Sister broke her Note 3

[darkswordsman17]

My sister managed to lose her Note 3, and of course we couldn't track it because she didn't know her Google account. But then a neighbor happened to find it a day later. The short of it is, it apparently got dropped outside on the road and ran over. It actually seemed to have only sustained minor damage, it had an Otterbox case that was completely undamaged other than tire marks on the white back and some overpriced Verizon branded tempered glass screen cover that cracked. But apparently it was enough to damage the display somehow (has one larger impact dent/crack that seems to have made it through to the actual display, but for it not being any more bad than it is I was surprised that the entire display won't work now).

Is OLED more fragile where a small crack in the screen will knock it all out or could it maybe be something else like the display cable? The capacitive buttons still work (she can actually answer calls but since the display won't register anything can't actually do anything else).

Looked and replacements are $150+ and I assume Samsung repair would probably be more expensive than that. Figure she might as well spring a bit more for the whole front piece which will make the repair much easier.

 

[Ravynmagi]

OLED isn't more fragile that I'm aware of. I've seen regular LCD panels also go completely caput from just a small crack. Just bad luck I think.

I'm scared to buy replacement LCDs. I tried 2 or 3 for some iPhones and they were all defective. Hard to find a reputable source it seems.

Note 4 is coming out next month...

 

[chimaxi83]

I was going to recommend a solution, but without pics of sister, I'm at a loss.

Kidding :sneaky: I've had success fixing broken iPhone screens for friends and family. I've only done it with a screen + digitizer though, which IMO is the way to go. Trying to do screen only and messing with adhesive and whatever else seems like a pain. Are you handy? You can always try to repair it yourself. YouTube is full of how to videos.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I'm not an expert on this, but I'm going to guess whole screen not working has more to do with being run over by an unknown number of cars than a little crack in the screen.

 

[Trombe]

Only takes slight damage to the flex cable on a display for the digitizer to have dead zones (or in your case completely dead) IME. Very possible that either the drop or the car running over it could've damaged it.

 

[TheStu]

I replaced the screen+digitizer on my iPhone 4, it all worked great. I say try your hand at it, it seems pretty straightforward.

 

[ibex333]

Just pay Samsung for a repair. You have NO IDEA how annoying, time consuming and difficult it is to replace a screen on the iPhone, not to mention a Samsung phone which is much, much more difficult IMO.

Do you want to sit there for hours with a blow dryer or a heat gun for hours trying to dislodge that damn screen? It has to be a very precise job. Do you actually have free time for that? If yes, more power to you bro! If you never done this before, I'd say forget it! Practice on cheaper phones several times, then you can try your hand with a Note 3.

 

[chimaxi83]

Just pay Samsung for a repair. You have NO IDEA how annoying, time consuming and difficult it is to replace a screen on the iPhone, not to mention a Samsung phone which is much, much more difficult IMO.

Do you want to sit there for hours with a blow dryer or a heat gun for hours trying to dislodge that damn screen? It has to be a very precise job. Do you actually have free time for that? If yes, more power to you bro! If you never done this before, I'd say forget it! Practice on cheaper phones several times, then you can try your hand with a Note 3.

Nope. Screen + digitizer is a screw off, screw on job. Anyone who is even slightly handy can do it.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah I looked and that's why I think its worth spending the extra ($20-50) for the whole piece instead of just the display. It includes the screen, digitizer, front panel/glass, I believe the shiny plastic surround, and the plastic midframe (and some of the internals themselves actually). You just swap over the circuit boards, battery, and rear covers pretty much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZA0rcL7tOk

I'm not an expert on this, but I'm going to guess whole screen not working has more to do with being run over by an unknown number of cars than a little crack in the screen.

The phone is still in great shape otherwise. The actual damage to the phone is just a little dent crack (roughly what you'd get from say a pen getting stabbed hard into it). I don't even know if the crack actually made it to the display itself, it might've only gotten through the glass cover (and the tempered glass cover that was over it).

I guess I might should check and see if maybe the ribbon cable just got popped loose or broke. For the damage, I just can't believe that the entire display won't work.

 

[s44]

Looked and replacements are $150+ and I assume Samsung repair would probably be more expensive than that. Figure she might as well spring a bit more for the whole front piece which will make the repair much easier.

$150+ *is* the whole front piece (screen/digitizer combo).

 

[darkswordsman17]

I checked out the phone more as she wasn't able to answer calls any more for some reason. Took it apart, and it didn't even break the glass on the phone, but it did apply enough pressure that it cracked the display underneath some right at the top edge in the middle. I took it apart and the ribbon cable and all the internals are fine. Was able to get it back to answering calls by removing the battery and turning it back on.

$150+ *is* the whole front piece (screen/digitizer combo).

When I looked, which granted was a quick look, the display itself was going for ~$150 (there might've been one cheaper than), and the whole front clip was ~$20-50 more. I certainly won't complain if its cheaper to get the whole front for cheaper though. It makes the switch a lot easier. Only thing is I need to find some way of removing the bottom circuit board that the guy in the walkthrough used a heat gun on (I don't have a heat gun).

Is finding a reliable seller that will sell authentic parts still such a total crapshoot? That's my concern, doesn't matter if you save some money if you just get a POS replacement that isn't the same, or get nonworking ones and have to fight with a seller to get a working one.

 

[TrulyUncouth]

My wife's GS3 got a basically invisible crack in the screen after being dropped in an otterbox and slowly got distorted colors over the course of a few hours then the screen went black completely.

People claim OLED isn't particularly sensitive to drops but my experience outside the original galaxy S is that they are. I must have dropped my GS1 10-15 times, even once 18 feet off a loading dock onto concrete and no crack or real problems all with no case on. My wife dropped her GS3 once, in a friggin otterbox and it was shot completely.

With all that said... my god does OLED look amazing