So You’re Thinking of Replacing the Screen of Your Smart Phone All By Yourself?

Hmm… $15 dollars for a brand new glass panel for your Samsung Galaxy S III? Seems like a pretty good deal compared to the ludicrous prices charged these days to fix a broken screen. All I need to do is YouTube a tutorial video and follow the steps, and my phone will be back to brand new in no time. Right? Not so fast.

XDA Senior Member vantt1 created a PSA highlighting all the relatively unknown risks you’re about to undertake. He also covers the very possible, unwanted consequences of replacing screens by yourself, especially if you have little to no experience in doing so.

Because of the way most smartphones are manufactured nowadays, with optical lamination to make screens thinner and enhance touch sensitivity, removing the glass from the rest of the display with only the bits and bobs around your house will probably result in shattered glass, as well as a broken AMOLED or LCD panel. Vantt1 holds nothing back in proving this point, as can be seen with the numerous cringe-worthy pictures of vantt1’s endeavours in replacing the screen glass on a Galaxy S III and S 4.

In addition, vantt1 highlights that undergoing this process without gloves may lead to scratches, dust, fingerprints, and adhesive marks on your AMOLED panel—especially if you’re not a professional. On top of that, if you didn’t use machine-cut adhesive designed specifically to leave no gap between the glass and the AMOLED panel, you’re allowing dust to freely settle in underneath the glass after weeks or months of use.

In the end, the take-home message is to always know exactly what you’ll be getting into when you’re thinking of opting for the DIY path. $70 for a screen replacement done by a professional can be quite a lot for many people, so you have to ask yourself if it is worth avoiding all the troubles and risks vantt1 has highlighted and personally gone through.

To learn more of vantt1′s journey in screen-related frustration, check out the original thread.

source: xdadevelopers