Database Users

[Q] Scratches on screen, glass replacement?

Hey guys! Alright, so, a clumsy fashion student knocked my Nexus off the table while it was charging in class, but I was quick enough to somewhat save it by stopping the initial impact of the cement floor by lightly "kicking" my phone with my shoe, so instead of smashing to the ground it instead slid across the floor face down (but not too violently). There's no serious damage at all, the sides, corners, and back are all scratch-free, but there are a few scratches on the front screen that I can notice (might be a bit OCD, who knows).
So I looked around for replacement glass and found these. Now, would this be want I would want to get if I wanted to replace the front to get rid of the scratches? Also, if anyone could recommend a good and not too expensive brand for screen protectors, that'd be wonderful as well.
Thank you, guys!

You probably want to go to ebay instead and get the digitizer replacement so it come with both the glass and the digitizer, otherwise the one you linked won't have any touch ability.
Replacing the glass/digitizer is not an easy process, but you can check out this youtube video: the glass/digitizer is glued onto the LCD, so you need to heat it up, seperate it while not damaging the lcd, clean the glue, then replace the glass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paRc_n4uB8s
You can try XtremeGuard which is a wet applied screen protector and its pretty cheap. If the scratch is small enough it will be hidden by it: http://www.amazon.com/GOOGLE-NEXUS-XtremeGUARD©-Screen-Protector/dp/B00AA281D6/
Skinomi is another brand. I like XtremeGuard more than Skinomi because I can trim it easily with a paper cutter while keeping the edge straight and its easier to install, but Skinomi material is better quality, thicker, and smoother feel.
You can also get tempered glass screen protector which is more expensive, but easier to install. I had an iloome version, but it cracked in half when I tried to peel it off to readjust it.
Right now I'm using XtremeGuard and this bumper: http://www.amazon.com/Google-Nexus-E960-Bumper-Case/dp/B00B199960/ These are cheapest alternatives, but I like it best so far.

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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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

Reinforced battery back door

Hi.
I have cracked the rear battery glass cover again on my S8. Its the forth time it happens. And I don't know why.
I have bought genuine battery glass covers from ebay. But it doesn't hold long before the glass cracks again.
Does anyone know if there is an reinforced (maybe aluminium or carbon)?
(Sorry for my bad english)

try putting a skin on it. https://dbrand.com/shop/samsung-galaxy-s8-skins they look nice and should work like a screen protector on it.

Make sure you are taking off the foam part of the sticky part they put on it. The glass should fit flush against the back with the thin thin layer of adhesive they put. My mistake and I cracked the first one because it flexed.

@Class said:
Make sure you are taking off the foam part of the sticky part they put on it. The glass should fit flush against the back with the thin thin layer of adhesive they put. My mistake and I cracked the first one because it flexed.
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What foam? I only took plastic of the adhesive tape that was already applied on the cover. Then placed the cover on the phone
This cover: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Sa...271993&hash=item33d35abcf9:g:iZoAAOSwBEpZnZvO

[GUIDE] Rear glass replacement

So recently I cracked the rear glass on my Pixel 2 XL. After searching around, I found the "official"repair places wanted around $80 to replace this. Then I found eBay had replacement glass for $13 (in the US, cheaper from China), and decided to give it a try. Figured worse case scenario I end up at the repair place getting the glass replaced anyway, and I'm out $13 extra.
This was not a difficult process necessarily, what I will say is that the glass used is extremely thin (stock and aftermarket), and the process of removing the old glass is likely to produce many tiny glass fragments.
Here's how I did it, if anyone is interested in giving this a try:
1. Mis en place. I used a couple plastic and nylon spudgers, guitar picks, one metal spudger, a hair dryer, and packing tape. I did this repair in the bathroom near the sink so I could easily brush small glass pieces into the sink and wash them down the drain.
2. Start off by heating up the rear glass with the hair dryer, but not too hot. You need to be able to hold the phone afterall. Take a piece of packing tape and place it over the rear glass to somewhat keep it together.
3. I used the thin metal spudger to get started on one side of the glass. I started on the broken side as I already had a gap there to work with. Slowly go around and remove the glass and double sided tape from the rear frame.
3. Remove the camera lens cover from the glass. It's attached to the glass with double sided tape. Most likely going to be small chunks of glass stuck to the front of the lens assembly.
4. Clean up any leftover glue/double sided tape and chunks of glass, so you have a nice clean surface to stick the new glass to.
5. Install the lens cover on the replacement glass, and clean the inside and outside of the lens cover and inspect the camera assembly itself for chunks of glass/dust/etc.
6. Install the new glass (with lens cover now attached) to the back of your Pixel 2 XL. Be very careful to line it up exactly where you want it to sit before dropping it onto the frame of the phone (you likely will not be able to peel it off and reapply it if you mess up, as the glass is very thin and would probably shatter if you try to remove it).
7. Profit.
That's about it. All in all this took me about 30 minutes from start to finish, and saved me just over $60. Worth it for a cheapskate like me ?
Hope this helps someone.

Excellent write up, and the great photos!
Thanks for posting

Superusefull!! Thank so much!

do you feel like this compromised the water resistance part of the phone?

im pretty sure the waterproof feature is gone

jyn1989 said:
im pretty sure the waterproof feature is gone
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Click to collapse
It has never been waterproof.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Hello everyone,
I've broken lil bit the glass and considering replacement. But don't want to lose waterprofness. What do you think about this statement:
"The glass back of the Pixel 2 is purely decorative, and the Pixel 2 will still be waterproof with a broken glass back.
Why? As can be seen in the teardown video at https://youtu.be/Zq7nyzldgr4 at 4:14, the back cover of the Pixel 2 goes underneath the glass. Also, it looks like replacing the glass back would not require a teardown, since there seem to be no screws holding the glass in place from the inside. I suspect the glass back is merely glued on or clipped in."
For me it sounds reasonable that waterprofness might still be there after replacement. Attaching screenshot of mentioned back cover which is going under the glass.
Thanks for your opinion!

Pixel 2 is waterproof
Pixel 2 is IP67 rated meaning it's good for up to a metre depth of water, hence it being waterproof but if anyone was wondering even if you do break the back glass as I have it's purely cosmetic as there is some pretty strong plastic and glue behind it keeping the waterproof feature in place

How do you fix it to be waterproof like factory?
|Use waterproof glue around camera lens and LED lens or is there a adhesive to buy?