Google Nexus 5: So easy to fix, it's practically a DIY kit - except for ONE thing The teardown team at iFixit has had a bad run of things lately, with Apple and Microsoft's shiny new fondleslabs earning very low ratings for reparability recently. But Google's new Nexus 5 has broken this trend, earning an eight out of ten rating for being easy to open and repair. Nexus 5 teardown The Nexus 5 in pieces …
That one flaw aside however Google and LG should be rather pleased with iFixit's eight-out-of-ten score.
Unless I've read it wrong, that flaw means "if you break the screen, you have to buy a new phone".
Pretty certain that cracked screens are the single most common issue with smartphones.
>Pretty certain that cracked screens are the single most common issue with smartphones.
Amen to that.
Seems like it's the same thing as with iPhones. If you crack the outer glass the problem is that it and the LCD screen are one component. The fix is to replace the glass and the LCD screen. Which doesn't come cheap, but usually drops to <$80 if you shop around repair shops and if your shiny is not the latest & greatest.
So, not quite a new phone.
This coupling of component is annoying, for sure, but I suspect part of it is that touchscreen glass is not quite as simple a piece of kit as it looks.
I replaced an iPhone 4s screen/digitiser for < £50 at around 18 months ago (6 months into an 18 month contract!) i would call that pretty shiny at the time and far better then a an £200 Apple repair cost (at the time!).
The phone has since then been traded in / upgraded for an iPhone 5 and accepted for £250 cash back...
Shop around and you can get a decent deal on spare parts.
Ditto, recently had a similar experience with my son's nexus 7, bought a screen/digitiser as he'd cracked the glass which had broken the digitiser. I didn't like the thought of tackling the glue holding the screen to the digitiser so just bought the whole unit for about £55. As good as new now.
Sorry it was Android Authority I got the other article from:
http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-replace-cracked-nexus-7-screen-209240/
My memory was clearly shot yesterday as it was eBay I got the unit from not Amazon, it was from a user called 'weloveaccess', they have good standing on eBay and they have more stock by the looks of it, the unit comes with some tools for prying.
The trickiest bit I found was removing the silver plastic surround from the unit, a hair-dryer is definitely recommended to loosen the glue, if any gets stuck to the screen don't worry it is possible to peel it off and re-apply it to the plastic surround so you can stick it to the new unit. Almost forgot, have a pair of tweezers on standby as well ;-)
If the screen is damaged, then there is a good chance that the front glass/touchscreen will also be damaged anyway.
And the rest is really just a plastic moulding, so won't add significantly to the cost.
When I've replaced the screen on a couple of phones, I've always decided to replace the glass as a matter of course. If you're going to take the effort to dismantle a phone, replacing the class seems like a minor extra expense.
If you get a 2GB quadcore phone today, it won't be carp and worn out in 2 years. Maybe you should change the battery, but that is it,
It will be different when we all start using our phones as our main and only computer.. but we still lack the software...
Glad you are non-demanding customer. High end phones are easily $6-700, out of pocket. I don't know that many pieces of kit where people think it is perfectly OK to throw that kind of $ in the thrash after 2 yrs.
I buy them direct to avoid contracts with mandatory data package gouging. Sure, it _looks_ cheaper if you get it subsidized...
My only real beef with my 2.5 yr old phone is the battery. That, and the fact that its latest OS iteration is a bit tight on it.
Paris - because your comment is like something she'd say.
Using non-standard screws is most common for petty minded reasons - occasionally they are for a good reason such as critical components involving safety.
I usually insert a Notice into my property, printed on a piece of plastic that gives my name and a couple of contact points. It also states unless a certain document is shown, the unit has been likely stolen. I do this with all my high value equipment.
The local Samsung Customer Service store, there are FIVE in Ho Chi Minh City alone, kindly unscrewed the inner backplate of my Note 3, under the battery, and squeezed it in. Quite honestly, I could have done it myself as none of the screws were non-standard.
Thank you, Samsung.
"What is the reason for using off-standard screws given they defeat no one "
Two reasons:
1) Typically the standard Philips screws are less amenable to automated assembly, so you'd want to use a machine friendly alternative (which could have been a more standard torx).
2) You and I might not be kept out, but I don't think we're the greasy-fingered hordes that tamper resistant screws are a defence against. So non-standard screws will defeat those who would use (for example) a Ph driver on a PZ screw. Those people you most certainly do want to keep out, and having a non-standard screw will work well.
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