The Ultimate Guide to Repairing a Cracked Smartphone Screen at Home Without Voiding Warranty If Possible
Your phone is busted, now what? How to get it fixed on a budget
None of these things is cause to throw that smartphone away. Theres a lively trade in broken smartphones and thats because people in the know about repairs can snap them up for low prices, fix them cheaply, and sell them on for big profits. Even if you are getting rid of your phone, you could make more by fixing it up first than its going to cost you to do.
Check your coverage first
If you encounter a defect that you didnt cause and your smartphone is still under warranty then you may be able to go back to your retailer and get the manufacturer to fix it for free. Its also possible that you have some form of coverage as part of your home insurance, credit card, or bank account. Some of you will have pulled the trigger on extended warranties or smartphone insurance.
Related: How to pick the best case to protect your device from lifes daily hazards
Take a look and see what the deductible is before you put in a claim. Sometimes the amount youre expected to pay will actually exceed the cost of repairing it yourself or even going to a good repair service.
Fix it yourself
If youre out of warranty or the damage isnt covered then you might think about trying to fix it yourself. Before you begin, be aware that youre almost certainly going to void your warranty by attempting a self-repair.
Youre almost certainly going to void your warranty by attempting a self-repair.
The golden age of the Internet means that a short video tutorial or a text and photo guide of just about anything you could ever want to know how to do is just a search away. If youre confident in your abilities, or willing to have a go, then you shouldnt have too much trouble finding a set of instructions to follow.The best place to go is definitely iFixit where youll find an excellent set of step-by-step tutorials with instructions on the exact tools you need. The quality of the repair guides does vary, but there are some really excellent examples, especially for the most popular smartphones on the market.
YouTube is another obvious place to look for tutorial videos you can follow, and youll find lots of guides and a very helpful community at XDA Developers forum.
Getting tools and parts
Before you start you will need to secure the correct tools. Some manufacturers deliberately make strange fixings to discourage self-repair. If you dont use the correct tools theres a good chance youre going to end up doing some damage. Make sure that you have a clean workspace with everything you need to do the repair before you start.
Sometimes the iFixit tutorials will include links to buy the necessary parts or tools, though youll often get a better deal by shopping around. You can find reliable parts and tools at eTech Parts.
Amazon and eBay have lots of cheap repair kits and parts on offer. You have to be careful about the parts because there are some low cost options that might be shoddy quality. Do a bit of reading about what you need before you start and check the reputations of sellers and the reviews of specific kits and parts before you buy.
A word of warning
It can be tough forcing smartphone components apart. The inside of most smartphones is messy and confusing. Sometimes it will feel like youre going to break parts if you press any harder and sometimes you will break something. Some smartphones are much easier to take apart and fix than others. Certain repairs are not worth the bother of attempting and there are parts and tools that you simply cant get at a reasonable price.
You can generally find out how difficult it will be by checking the online guides and discussions. Consider the risk that youll botch the job, factor in your research, your tools and parts, and the time you are going to spend on it. A lot of people will be more comfortable getting someone else to do it. An experienced repair expert will know where to get the right parts, theyll have the right tools, and theyll be able to do the repair quickly and efficiently.
Hire someone or use a service
If you want the job done right it might be better to use a reputable repair service. They can still be cheaper than the deductible on an insurance claim in some cases. Theyre also likely to be faster.
There are lots of big name chains that will do in-store repairs while you wait or within the day and youll find various online services where you can send your smartphone and get the fixed handset sent back to you within a week.
RadioShack just started offering in-store repairs for smartphones and tablets and they have another service where you drop the phone off in-store and they return it to your door within 72 hours. Youll also find a repair service via Geek Squad at Best Buy, and there are a number of chains like Cellairis.
Small, independent shops will often give you a better quality of service.
If youre willing to send your smartphone away then Mission Repair has a fairly good reputation and Jet City Device Repair comes highly recommended. You could also try Cell Phone Repair.You may not have time to drop into a repair shop, or maybe you dont want to send your phone away. A service called iCracked offers an interesting alternative where you get a free quote for the repair and then the technician comes and meets you. Some repairs theyll do on the spot, or if its going to take longer then theyll take your device and return it later.
Most decent places have at least one decent repair shop. Small, independent shops will often give you a better quality of service and a better price than the big chains.
Dont just focus on the price. Make sure that you ask what warranty is offered with the repair. The longer, the better, as you dont want to have to pay out again if the repair fails or the fault reoccurs.
Official repairs are best
Its always worth checking with your retailer, carrier, or manufacturer as well. Generally, if youre outside the warranty period, theyll charge the most for repairs and theyll take the longest, but there are exceptions. You never know until you ask.
Shop around, get quotes, check reviews and reputations, and then make an informed decision. You might just find that your broken smartphone is easier and cheaper to repair than you thought.
Remember privacy
One final word of warning we have to mention concerns your privacy. If youre going to send your phone away or leave it in the repair shop for a few days then you should really consider making a complete back up and wiping your phone so theres no private files or sensitive information left. Its a hassle, but its the only way to be sure that someone wont get their hands on your photos or emails.
Related: Selling your phone or tablet? Heres how to completely wipe your Android device
Got any recommendations or horror stories? Tell us about your DIY smartphone repairs and repair shop experiences in the comments.
Editors' Recommendations
So, Your Phone Has a Cracked Screen. Heres What You Can Do About It
You could almost see it happening in slow motion: your smartphone is in your hand one moment, and the next thing you know, its barreling toward the ground in a nosedive. Sometimes the layers of glass and plastic will hold up, but all too often, this scenario will lead to a chipped or cracked screen.
Thanks to the right-to-repair movement, the options for mending a broken phone screen have expanded. Between simple DIY fixes, third-party repair shops, and even manufacturer-sponsored mail-in programs, theres an option for everyone. So take a deep breath before you pick up your damaged cell phone to examine it. Even if the cracks radiate out like a spiderweb, theres a fix.
Why Do Screens Break So Easily?
Ah, the perennial question: Why is this $1,000 device so prone to damage in the first place?
It all boils down to a difficult-to-reach compromise between consumer desires and engineering reality. In other words, we want phones with maxed-out displays that also feature an elegant design. However, those slim edges and nearly bezel-less screens have to make some concessions in the durability department. But regardless of the design specifics, its really about elastic energy, according to Red Zombie, a Clearfield, Utah-based repairs and accessories shop.
When you drop your phone, elastic energy stored in the phones glass is converted into surface energy, which is why your glass cracks, the company notes in a September 2018 blog post. [W]hen you drop your phone, the force of impact will overcome the surface compression, resulting in small stresses that could lead to the shattering of your screen.
To combat this reality, manufacturers like Apple and Samsung are constantly experimenting with tougher kinds of glass to absorb the impact. Red Zombie says most companies mix zinc into aluminum to create a strong base for the body of the phone.
What to Do Right Away
Broken screens come in various levels of severityfrom light scratches, to spiderweb-like patterns, to entirely missing chunks of glassand you could be dealing with anything from a completely shattered display and a broken phone to a simple cosmetic issue.
First, you should assess the damage, which means getting your phone on a solid surface and under good light, not just giving it a quick once-over before stuffing it back in your pocket. With a little bit of stress testing and careful prodding, you should be able to work out whether the screen is about to fall off or fail completely. In a lot of cases, it will stay in place, cracks and all, so you can at least keep tweeting (Xing?), as long as the screen is still visible and functioning.
If the phone is seriously damaged, back up your data as quickly as you can, making sure all of your photos, videos, and important files are saved somewhere else just in case it dies completely and you cant get the phone working again. If its already stopped functioning, then a professional repair is probably your best bet.
Here are the solutions, in ascending order of professionalism.
Option No. 1: Apply Packing Tape
The name of the game here is, hold out until Im eligible for an upgrade. If you want to keep using the cracked phone, and dont want to risk losing glass or slicing up your fingers, cover the screen with a layer of packing tape. Line everything up carefully and trim it with an X-Acto knife, and it may look almost like a real screen protector.
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Option No. 2: Use a Screen Protector
This is the gussied-up version of the packing tape solution. Using a screen protector ensures you have no seams and a clean line around the edges of the screen. Granted, that might not be much of a concern when theres a spiderweb of cracks underneath.
Option No. 3: Replace the Screen Yourself
Its possible to replace a cracked screen on your own. Well refer you to iFixit for their excellent, step-by-step guide with photos. A few key things to keep in mind here: Before you decide to go this route, look into the cost of a replacement screen. Todays phone screens, which incorporate touch interaction and possibly biometric sensors, dont come cheap.
Unless youre already accomplished at repairing modern solid-state electronics, you probably lack the specialized tools youll need for the job. Luckily, iFixit sells a handy kit that includes pretty much everything youll need, with the possible exception of the iOpener, a tube you heat up and apply to the phone to soften its adhesives.
Check and see if your phone is still covered under warranty and see what repairs it includes. Not only will a DIY screen replacement void your warranty, but its also not guaranteed to work. A certified repaircovered under warrantywill also help retain your phones resale value if youre one to trade up to keep the newest phone in your pocket.
Option No. 4: Call in a Pro
You can always take your cracked screen to a professional repair shop. If youre an iPhone person, look for your local Apple Store or consider trying out Apples mail-in repair program. Best Buy will work on iPhones and Samsung phones. And finally, UBreakIFix has more than 700 locations across the country.
