Database Users

Front Bezel (Real or Fake Aluminum)

I know its vain... but I scratched on the bezel of my 8525 the first day I bought it and staring at it is really starting to annoy me. Its the bezel part that starts above the call buttons and goes up the right side and then along the top.
Does anyone know if it is made from real brushed aluminum or is it plastic made to look like brushed aluminum? If its real, I'm going to dremel the scratch away... if its plastic and I try doing that... it will only make it much worse.
Thanks for any help on this.
EDIT: Does anyone have a dead 8525 or even just the front part they want to get rid of for cheap? I figure I could replace the bezel as well. Thanks again.

I'm not sure how does the fake plastic goes, but aluminum is a electric conductor, you can try and see if it gets electric passed through it? Still, fake plastic may be a conductor as well (i.e. uses aluminum powder to make it shiny). Anyway, if it was to be aluminum, it should be cold to the touch.
BTW, when you said "dremel the scratch away", how do you do that? I had a big one on my Wizard too, it is definitely aluminum here. Also, I have an old SStell watch that I would like to get the scratch off

Sure feels like METAL. One thing to fix smaller scratches on metal, try eraser for ink, it's slightly abrasive.

hanmin said:
I'm not sure how does the fake plastic goes, but aluminum is a electric conductor, you can try and see if it gets electric passed through it? Still, fake plastic may be a conductor as well (i.e. uses aluminum powder to make it shiny). Anyway, if it was to be aluminum, it should be cold to the touch.
BTW, when you said "dremel the scratch away", how do you do that? I had a big one on my Wizard too, it is definitely aluminum here. Also, I have an old SStell watch that I would like to get the scratch off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am fairly skillful with a dremel. I was thinking I would us a fine grained dremel brush and brush along the grain. Basically, it would be recessing that part of the bezel down to the depth of the scratch (it is uneven new and the scratch is located at a slightly elevated position which would be perfect for this). This would only work for slight scratches.

I know this
It dents like aluminum. I dropped mine last winter, and it put some scratches and dents int it... well the dents curve into the hole, which plastic would just shear and have a grooved edge, it wouldn't bend. So My vote is metal.

jompao said:
Sure feels like METAL. One thing to fix smaller scratches on metal, try eraser for ink, it's slightly abrasive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hunting for an erasable ink pen right now. Thanks.

tsunami982 said:
I hunting for an erasable ink pen right now. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People use it to take care of small scratches on fine watches, so I'm guessing it will work here to. Obviously you need to use it direction of the "brushed" direction of the metal.
You can stumble on interesting stuf on the net.
I 've read people were removing branding from phones with a sugar cube. Abrasive enough to remove screen printed branding but not enough to scratch the plastic. Not to say that trick will work on Hermes.

Painting TF101

I have been thinking for a while that i want to paint the front plastics from brown to black and was wondering the best way. If anyone has done or knows something about painting pstic with out fingers getting paint when done

ummmm...there was a guy on here that mentioned about polishing the bezel section and such on here because it was dropped. Turned out pretty good in the end, I would contact the OP on that thread about that.
As far as my experience goes, I had an Acura RSX that I painted the plastic headlights (the shiny inside part) black and various colors for other people and they turned out good. The key thing is to remove the old stuff off first before doing so. you are basically then starting with a fresh canvas. wear latex or nitrile gloves as well. use paint cleaner to really get all the oils and stuff off. a LIGHT coat of primer, and then light passes of paint make all the difference in the world.

Or is the rounding material before glass metal? Im starting to feel its metal instead of plastic?

You know what, it is metal, that's right. I remember that guy anodized his bezel.

SoonHD2 said:
Or is the rounding material before glass metal? Im starting to feel its metal instead of plastic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely metal. You can feel it especially while charging.

Maybe plastic dip. Google it.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

Condition of Black One, scratch, chip, crack, etc

I would like to start a topic dedicated to black HTC One, since there is still not many people got the black One, and hope this topic could help others see how durable/not durable the casing is, especially over time.
We all know that both silver and black One have the same aluminum casing, anodized, difference is the colour. So silver version naturally hides the scratches but black version will show clearly the scratches.
Hope all the black One owner would come and share the condition of their phone, if it is still no scratch at all, or already developed some annoying marks.
I will start from me, I had the black One for 1.5 days, still naked no case, there is one small scratch at the bottom speaker area, very thin line so must be due to sand; top edge near headphone jack has little scratch or chip, not sure what it is, but silver colour so noticeable; the top plastic strap at the back above camera had developed a crack since got the phone.
All of them are very small so not able to show on picture, will definitely post picture if things get worse.
I will try to report back often, but hope this post won't grow too big so it would mean actually the black One is holding up pretty well.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[Update: 24/04/2013, 5 days after I had the phone, I always baby the phone.]
I got two tiny scratches, picture included, see post 12.

Sadly, EXACTLY why I didnt get black. I saw MANY videos on Youtube and alot of them had scratches around that shiny bezel and along the edges. They weren't even highlighting the scratches, I just noticed them. Man, it looks beautiful, but unfortunately shows many of the scratches that the silver doesn't. I remember the iPhone 5 went through the same thing.
Really sucks that people cant show off the beautiful phone without a case. I have a thin leather case on mine, and REALLY wish I could go "naked" but know better. (been there, done that!). At least I love the looks on the leather.

Oh, that's really sad and worrying, I have seen colleague's black iPhone 5 which only had two tiny marks at the edge, so I thought One would be similar. I accept the danger of having the black, but really want to see in a normal careful usage, will it be scratched badly still?
Tomorrow Monday is a good day, I can put my phone in the bad world to see how it survives or not... Until tomorrow!
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Just a caveat to my prev. post. ALL aluminum (encased) phones, ESPECIALLY if they are anodized to a color, will have the same issues.

woodekx said:
Just a caveat to my prev. post. ALL aluminum (encased) phones, ESPECIALLY if they are anodized to a color, will have the same issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I totally agree with you, however I want to see how the black One stands daily usage and if it gets scratches very easily.
I have the black One, at least in the next few days I will report back.
Just hope this could help other people make sensible decision on what colour to choose.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

h.han said:
Yes I totally agree with you, however I want to see how the black One stands daily usage and if it gets scratches very easily.
I have the black One, at least in the next few days I will report back.
Just hope this could help other people make sensible decision on what colour to choose.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't think the real problem is as much the anodizing, is as it is with the routed beveled edges. As beautiful as they are, those sharp edges seem to be very venerable to chips/ dings. Iphone 5s had the same issues. Hey, I love em! The really give the phone a "rich" look.

I can't even get a black one. That's what I'm waiting on. Only available in silver here.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app

I think the shiny part on the edges aren't anodized and is just plain paint. I haven't seen any anodized metal that's shiny my whole life lol! It should be matte texture so that maybe the reason why it's chipping. Unlike the silver though the edges are exposed plain aluminum it doesn't have any paint nor anodized layer so it won't chip.
I also wanted the black HTC One and said to myself I'll just apply a transparent nail polish on the edges but I got fed up waiting so got the silver instead and waiting for it to arrive till now.
Good luck guys! For me given the chance right now if I could choose I would still select the black over the silver.
All I could suggest is...
1. You could coat the edges with transparent films to avoid the scratches or
2. You could scrape the black color on the edges and give it a shiny silver bezel instead like the silver one. That would make it look more premium if you ask me...
Imagine it... Pure black matte body with shiny silver edges

Riyal said:
I think the shiny part on the edges aren't anodized and is just plain paint. I haven't seen any anodized metal that's shiny my whole life lol! It should be matte texture so that maybe the reason why it's chipping. Unlike the silver though the edges are exposed plain aluminum it doesn't have any paint nor anodized layer so it won't chip.
I also wanted the black HTC One and said to myself I'll just apply a transparent nail polish on the edges but I got fed up waiting so got the silver instead and waiting for it to arrive till now.
Good luck guys! For me given the chance right now if I could choose I would still select the black over the silver.
All I could suggest is...
1. You could coat the edges with transparent films to avoid the scratches or
2. You could scrape the black color on the edges and give it a shiny silver bezel instead like the silver one. That would make it look more premium if you ask me...
Imagine it... Pure black matte body with shiny silver edges
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not so sure about black phone with shiny silver bezel but won't mind see one in real life (not mine though)
Just update on the condition of my black One, it's been more than 3 days since I got it, naked all the time, no new scratches or chip apart from two which appeared on day 1.
Yes I did baby my phone, not like avoid using it, just not putting other stuff in the same pocket, trying not to drop it, not touching the metal button near my pocket when putting phone in, laying it on a clean surface, etc. All commonsense.
But yes, the shiny bezel may give up first another reason being the edge of the bezel is so sharp, touching it over time may just remove the colour of the coating and show a silver line. But so far it's holding up well.
Comparing to the back, the up and bottom speaker pieces seem more easily scratched, the surface of them seem more rough than the back aluminum which means sand or other hard material will cause more obvious damage to them.
Hope other people who had the black One longer than I did can share what the condition of their phones are at.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Mmmm but where are the pics??

vegetaleb said:
Mmmm but where are the pics??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only have two very tiny scratches they are too small to be captured on camera, apart from those two, my phone is in new condition.
Hence no picture sorry.
I would like this thread to gather conditions of as many black One as possible to give a real life example of what to expect if anyone wants to get a black One. Or if you don't have the black One, anticipation of what could get scratched/chipped easily is also welcome.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Ok, on the way home on the train, just saw a light mark dot on the edge of top frame above the front camera. Did not do anything special to my phone, was browsing web...
Will update a picture later when a reach a camera.
It's very small but big enough to be noticed.
[UPDATE] picture uploaded
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

Hi again guys! I am gathering info with regards to the chipping info of these phones... I just wanna ask... Where does the scratches/chipping happen?
Is it on the unibody aluminum part of the phone or within the speaker grills? I'm not sure yet but I'm thinking maybe the speaker grills aren't anodized.

Riyal said:
Hi again guys! I am gathering info with regards to the chipping info of these phones... I just wanna ask... Where does the scratches/chipping happen?
Is it on the unibody aluminum part of the phone or within the speaker grills? I'm not sure yet but I'm thinking maybe the speaker grills aren't anodized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure my ones are chippings or just simple scratches, more likely scratches. In my mind, chippings are marks that appeared without phone being hit by a harder object.
I would imagine the speaker parts are easier to get scrached than the back, but I tried using my keys to scratch them (mid force), it only left some trace which were wiped away, so it seems they are quite tough as well.
The only noticable scratches are on the top shiny edge above the front camera, no idea why it happened. They are very small but if you look carefully, they are there.

im thinking to get a black one, then pair it with a dual layer case like the incipio dualpro.
silicone inside, pvc hardcase layer outside

shiningarmor said:
im thinking to get a black one, then pair it with a dual layer case like the incipio dualpro.
silicone inside, pvc hardcase layer outside
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I actually ordered a disztronic black case shipping from US (I am in UK), although I really prefer keeping the phone naked.
But yes, all aluminum phones will get scratched just a matter of time, so having a case is necessary to standby.
So far I am quite happy about the condition of my black One, although I only had it for 5 days, but at least it seems it won't chip automatically like the HTC One S (black) did. Of course, they have different material.

Painted bezel / Zero-gap: Like? Dislike? Scrape it off?

The Moto X has an interesting glass front. The glass actually covers the entire face and "wraps" around the sides of the phone to the equator of the entire phone. This was commonly referred to as the "zero-gap" or "magic-glass" technology when I was first reading about the phone.
The bezel that we have appears to be painted onto the glass itself. Especially for people like me with the white face, the painted bezel effect really shows off a rather unsightly vertical gap between the painted bezel and the surface of the digitizer, which rests about .5 mm under the glass itself.
I wonder what the glass looks like under the painted bezel. If it was scraped off, do you think it would just be smooth glass enveloping the front of the phone? If so, I wonder why Motorola felt the need to paint the bezel on. That painted bezel looks really cheap to me.

I read rumors that it was wrap around glass but I really don't believe that to be the case - when tapping on it with a metal object, the "wrap around" area sounds distinctly plastic and on the top, you can actually see a distinct area where the plastic is taller than the glass that meets it.
It would be a lot more expensive to create a wrap-around glass piece than it would be to simply do some good plastic forming create tight bezels. I don't think it's glass at all - it's just plastic that's assembled with the glass to some tight tolerances.
Look here:
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/KidY6tB4P22vESDH.huge
Looks/sounds/feels like plastic to me.

binary visions said:
I read rumors that it was wrap around glass but I really don't believe that to be the case - when tapping on it with a metal object, the "wrap around" area sounds distinctly plastic and on the top, you can actually see a distinct area where the plastic is taller than the glass that meets it.
It would be a lot more expensive to create a wrap-around glass piece than it would be to simply do some good plastic forming create tight bezels. I don't think it's glass at all - it's just plastic that's assembled with the glass to some tight tolerances.
Look here:
https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/KidY6tB4P22vESDH.huge
Looks/sounds/feels like plastic to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree. While the teardown picture shows what appears to be plastic, there appears to be an additional layer of something covering the outer rim. Check the bottom right (and even bottom left) corner(s) shown in the picture. In the alternative, the "wrapped" portion of the glass simply doesn't go as far as the equator.
I'm virtually certain there is some "wrapping" going on, largely due to the fact that I'm dealing with a white face. I will stake my life on the fact that there is no horizontal meeting between the glass and the bezel (on the flat portion of the face). I can actually see under the painted bezel and see no leading edge of plastic. The glass just goes until I can't see any further. I agree with you that it sounds like plastic when tapped with metal (I just tested it myself), but that can be easily explained by the mere fact that it is painted with some plastic-like substance.
Finally, I think your statement that the bezel is raised only supports the idea that the bezel is painted atop the surface of the glass. If it weren't, you could theoretically have it be level with the glass, though not necessarily. I really wish someone's teardown would show a close picture of the glass.

its not painted glass or wrap around glass. its a plastic bezel. i know becasue i can lift mine up with my fingernail

I have a white front too. At first I was too a bit angry about that shadow where glass touches the plastic/color, but I learned to live with it I don't really think it is just color. Maybe it's some really thin plastic bezel on top of the glass, but certainly not color. Try to look at some crashtests of Moto X. If you look at damaged bezel, you can see it's not just color but something more solid

eyc said:
I agree with you that it sounds like plastic when tapped with metal (I just tested it myself), but that can be easily explained by the mere fact that it is painted with some plastic-like substance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it wouldn't. Painting a glass surface with plastic doesn't make it resonate like plastic. Especially not at the thin layers we're talking about.
Finally, I think your statement that the bezel is raised only supports the idea that the bezel is painted atop the surface of the glass.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To raise that tiny little piece of bevel on the top and bottom of the phone, and do all of this wrapping, would be very expensive since it would be pretty sophisticated forming, and from an engineering standpoint, it's a bad idea.
I'd lay money on it being plastic. Easy test, though - go ahead and scrape off your paint and we'll see. I'm not going to do it on mine, though, since it's plastic and will look like hell after that

murso74 said:
its not painted glass or wrap around glass. its a plastic bezel. i know becasue i can lift mine up with my fingernail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, then. I stand corrected. What do you see when you lift it up? Does the glass extend a tad past the plastic bezel? I guess the plastic bezel is just really thin and tapers off into paper-thinness at the very edge where you see the glass.

eyc said:
Well, then. I stand corrected. What do you see when you lift it up? Does the glass extend a tad past the plastic bezel? I guess the plastic bezel is just really thin and tapers off into paper-thinness at the very edge where you see the glass.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly I can't really tell... Seems like plastic. I can slip my thumb nail between the side glasss and the plastic bezel, but I don't really want to pull to hard. I've been meaning to call moto about a replacement
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

This was one of their marketing things at launch it's zero gap where they "fused" the plastic bezel to the glass for that zero gap feel. The problem is that the bezel doesn't come all the way to the edge of the display so it does create an odd line. This is far more obvious on white than black on black it can only really been seen in direct sunlight.
"Motorola’s unique materials story continues on the front with a fused glass-plastic layer. The front glass and touch panel are fused into the plastic lip which rings the top side of the Moto X. They’re not separate parts, but literally fused together into one. Motorola is very proud of this feature since it results in one unbroken surface instead of the usual pressure-fit plastic ring affair with a raised section or gap."
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7235/moto-x-review

It's plastic. I'm actually quite surprised it's being debated.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Inner metal bezel scratched and huge gap

I just got my note 4 from t-mobile shipped yesterday oct 13. The pictures shows it all. Not only do i have a gap that is only at the top and right side of the phone (which i can live with), the top right hand corner shows that the inner bezel scratched possible from applying that screen. I can live with the gap but not those scratches as the white phone bezel make it more noticeable. Sucks to get the runt of the new note 4s...

i wouldn't call that a "huge" gap, you can probably just slip a piece of paper in, but not anything thicker, same info posted by androidauthority and unbox therapy. how did you scratch it with a SP anyway? glass SP?

It just seems like the paint that used on the metal came off in those spots. As for the gap, it's no bigger than any other note 4, but I do agree that dust and other particles will get stuck in there over time.

same small gap on my phone but then it disappeared after i put on a case. Even without the case it doesn't really bother me that much because i didn't even notice it

You can scratch it if your removing bubbles

I don't think you have a gap issue at all. I'd be a ticked about the scratches though.

Those aren't scratches. Those are the antennas

joe11784 said:
Those aren't scratches. Those are the antennas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
trust me those are scratches from the paint peeling off the metal. Probably for poor installation.
This phone also had very loose volume rocker buttons.
Also the gap is way bigger than any of the 4 phones that shipped. ( had a total of 6 so...)
Ended up returning this one and one with a dead pixel/dust ball under the screen.
Got my two replacements from t-mobile. all is good.

Oh my bad. I was looking at the last picture you uploaded where it shows the cut out at the top left of the phone