap sets, as it happens that even after a successful replacement of a compact screen, the phone unfortunately does not work as it should, e.g. there are discolorations on the screen or the screen does not react properly to touch.
If you manage to buy good quality spare parts and buy special tools, you can start working, but knowing the high risk of damage to the equipment! Replacing a digitizer, display or whole module requires great precision, because it involves disassembling the whole phone and then assembling it correctly. The biggest problem is to detach the digitizer from the display, which often results in damage to the latter.
When is it worth going with the broken glass to an authorised service centre?
A broken screen causes panic especially for owners of modern and expensive smartphones, who expect high repair costs. Indeed, in their case, the replacement of a component in an authorized service center sometimes involves an expense of several hundred euros.
Unfortunately, even if the device is new and still under warranty, this type of (mechanical) damage in most cases is not subject to free repair. It should be remembered, however, that if you do not want to lose the warranty, the replacement of the glass should be commissioned only to an authorized service center.
If you repair your phone yourself or hand it over to a professional from an unauthorized repair center, you will lose your warranty rights, because during this operation the seals inside the device are broken.
Replacing a glass pane in an unauthorized service centre
Unauthorized services mainly deal with post-warranty repair of smartphones and offer a more attractive price list of services than authorized services of manufacturers. In their case, replacement of a digitizer, display or the entire screen module can be cheaper by up to several dozen or several hundred euros. It is possible due to the fact that such services use not only original spare parts, but also non-original ones, which are produced e.g. by companies from China.
For those who do not want or cannot use a lot of cash to repair a cracked screen, this is a good option, because it allows you to restore the phone to usability for a reasonable amount of money. However, when choosing this type of service, one should pay attention to a few things: how long it operates on the market, whether it has references, whether it gives a guarantee for the service performed, and whether it provides full information on the spare parts used, etc. The service is provided by the customer.
It is worth mentioning that there are services that serve customers remotely, i.e. a phone with a compact screen can be sent to them by a courier and the same way to get the repaired equipment back to them. One of such companies is www.edv-repair.de .
As you can see, a cracked screen in a smartphone is not the end of the world, because there are quite a lot of ways to solve this problem. Due to the fact that the replacement of glass is often associated with considerable costs, it is advisable from the day of purchase of the phone to properly protect the screen against damage. There are special foils and protective glasses, as well as covers for smartphones.