Database Users

Brand new SGS2, screen defect

I just took delivery of my SGS2 yesterday, and I gotta say I absolutely love this phone. Coming from an LG eXpo with WinMo 6.5 and never having used Android, it doesn't even feel like a phone. Plus with all the easy integration with my Google accounts, I've never had a smoother transition to a new device before. All this makes it all the more difficult for me to have to send it back...
I'm not sure if anyone else has encountered this problem, but it looks like my phone came pre-packaged with burn in or something in the form of a dark circle near the upper right side of my screen. I've attached some photos of what it looks like.
I noticed this abnormality in the first 10 minutes or so of using the phone while looking at some photos on my Picasa account. I almost feel like this phone could have been a refurb unit, or the screen was reused or something. In fact, there appears to be more substantial burn in than I can photograph, as there are several other places where I can see strange distortions. Most, if not all, only show up when the brightness is less than 100%. I'd thought maybe it was some widget that caused the burn in, but I haven't been able to figure out which one it could be.
Anywho, I've already arranged an RMA thru Expansys-USA, and they did so without even asking any questions after my email with photos of the problem. So far I've received amazing support from Expansys-USA and definitely recommend them. Also going to see if I can request a replacement sent before I send back this one so I won't be without a phone during the shipping time, something they mention is possible in the RMA email (though they do charge you for it, to be refunded once they get the defective unit back and inspect it).
Would be interesting to see if anyone else has this problem. If there's already another post on this subject, sorry about this new one... didn't see any when I searched tho.

I can see the same thing on mine if I put it on the lowest brightness setting and display a grey image. Nowhere near as pronounced as on yours though, have to really really look for it, so can't be arsed to do anything about it.
Interesting that it's a perfect circle though, could it be just above the CPU or something?

Nope, haven't got that circle on mine at all.

Maybe an assembly worker lost their wedding ring, lol...
You'll be fine, it's an RMA for sure!

Defo a faulty phone
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I believe that mark is from the vacuum suction cup on the assembly line from the automated machine that handles positioning the display component. It technically should disappear over time, but I don't know how long.

I don't think it's the CPU, though to be honest I'm not sure where it is under the screen. There is that odd gold-colored sensor or whatever under that area, I think.
If it's a wedding ring, maybe this phone's worth more than the sticker price! haha
Vacuum cup huh... that's pretty bad if it's damaging the screen while doing that. I don't want to wait and see if it will disappear. If I do wait and it doesn't go away I'll be out $725 on a phone with a screen that'll constantly bug me.
Kinda funny, as I was looking at the photos I attached, I saw two rings... one in the photo, and the real one. Startled me when I first saw it.

I didnt have the same problem as you but i had line banding or something on my one.. i had to replace it 4 times then noticed it overheated+smell coming from it.. so i just returned it and got my money back.
Just be aware that you might get another faulty phone.. If i was you i would wait till it comes out in the US.

That sucks, and it's not good that other people are having some issues as well. Good to hear that Expansys is honoring their agreements though

This is why I don't import anymore

RogerPodacter said:
I believe that mark is from the vacuum suction cup on the assembly line from the automated machine that handles positioning the display component. It technically should disappear over time, but I don't know how long.
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Could well be spot on. I don't know if I'm imagining this, but I'm having more and more trouble seeing this ring on my display heh (had the phone for 9 days now).

RedBlueGreen said:
I didnt have the same problem as you but i had line banding or something on my one.. i had to replace it 4 times then noticed it overheated+smell coming from it.. so i just returned it and got my money back.
Just be aware that you might get another faulty phone.. If i was you i would wait till it comes out in the US.
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Man, that's really unlucky! Knock on wood, I hope I don't get another bad one. However I'm not sure waiting will do me much good. History has shown me that branded devices tend to have a lot of crap on them and lack certain features at times, and I don't have as much time as I used to to keep up with the scene to make the phone operate better all the time. Also, I'm contract-free with unlimited data on AT&T, and I don't like being locked into contracts. This isn't my first non-US phone, though. I'm happy to pay the extra money so long as it means I don't have to sign a contract.
drleospaceman said:
This is why I don't import anymore
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Click to collapse
From the Expansys-USA thread, sounds like they'll ship the phone back to the UK to have it serviced for you if it ever goes bad. This doesn't sound uncommon, either, as I've had a friend here ship his JP Xbox 360 back to Japan to have it serviced (with a another friend's JP address), and another friend in Japan had his laptop sent back here to have it serviced. Also, there's always the chance a non-import one will be bad, too. Luck of the draw, I guess, and perhaps early-adopter woes. lol

Got my replacement on Saturday, been playing with it ever since to see if I could find any further problems. Definitely no circle this time around, and some of the vertical banding I saw on my old phone in the notification screen is gone, but now has some very slight horizontal banding. Not a deal-breaker tho, so this one's staying with me. Also, hard to tell but I think the yellow/dark left screen problem is present, but so slight I can barely detect it if it's there and not a trick of the eye.
Gotta thank Expansys-USA for their great customer service. I'll definitely order from them again.

-Tj- said:
I just took delivery of my SGS2 yesterday, and I gotta say I absolutely love this phone. Coming from an LG eXpo with WinMo 6.5 and never having used Android, it doesn't even feel like a phone. Plus with all the easy integration with my Google accounts, I've never had a smoother transition to a new device before. All this makes it all the more difficult for me to have to send it back...
I'm not sure if anyone else has encountered this problem, but it looks like my phone came pre-packaged with burn in or something in the form of a dark circle near the upper right side of my screen. I've attached some photos of what it looks like.
I noticed this abnormality in the first 10 minutes or so of using the phone while looking at some photos on my Picasa account. I almost feel like this phone could have been a refurb unit, or the screen was reused or something. In fact, there appears to be more substantial burn in than I can photograph, as there are several other places where I can see strange distortions. Most, if not all, only show up when the brightness is less than 100%. I'd thought maybe it was some widget that caused the burn in, but I haven't been able to figure out which one it could be.
Anywho, I've already arranged an RMA thru Expansys-USA, and they did so without even asking any questions after my email with photos of the problem. So far I've received amazing support from Expansys-USA and definitely recommend them. Also going to see if I can request a replacement sent before I send back this one so I won't be without a phone during the shipping time, something they mention is possible in the RMA email (though they do charge you for it, to be refunded once they get the defective unit back and inspect it).
Would be interesting to see if anyone else has this problem. If there's already another post on this subject, sorry about this new one... didn't see any when I searched tho.
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I too have this issue at the bottom left of my screen, But i donno how to go about it, should i go ahead and ask for a replacement?? what did u do
Hardly noticable though

Tj,
I too have this issue at the bottom left of my screen, But i donno how to go about it, should i go ahead and ask for a replacement?? what did u do
Hardly noticable though

I would have it exchanged for another if you can. I had mine exchanged, but since I went with the cheap option the whole ordeal took almost a month (slow shipping). My replacement doesn't have a defect, but it's possible I have the yellow tint problem others have been reporting. I don't see it tho, and if it's there it doesn't bother me.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

Screen Circle problem

Got my SGSII yesterday only to realize that there is a circle on the downleft of screen. It's very annoying. Went to Telenor today but they had no phones left. Only thing to do now is wait 4 weeks for a new one.
Any idé on what this is? Have you checked your own ones?
imgur.com/a/pLZC5#3guAm

More people have this. I don't know if it went away with anyone? Some say it should go away and the production process causing it.
I see you also have the 1/3 yellowish/darker screen. I am wondering if there is someone who doesn't have this.
Sorry didn't want you to focuss on it, guess you didn't saw yet. but a lot have this(if not everybody).

r_a_c said:
More people have this. I don't know if it went away with anyone? Some say it should go away and the production process causing it.
I see you also have the 1/3 yellowish/darker screen. I am wondering if there is someone who doesn't have this.
Sorry didn't want you to focuss on it, guess you didn't saw yet. but a lot have this(if not everybody).
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Click to collapse
Haha now when you say it. I was so blind cause of that circle that I didn't notice the yellow/dark thing! Haha!
Do you have a link to any other source that say that they have gotten rid of the circle thing? I searched alot before posting but couldn't find anythin.

jedijens said:
Got my SGSII yesterday only to realize that there is a circle on the downleft of screen. It's very annoying. Went to Telenor today but they had no phones left. Only thing to do now is wait 4 weeks for a new one.
Any idé on what this is? Have you checked your own ones?
imgur.com/a/pLZC5#3guAm
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Click to collapse
wow almost looks like you kept your phone in your pocket with some coin for too long
dial *#0*# to see the menu for individual color display, or use some app like Dead Pixel Detect , to do more tests.

lol it's funny

Dont have any problems with my screen. Tried setting higher and lower brightness on different background and saw nothing. Are display problems really that common?

Jonzza said:
Dont have any problems with my screen. Tried setting higher and lower brightness on different background and saw nothing. Are display problems really that common?
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So no Yellow on the left side on grey? No vertical lines of white on grey background?
No blue coating when tilting the phone?
Take a picture i will look.

ams84 said:
lol it's funny
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Click to collapse
Funny like a face plant, as long as it's someone else.
I wouldn't be amused having to wait 4 weeks to get that fixed.

imgur.com/a/xdEvR
I took some more pictures on different backgrounds and it seems like it is only visible on grey. Ar almost.

Only thing to do is send it in?

this phone has so many faults.
all you can do is send it back and get another one... and hope that there isnt something wrong with that.

Am I lucky? My one has no problem. Did you do special things? Or the circle point was pressed? I am worry about possible problem on my sgs2.

topambire said:
Am I lucky? My one has no problem.
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Click to collapse
Give me 10 minutes with your phone and I'll find you one.

topambire said:
Am I lucky? My one has no problem. Did you do special things? Or the circle point was pressed? I am worry about possible problem on my sgs2.
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Didn't do anything. Opened it, charged it and booted it. Tested it out and rolled down statusbar, noticed directly and all my happyness for my new phone dissappeared.

I guess its the kind of person who owns the phone..
I myself am almost a perfectionist.. well.. atleast when i buy new things.. why would i want a new product with some minor/ major problems on it?
hardware problems.. not software.. since software can be fixed.

I had the circle on mine, top right of the screen. Made a thread about it last week: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1078058
Noticed it shortly after taking delivery of the box when I was viewing some photos. It's not visible on pixels where full brightness is used (no matter if it's R, G, or B), but on anything between black and full white it's visible. Sent mine back yesterday for replacement, but I was told by an Expansys-USA rep that they won't have any in stock till the 30th.
Supposedly it's from the suction cup used on the assembly line and that it's technically supposed to go away over time. Expansys only gives a small window of time for returns, and my circle wasn't showing signs of disappearing. Might wanna have yours swapped out, too.

Thanks, was looking for someone else having this problem.
I live in Sweden and ordered from operator Telenor.
They only have a 7 day DOA, so I called them and because all phones were out both in physical store and on the web, they was going to send me a servicebox that I will pack everything and then send it. Hopefully I will get a new one in a few weeks. They say that it can take up to a month though.

Hey there,
I got the exact same thing, but on the right side of the display. I got this thing just yesterday, I live in Germany.
I really do not want to send it back, especially since it seems display problems are pretty common with this phone and there is no guarantee I'll get another one without it.
Anyone knows if this might go away? I have 4 weeks until I have to send it back.

No idea if it will go away, but if you've got 4 weeks, maybe you can see if it does fade over time? I had a really short period of time to report any problems with the phone to Expansys (48 hours), so I couldn't wait.
Man... 4 weeks..! That seems like such a luxurious amount of time to check for problems with the phone.

I can't see anything like this on my phone...
How can I see/make it:-??

Moto X Screen burn-in

I bought my Moto X around the end of September and about two weeks after getting it, I had a screen burn-in from the notification bar and navigation bar. I let Motorola know and they happily replaced it. However few weeks after owning the second one I experienced the issue again and I let them know. They told me they were stunned and that I was literally the only person who had reported the issue.
What I am wondering is if anyone else has experienced this. I know it is a common problem with AMOLEDs, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon.
Sent from my XT1060 using xda app-developers app

I have never seen screen burn in on any phone. Not sure I would notice it in the notification and navigation areas since they always display the same things.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Screen burn in after 2 weeks? On 2 devices? Come on now...
Love your avatar BTW. I can quote that entire movie.

The galaxy nexus had that issue
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

_MetalHead_ said:
Love your avatar BTW. I can quote that entire movie.
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Click to collapse
Me to !! Hehe
Sa sens le Rooting icite !!

I saw burn in on a display model at Best Buy. It was the big Motorola M logo that displays at the boot animation. If you looked at a white web page or any solid, but light colored image, you could see the ghostly circle the size of a quarter complete with the swishy M in the middle of the screen. Got them to open a second demo model and boot it up so I could see a clean screen and bring it to their attention. Weird thing to have burned in, too.
Sent from my Moto X

Op did you leave both phones display on for 2weeks straight at 100% brightness? Lol
I have had mine for 2 months, do at least 4 hours sot daily, most of which is on reddit and xda, so nav and status are almost always static... I have zero sign of burn in.
I had it pretty good on my s3, but I blame ingress for that... Being outside playing so much and had it at 100% brightness because that screen was so dark... Even then it took at least 2 months before I saw any burn in and I was playing A LOT!
Can't imagine how you would get burn in on two devices, each in two weeks... Seems like that's a feat that you have to try and do, lol.
AT&T Moto X rocking rooted 4.4

_MetalHead_ said:
Screen burn in after 2 weeks? On 2 devices? Come on now...
Love your avatar BTW. I can quote that entire movie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you thing the man is making this up? Come on Now!

flacco40 said:
What do you thing the man is making this up? Come on Now!
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I'd be hard pressed to believe this as well... I've had numerous amoled devices and abused the crap out of them and even then, it took months to get any sort it noticeable burn in... If it were one device then I wouldn't second guess it, chalk it up to manufacture defect... But two in a row? I'm curious as to what the op uses his phones for and if he ever turns off the screens... Even store display models take a while to get burn in and they are on 3-4 times as much as a typical power user.
AT&T Moto X rocking rooted 4.4

scottjb said:
I have never seen screen burn in on any phone. Not sure I would notice it in the notification and navigation areas since they always display the same things.
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Click to collapse
I'll have to send you a pic of my GNex then, so you can see the perfect "ghost" of a Pandora logo in the middle of the screen from running the display full time in my car dock.
I also remember similar complaints when the GNex first came out, of people claiming they were getting burn-in on the notification bar area, and I thought they were ridiculous at the time. Now, not so much.

It happened to my gnex, so I'm not surprised that it happened on this phone too.
I'm not saying you're faking it, but 2 weeks is a little too soon for it to be happening. The gnex only had the issue after a year or so. Are you keeping the display on all the time when charging or something?

They will eventually burn in if you set the screen to never time out and leave it displaying the same thing for hours or days on end. Most store models have some level of burn it. In normal use cases it should never be an issue though.

aooga said:
It happened to my gnex, so I'm not surprised that it happened on this phone too.
I'm not saying you're faking it, but 2 weeks is a little too soon for it to be happening. The gnex only had the issue after a year or so. Are you keeping the display on all the time when charging or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It happened with my GNex too.

Main reason I can't use another amoled phone
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Just passing by, but 2 weeks is entirely possible.
If you keep using the phone with the notification bar displayed and then two weeks later open a full screen browser, you will most likely notice burn in if you look close enough.
It's extremely easy to do.

I bought an S3 from ebay with real bad screen burn in (that the seller didn't mention). She actually didn't believe me and accused me of scamming her until I replied back with a contact name and number that was burned into the top of the screen from the messaging app (the keyboard was also burned in, I guess she constantly texted this person).
I think burn in is more likely to happen when brightness is higher. I had a GNex and GS3 that never got any sort of burn in but I also rarely had the brightness above 50%.

you know, now that I look, I have it too. It's faint, and I thought it was from the Nova Launcher beta, but ****, this is screen burn in. Damn.
---------- Post added at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 PM ----------
I don't even use my phone that much. Generally around 1.5 or 2 hours screen time per day. Brightness is about half. Kinda crazy.

Recommend using an app such as:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.feetstech.screenburn&hl=en
to minimize this. Most plasma TV's have something like this built in as they are also prone to burn-in. Use it for 10 minutes every once in a while (even if you don't see burn in) and it should prevent it.

I got screen burn in on my S4 after 2 months. But I also blame ingress for that. I have a X coming and hope to minimize that by not playing ingress so much or play on another device. One thing that I do for the status bar to help out is with nova launcher I have it set to swipe the notification bar on top away. I try to leave it off the screen as much as possible. But yes amoled screens suck for burn in.

I usually turn my phone to the 270 degree position to have the navigation bars switch sides every now and then. That helps a bit.
And with AMOLEDs, it's more important to turn off the screen when not in use rather than let it time out. I have mine set to 10 minutes, but I usually manually turn off the screen because I know AMOLEDs are prone to burn-in over time.

Warranty claims for screen burn?

I've got some incredibly bad screen burn with the whole bottom 2 thirds of screen gone yellow and I'm returning phone to Samsung in the freepost envelope they sent but has anyone had experience dealing with Samsung with this to know what to expect?

Doubt they'll replace it under warranty for burn-in, such is the way of the beast with AMOLED screens if you leave the same thing on the screen constantly, but good luck

How did it even became like that? I had an amoled TV for years and it didn't even exhibit this problem even when it's on most of the day...

Riyal said:
How did it even became like that? I had an amoled TV for years and it didn't even exhibit this problem even when it's on most of the day...
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Click to collapse
Leaving the same image on the screen constantly, with a TV, the picture is always moving, if OP uses a certain app 24/7, like facebook or something, the majority of that image remains the same, sidebar, top bar, etc etc, only text changes
Basically we're back to the old green screen issues and why we ended up with screensavers on PCs
EDIT - In fact it looks like touchwiz launcher is partially responsible, along with the top notification bar, my guess is OP sets screen timeout to highest, and keeps the screen on the same thing constantly through the day, full brightness likely too

*Detection* said:
my guess is OP sets screen timeout to highest, and keeps the screen on the same thing constantly through the day, full brightness likely too
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hence the reason they wont fix it cause its his fault.
and were assumi9ng the reason the android tv didnt do it is because it didnt use amoled

I do use full brightness and most of the use is from Chrome browser and Youtube but the screen is set to a 2 minute timeout so certainly isn't left alone for long periods.
So I'm not using the phone in any abnormal way that would go against any usage terms that maybe in the warranty, and the really dark burning in the middle by any standard could be said the phone is no longer fit for purpose because it's well beyond any acceptable wear and tear.

Just been on the phone to Samsung and they said clearly that the warranty does cover this so soon as I get the chance I'll either go to the Local Samsung store or post it in.

Thanks for the update. Definitely not normal and using your phone is not grounds for disregarding the warranty. Brightness is there to use. There is no disclaimer stating you can harm your phone by making your screen too bright. Where do people get this stuff?
This is the first time since my Nexus 1 that I've seen any phone with burn in. Thought we were all past that.

GorillaPimp said:
There is no disclaimer stating you can harm your phone by making your screen too bright. Where do people get this stuff?
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you dont really need a disclaimer to know that screen burn exists, a simple understanding of science does that. and we were speculating about the warranty issues

Well done Michael P. I have the same issue on my 10 month old Galaxy S7 Edge. I use Google Maps constantly for business purposes, and now have screen burn. Despite Pilot's sarcastic answer, not every one is a super geek with a pre-existing knowledge of Amoled screen inner workings. My BSc degree and Masters were in other subjects, and screen technology has never interested or bothered me. When I buy a product I expect it to work perfectly for at least a year. A clear warning when buying the product saying "do not leave on a static screen for more than X amount of minutes" would have caused me to educate myself on the pitfalls of S7 screens, and Samsung would not be forking get out to send me a new phone free of charge.

I have the same problem
Michael_P said:
I've got some incredibly bad screen burn with the whole bottom 2 thirds of screen gone yellow and I'm returning phone to Samsung in the freepost envelope they sent but has anyone had experience dealing with Samsung with this to know what to expect?
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I hope I'm writing in the right place, but I've had the same problem since a few months after buying my S7 edge. I keep my screen at 50% & have a 2 min timeout that I never use. I always turn my phone off when I'm done... force of habit. The top of the screen dimmed greatly at first and then almost immediately after, I've had this ghost keyboard. Ugh. I'm a photog, so editing is a nightmare. I didn't buy the warranty & my 2 yr contract is almost up. I've had this issue for well over a year & had no idea I could do anything. I'm guessing it's too late to complain. I've been so mad about this darn phone for so long. Such a huge disappointment for such an enormous expense. I'm not a phone junkie, but I do use whatsapp quite a bit to talk to my husband when he's away. I have pictures but I'm new and can't find the button to post them. It sure would be nice to get a new phone. I hate this issue. It drives me crazy. I'm sorry to all who are stuck with this yucky problem. Thank you for letting me rant. Have a blessed day, everyone.

Pink Lines on Screen

Wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. The other day I noticed that in apps with a white background color, I would have horizontal pink lines on the screen, sometimes vertical, too. It drove me crazy enough that I went to the Samsung service center close to where I live, and the guy flat out just told me that the screen needed to be replaced. I didn't leave the phone with them because I kind of need it, but I will have to eventually.
Weird thing is that there are no dead pixels - all the pixels are fine and went through the pixel test with no issues.
Anyone else experiencing this? Pretty frustrating since I got the phone less than 2 months ago.

ynrozturk said:
Wondering if anyone else has run into this issue. The other day I noticed that in apps with a white background color, I would have horizontal pink lines on the screen, sometimes vertical, too. It drove me crazy enough that I went to the Samsung service center close to where I live, and the guy flat out just told me that the screen needed to be replaced. I didn't leave the phone with them because I kind of need it, but I will have to eventually.
Weird thing is that there are no dead pixels - all the pixels are fine and went through the pixel test with no issues.
Anyone else experiencing this? Pretty frustrating since I got the phone less than 2 months ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I think I might be having a similar problem, it started to happen yesterday and about a third of my phone is now constantly turning pink. If your problem is like the one below then let me know and I'll keep you informed in what Samsung say when I contact them later today
Just realised I can't post links yet but the images are here imgur(dot)com/a/YBA5o

Same thing started happening to me a few hours ago.

Definitely a hardware fault.

Mine was purple smudges and washed out, sent out they replaced the phone, its a hardware/factory defect.

Yeah definitely a hardware problem. I took a screenshot of the pink and sent it to my computer so I could view it there, and the screenshot was absolutely fine and pink free on my computer, so yeah, hardware problem like the people at Samsung said.
Just sucks that I can't get a replacement unit because I am over the 30 day period. That is just bull**** if you ask me. The phone is still brand new and doesn't even have a hairline scratch on it.

Sorry to necro this thread but the same thing happened to me again, after the screen was replaced the first time. Now it's gone in for a second time. I think this is a pretty well known issue with certain S7 Edge productions. Really even scared of the Note 7 now because I believe it's happening because of the edge panel.

2nd phone with the same issue, 1st time they replaced the phone for brand new, now the same problem... it happens only on s7 edge duo?

Past 31st I bought the S7edge black pearl version. When the Samsung sales executive unboxed and switch on those pink lines were displaying. I was shocked to see those. Immediately they asked me to wait and replaced a new one. I waited for an hour there and browsed my phone completely so that there will no major disappointment.
Just shared this incident on seeing this thread.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

sam**** at its best again!
after note 7 failure they dont even care about this as they also updat bugs in 1+ old premium non premium devices :/ and then they launch new devices with smooth OS and higher price tag!
i had NOTE 4 EDGE from last 1 year. recently i saw a green line on my edge panel and after a day it disappeared. i sold out my note edge! em not gonna buy any sam**** device again to $900 !!!!! the lines on screen issues are common in note 4, note 4 edge, S6, S6 edge and now S7 EDGE :/ just to sell more note 5 and note 7 but both faild
now its s7 edge turn to face these all bugs!!!!! cox S8 coming! RIP