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Well, I've finally managed to break a screen on one of my phones. This particular phone isn't even that old for me, so of course I'm refusing to replace it with an entirely new phone.

The LCD below is cracked and nothing shows on the screen except for cracks and bleed of course. Ive been able to check text messages and all by plugging the phone in via the micro HDMI connector which has been awesome. Ive also found that the touch portion (digitizer) seems to be functioning just fine (as far as I can tell). So I've never replaced a screen on a phone but have done dozens of laptops and even desktop lcd replacements. As far as I know, some screens are 1 piece LCD/Digitizer. This phone seems to be a two part setup so that you can replace one or the other or both if need be. Considering my digitizer looks like its working great, I wanted to know if anyone has made the mistake of replacing just one, or if this is just fine. I've heard horror stories with other phone models like the Atrix 4G that people could never get the digitizer to line up properly, is this really an issue? Also heard some terrible stories about cheap Chinese digitizers being sold and then failing shortly after install.

Since I'm new to the domain of phone repair, I'm curious to hear any recommendations or suggestions.

I know this isn't all that helpful of a reply, but frankly, rather than going to the trouble of fixing your old Atrix HD, I might just look into replacing it.

I had a shattered screen on my last phone. HTC One X. I was too chicken to go thru the expense of buying a screen and then tearing the phone up. I've replaced a few laptop screens but the phones scare me a bit. There's probably a Youtube instructional vid but I never bothered to look.Another factor that worried me was getting a cheap knock off screen... also one of the horror stories you may have ran across. Let us know how that works out if you attempt it.

ModernPrimitive wrote:

I had a shattered screen on my last phone. HTC One X. I was too chicken to go thru the expense of buying a screen and then tearing the phone up. I've replaced a few laptop screens but the phones scare me a bit. There's probably a Youtube instructional vid but I never bothered to look.Another factor that worried me was getting a cheap knock off screen... also one of the horror stories you may have ran across. Let us know how that works out if you attempt it.

I haven't done a phone, but I have replaced the OLED screen on my daughter's Zune 64 HD (Was run over by my wife's car in the garage. The outer glass/digitizer doesn't have a scratch. The load was transferred through the outer glass to the thin OLED screen which went kablooey). There were some tricky spots but if you have a good guide, the proper tools (usually for sale from those who've created the guides), and go slow and patient it can be done.

I found that a dozen or so small dishes (I used ramekins) come in very handy for separating out the small parts that go with each step. Print out the instructions and place a ramekin with the removed parts on each picture of the step-by-step.

I just replaced the screen+digitizer on my HTC One X.. I watched the Youtube video about 4 times, and made sure I had all the proper tools (missed out on the adhesive tape which would have been nice). It was 90% successful.. My screen was cracked, but I had display and touch working... but it felt like the glass was about to fall apart at any time. Also the HTC OneX while technically can be separated, everywhere I read said that it was most probably going to damage the digitizer when separating, and the LCD is a pain to line up when putting the two together. I'd check out xda developer's forum for the best guide, and making sure to get the correct screen.

This was my first screen replacement, and while I missed on the adhesive strips, it wasn't too bad. The part where I think I broke something (or is misaligned) is the mic on reassembly. My speaker phone, and bluetooth work, but no one can hear me when I talk.. And now that I think about, the volume and vibrate mechanisms don't work. I didn't test either before putting the case back together, but now that the screen works and looks good, I've decided I can live without those two features. (and once pebble releases the 2 way communication, I'll write an app to control the volume).

Just wanted to update you guys on the replacement. I purchased an LCD from gadget fix on eBay and its worked good. I get a slight flicker from time to time when going into screen like texting but I believe it may be from the fall or damage to the original screen. I read report of people dropping their phones and not breaking the LCD or digitizer and getting screen flicker.

Anyhow... I bought the iFixit Pro toolkit so that I can do future repairs with zero wonder about whether I have the tools. It took me all of 35 minutes to take it apart and put it back together. The biggest advice I can give someone is to not touch the inside of the digitizer even the slightest. It looks perfect minus one small partial finger print only when sunlight hits it just right. There is also the smallest black piece of dust under it which has sort of driven me crazy. Then again I did this at home on my bed instead of on my workbench for some stupid reason. I may open it back up and clean it at some point.

As for the small flicker it seems to be a lot less frequent and only shortly after turning the display on. So I'm assuming it might have to do with slight differences in the replacement screen from the original and perhaps the phone managing power for the new one. Perhaps its like the ECM on a vehicle that just needs to learn the new screen. Otherwise its bright and beautiful, no other complaints. Cost $36 for the LCD and $75 for the toolkit that I'll be using for my job on laptops and most likely phones and tablets now.

Welch wrote:

its bright and beautiful, no other complaints.

Nice job! I may have to try something like this myself soon; my best friend broke her Windows Phone's screen...