eBay phone screens?

[integrale_evo]

Just managed to smash the screen on my iPhone se2020, first one I’ve ever broke

Are the £20 eBay jobbies any good or all shit? Something a diyer could attempt? I opened my old 6s to replace the battery, but guessing a screen is a bit more involved.

Not worried about warranty / resale value, just want it to not slice my hands while I use it or end up looking like I’m playing minecraft.

Nothing around I can be bothered upgrading to at the moment.

[Sundayjumper]

I changed the screen on my iPhone 7 last year. Not tooooo difficult but I tore the cable to the earpiece / front camera. And then when replacing that I managed to bugger up the home button. So I gave up and bought a new s/h replacement phone.

The eBay screen worked but the colour & contrast was not quite as good as the genuine screen. I’m not sure I’d go through the hassle again.

[integrale_evo]

£146 for apple to do it

Tempted to try a 13 mini, but reluctant when they normally announce their new models in September.

[Mito Man]

For £20 I’d try it to tide you over until the new iPhone comes out soon. I had a similar situation a few years ago on an iPhone 6 so it was probably easier to repair. I do remember the screen not being as nice, you could just about make out the pixels on it etc but it was good enough to last until the 7 came out.

[Rich B]

I've done a screen on a 6. It's not hard just a bit fiddly with lots of screws/brackets/etc... I didn't have any left over at the end though, so it went ok. I don't remember the screen being any worse than the original one.

[Gavster]

My OH recently bought a refurbed iPhone and it obviously had a replacement screen, the blacks were more like a dark grey than mole-black, while the other colours weren't as vibrant. Side by side with my 12 there was a distinct difference. If you're sensitive to the colour gamut of video you're posting online then might be worth getting a genuine screen, or do a cheapy replacement and upgrade soon.

[integrale_evo]

This is why I’m torn, I’ve been thinking about a new camera for a while, the 13 mini has better cameras and more capacity, but I don’t like Face ID, and it’s a lot of money, and will potentially be an old model in about a month.

Tempted to live with it broken for a bit and see what gets announced and decide whether to buy something new and stick a cheap screen on to keep this as a spare ( having a second camera would be handy sometimes) or get an apple screen put in and buy a separate extra camera.

Bit annoying the se2022 doesn’t offer any hardware improvements to cameras or screen or a larger capacity version.

[Simon]

Get Apple to do it. Otherwise you'll be selling on a crappy phone to an unsuspecting buyer when you upgrade.

[Rich B]

Who cares if it's an "old phone" when the new one comes out. It's not as though there's any massive jumps in tech expected?

[integrale_evo]

Get Apple to do it. Otherwise you'll be selling on a crappy phone to an unsuspecting buyer when you upgrade.

I don’t sell old phones

Plus booking an appointment, getting to and leaving a phone with apple is a pain in the arse.

I’d happily fit a non oe screen if I could find one which got universally decent reviews but the quality seems so variable it’s a bit of a gamble.

[Sundayjumper]

Get Apple to do it. Otherwise you'll be selling on a crappy phone to an unsuspecting buyer when you upgrade.

I don’t sell old phones

I was going to say similar

My approach is to put it in a drawer "because it might be useful" and then forget about it until it's worthless and then regret not selling it but still leaving it in the drawer because it's now not worth selling but some corner of my brain won't let me bin it "because it might be useful".

[Gavster]

Get Apple to do it. Otherwise you'll be selling on a crappy phone to an unsuspecting buyer when you upgrade.

I don’t sell old phones

I was going to say similar

My approach is to put it in a drawer "because it might be useful" and then forget about it until it's worthless and then regret not selling it but still leaving it in the drawer because it's now not worth selling but some corner of my brain won't let me bin it "because it might be useful".

Same here, I've got five iphones in a draw which is completely pointless. I mean, what am I gonna do with an iPhone 2

[integrale_evo]

I usually use them until they’re worthless or stop working properly, I’ve only had 4 phones over the last 15 years, which is why I’m a bit annoyed I’ve broken this one so soon

[drcarlos]

Is it not insured via bank account or something? Wife dropped her S7 a couple of years back and smashed it to the point the screen didn't respond, I think the excess was £50 and they sent a new phone.

[integrale_evo]

Doubt it, I never pay for anything like that as it seems like money down the drain. Of course it only takes one claim to make it worth it but up to now I would have been out of pocket having never lost or broken a phone

£25 screen from Amazon coming tomorrow, I’ll give it a go. At least Amazon are pretty good at getting your money back if it turns out to be rubbish.

[Beany]

Just take your time and have a small heat gun to hand to help with adhesive removal etc.

Phone screens aren't hard to do per se, but they can be incredibly fiddly - don't go into it when you're grumpy.

They're fiddly enough that I've done one phone screen, and never done another - I don't have the patience for it

[integrale_evo]

Done in about 15mins, had a rough idea how to open it from doing the battery on my 6s, then just winged it. Getting the home button out of the back of the old screen was the trickiest bit, the only point watching a video beforehand would have been useful. I bought one without the button because I was worried an aftermarket one wouldn’t be as accurate or responsive.

All in and working fine. Nice and sharp and responsive, colour tone is slightly cooler but looks a lot closer to the original screen on my old one and actually prefer it to this one which always seemed a bit too warm. Honestly, most normal people not sensitive to such things wouldn’t be able to tell any difference at all.

Pretty chuffed for £25.



Still fancy a 13 mini, especially as it seems unlikely they’ll bother with a mini size 14.

[Rich B]

You'll be glad you reused your button - they're coded to the phone so a replacement wouldn't work.

[Simon]

^^ Exactly - although old button serial numbers can be read and re-imprinted using special devices, without them you'd lose your fingerprint ability.

[Sundayjumper]

Good result Harry