So I've had an Xperia Z3 Compact for some time now. Not long after I got it I managed to break the original back (sheer absolute carelessness.) I've since had a long line of third party backs. Unfortunately, my biggest problem is that even the ones claiming to be tempered extra strong glass still seem to break 100x more easily than the screen (still doesn't have even so much as a scratch.) Obviously no one here can do anything about that. (Though someday I'd like to figure out if I can come up with some sort of plastic solution. Then I could even use a more permanent and better sealing glue than official screen/back replacement glue because presumably it wouldn't break and have to be replaced every so often.) One problem I am having that maybe can be addressed here is that they keep coming loose.
I believe I'm doing it right. First I shut down the phone first (since there's so much heat involved I want to stress it as little as possible in the process.) Next I put the back with the glue up and use a heat gun on the low setting for quite a while on it to get the glue as malleable as possible. Then I line it up and put it in quickly and apply a fair bit of weight (I'm afraid to put too much and break something in the process, but I've tried to give it a fair bit of weight) and leave it for hours (actually, typically I just leave it overnight.) Half the time it works great for a fair little while and half the time it only lasts a short while, but always I find the back coming loose eventually. (I do not bend or pry at my phone a lot or anything like that.) I would add here that while I keep my phone in my pocket all the time, I keep it in a case I've modified to help protect it where I even put a metal plate on one side to help keep it pretty flat (the last thing in the world I want is any damage to my screen, so yeah, I go a bit above and beyond...) This should keep it from flexing very much in that pocket and it should remain fairly flat as far as I know more or less all of the time.
One thing I've been wondering: it's very difficult to keep the whole thing heated thoroughly. Also, it's easy to overheat one area (while underheating another for example) as I managed to warp the material over the camera lens (next time I'll pop that out first and put that back in only just before putting the back on.) So I had a bit of a thought: why not use an oven? This could warm it much more evenly potentially, getting the heat in deeper and more consistently than I can do with a heat gun. Well, presumably it must work because why wouldn't it? But it does beg a few questions. Most importantly, what temperature would I even use? For an oven it would obviously be something relatively low. For example, might it be something about like ~100C/~200F? More? Less? I honestly don't know and this is my main question here. Would a toaster oven be too focused (eg with the heating elements too close to the glass)? Because it would really be best if I could use it instead of a full sized one. Has anyone ever done this before? I only ever found people using heat guns in googling around. But something isn't going right and I have to assume it's the consistency because nothing else even makes sense.
PS. Has anyone ever 3D printed a back or anything? If I ever do try to go plastic I'll probably have to cut something the hardest possible way with very little precision which is no small part of why I keep putting off even trying it. This thing will never be back to the full waterproof rating it originally had, but I do at least want it to be safe if I have to make an emergency call in the rain or something. (Well, that and finding the right plastic since it needs to be flexible and not brittle but tough enough to resist bumps without smashing into the battery or something if anything pokes it.) Getting sick of glass...
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It only took a month, but I FINALLY received my order from Fommie.com. Here is my quick review.
Size: Pretty much what I expected. It could possibly be a hair thinner, but at some point you lose much of the protection benefits.
Look: It's not bad for a case, but the phone is clearly sexier without it. I have had cases so ugly I wouldn't use it. Not the case here.
Functional: You finger must be directly over the power button now to make it work. It is a little annoying, but this probably makes it impossible to damage the button now so not entirely bad. It helps texting because the phone is simply easier to hold now. I havent used track ball/volume much, but they dont appear majorly effected. Maybe a small difference, but nothing to bother me.
Quality: The case honestly snapped together pretty weakly, but now that it is on i guess it is sturdy. There are also scratches and small screw ups on the back plate. I dont care much, but could bother others.
Summary: I am going to TRY to force myself to use this thing, and I have NEVER used a case before. I love this phone to much to risk damaging it, and i surely dropped my G1 ALOT. I have exactly 1 drop with the nexus from about 1 foot above a wood floor. I will worry less now. That said, if this thing starts bothering me it is gone.
I find the little flappy-doodle cover on the USB port on the Sidekick 4G to be somewhat annoying. I would just yank it off, but maybe when I sell it 10 years from now, the new owner would like to have it in place.
Has anyone taken the plunge and pulled the thing off? Does it look like you could put it back on with a minimum of duct tape?
If you can pull it straight out, I think it'll pop free in a way that it can be shoved back in. There's just a little bulb on the end of the plastic piece where it enters the case to retain it.
Right, that's my theory as well from the looks of it. But have you actually done it? I don't want to yank it off first as a way of finding out the theory is a little bit wrongish.
I know it can get annoying popping it in and out whenever you want to plug it in, but it is there for a reason. They annoyance may be worth preventing crud from getting in there when it is in your pocket or something.
But yeah, the only thing I could think of has already been said, just pulling it off in hopes that you will be able to put it back in later.
I don't think you're going to find anyone who's pulled it off to get a detailed report from. I'm going by having taken mine apart and seen what holds it in place.
Yes.
You can remove it on the SK4G safely IF.
(SAFE SAFE SAFE)
You open the case, and push it out from the inside. (Guaranteed to work)
(SAFE SAFE SAFE)
(RISKY RISKY RISKY)
Pull it out straight and it will remove and be able to be reinserted. You have to be sure that it is not cold (tension snapping) but not heated too much (stretch snapping). Just above room temperature is adequate. If it does break off inside, remove the bit inside, and trim the post so it can be comfortably reinserted as an unattached cover, or open the case, insert it and melt it so it reforms the bulb.
(RISKY RISKY RISKY)
Yeah, I sort of had in mind your "safe" plan for pushing from the inside. Just reluctant since taking a phone apart is always a big pain. Looking at the case, though, I might not have to dive down too far and have too many screws lost in the carpet during the process.
I cover the take apart in my hardware reference guide.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1466906
Wow, Jax184, that reference posting you made is really nice. Thanks for doing it and pointing to it from here. Looks like it should be pretty easy to get to the nubbin without any tightly wound springs hitting me in the eye.
Hey everyone.
I purchased my phone through duty free, unlocked so after checking with local Samsung repair center they told me my warranty is not applicable in the country i live in, because i purchased the phone in duty free. This is not an official Samsung repair center, just a random one authorized by Samsung btw.
Either way, the issue is that the back glass is slightly lifting on one side/ corner. The top right corner (Next to the heart rate sensor) is slightly unstuck from the body, and it creates a tiny little gap, which ends up running down the side of the phone a little.
I have tried finding a solution and no luck. What i want to know is, if i take a heat gun, and give the back glass a blast under the heat gun in order to warm up the glue, and then apply some pressure evenly across the back glass, will that do the trick? Is it even safe to do so ?
Thanks for the help and if necessary i can try submit some pictures.
It should be safe to do as long as you don't heat it up too much as to cause the internals of the phone to get over-stressed. I would power down your phone and make sure it is cooled before starting the process. You don't want it turned on and then your phone decide that it wants to update 20 apps and cause it to heat up any more than it already is.
Also, be gentle with applying pressure to the glass, if you happened to have dropped it and warped the frame that would explain why the glass is lifting up, and if you press too hard it may break it. Just be careful and you should be fine. It's not a guaranteed fix but it's a safe method to try out.
If you need help on using the heat gun just look online for videos of repairing phone screens, plenty of them use heat guns to get the adhesive loosened up and almost always state what temperature to set it to. I feel like it was around 700°F (370°C) last I looked, but don't quote me on that.
Outbreak444 said:
It should be safe to do as long as you don't heat it up too much as to cause the internals of the phone to get over-stressed. I would power down your phone and make sure it is cooled before starting the process. You don't want it turned on and then your phone decide that it wants to update 20 apps and cause it to heat up any more than it already is.
Also, be gentle with applying pressure to the glass, if you happened to have dropped it and warped the frame that would explain why the glass is lifting up, and if you press too hard it may break it. Just be careful and you should be fine. It's not a guaranteed fix but it's a safe method to try out.
If you need help on using the heat gun just look online for videos of repairing phone screens, plenty of them use heat guns to get the adhesive loosened up and almost always state what temperature to set it to. I feel like it was around 700°F (370°C) last I looked, but don't quote me on that.
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Thanks a lot for the reply. I will try give it a shot over the weekend. The phone is in perfect conditions and has never been dropped. In fact when i press down on the glass, it kinda slots back into place, but then sticks back out, so i'm assuming its un-even adhesive or whatever the case is with it. In reality its such an un-noticeable issue, but you know how it is... once you know its there, that's the only thing you notice
I wonder if anyone else had this issue because i found a YouTuber who actually also had his back glass un-stick from the body
Sorry to hear about your luck. I would think it goes without saying, but it will probably no longer be waterproof.
rasimpson318 said:
Sorry to hear about your luck. I would think it goes without saying, but it will probably no longer be waterproof.
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Yeah, i already came to that realization. Thanks anyway !
Did you get it to work?
I am having the same issue as you had and I wondered if you came up with a solution???
Gme12528 said:
I am having the same issue as you had and I wondered if you came up with a solution???
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From my experience doing so does not work. You need to replace the adhesive which is easy to do, what is more difficult is sourcing an OEM one
Hello colleagues on YouTube, you can watch videos that this phone bends easily and your copies have a similar tendency to bend?
Some idiot (or their sponsor) spends the $1000 making those videos so you don't see how far the device will bend on your own. That is, honestly, a stupid thing to do with any device you actually intend to use if you aren't paid per click to record it.
The thing is: usually you don't need to bend your phones. Even hardcore gamers won't ever put so much pressure on their phones unless they have aggression issues.
While some of his tests are are pretty useful to know (if you want to throw your 1000€ phone unprotected in a bag together with keys, knives and guns) the bend test is pretty useless for 99%.
I mean: be honest were you ever in a situation that required you to bend your phone?
Anubarak16 said:
The thing is: usually you don't need to bend your phones. Even hardcore gamers won't ever put so much pressure on their phones unless they have aggression issues.
While some of his tests are are pretty useful to know (if you want to throw your 1000€ phone unprotected in a bag together with keys, knives and guns) the bend test is pretty useless for 99%.
I mean: be honest were you ever in a situation that required you to bend your phone?
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The body is made of Gorilla Glass 3. Realistically, this is the last phone they need to run scratch tests on because it was included on nearly every phone from 2013. That is roughly 7 years of testing already available.
TL;DR buy a $10 case.
That's right, no one normal will play bending the phone But what if I have a phone in the back pocket of my pants and I will sit on it, it will happen or not a few times I have sat on my s20 ultra it only cracks the protective glass but the phone did not bend or crash
Seems like the obvious advice is to avoid sitting on your phone. Bend test videos aren't going to account for all the variables involved in neglect and every story is going to be a bit different.
It was probably only a matter of time before the structural weakness of the ROG5 started showing in accidents and broken devices. My device is officially broken from damage around the mid section between the 2 batteries and the side USB/cooler port and antenna soft spot - exactly as highlighted on some videos. As a result, connectivity goes on and off and reception is extremely weak.
To be clear, the device has not been bent violently, dropped, smashed or anyhting like that, there are no physical bends visible other than I noticed one corner of the glass back plate looks a tiny tiny bit detached from the body of the phone. I'm guessing the device might have been bent just enough while in a pocket to damage it. No broken glass plates.
Up to you if go for this device but everyone should be aware of this. The device is with ASUS, if they don't fix it under the warranty and the price for fixing it isn't on the low side, I'll take the loss and switch to another brand.
If you're absolutely going for ASUS, the ROG 3 might be a much better choice - It's better built, has better tempretures/battery life, does custom reccovery like TWRP without pain, probably cheaper now and I bet it performs exactly as well as ROG 5 for 99.5% of games/apps during the remaining lifetime of both devices.
I have feeling the ROG 5 is the device ASUS will regret... It's basically an overheated, inefficient,badly tuned version of ROG 3 with a weak body and some overpriced expanded memory..
Thanks for the hint: however I'm really sceptical to be honest. I can't believe this can happen due to bending in normal pocket (or maybe I don't want to believe it because I like the phone)
I really wish you best of luck that Asus repairs it for free and I would like to know the outcome.
What does your pockets look like? Are they too small/tight because I tried it and whatever I do my current phone isn't under pressure at any time when it's in my pockets.
Anubarak16 said:
Thanks for the hint: however I'm really sceptical to be honest. I can't believe this can happen due to bending in normal pocket (or maybe I don't want to believe it because I like the phone)
I really wish you best of luck that Asus repairs it for free and I would like to know the outcome.
What does your pockets look like? Are they too small/tight because I tried it and whatever I do my current phone isn't under pressure at any time when it's in my pockets.
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I didn't believe it either. Normal pocket size and I never carry my phone in the back pocket where you risk sitting on it. My best guess is the device was in a front pocket while wearing jeans and has bent at an angle on the weak point while sitting down or something just enough for some internal circuit or antenna lines to bend or break. Don't put this to test with your own device - you'll wreck it...
Honestly, the device is meant to be used almost exclusively with the cooler. This is the same reason I never take it off, but turn it off, when putting it in a pocket. Beyond the obvious improvements to heat concerns, it also reinforces the center of the device to prevent bending.
Sure, it does make it a bit bulkier and isn't going to prevent the device from pressure if you wear skinny jeans a size smaller than they should be for proper circulation, but it will definitely stop it from randomly folding in half without breaking that first.
I get dragged into a lot of unplanned physical activity without thinking about preventing stress on the phone. I've been unable to confirm that the phone will simply break over time.
I can only assume it was one of those perfect scenarios, not unlike the Note 7 fires. It is obviously a possibility, but the actual number of people that will ever experience it is probably too low and it's just not enough of a safety concern to justify a recall or discontinuation.
Edit: Now that I think about it, I actually tried to use a Pelican G40 case to store the phone and cooler during travel (and add water protection). The case is just slightly too short and the device had to be angled for a tight fit. This would be a lot like placing the phone in a tight pocket. I would be interested to see bend tests done with the cooler.
twistedumbrella said:
Honestly, the device is meant to be used almost exclusively with the cooler. This is the same reason I never take it off, but turn it off, when putting it in a pocket. Beyond the obvious improvements to heat concerns, it also reinforces the center of the device to prevent bending.
Sure, it does make it a bit bulkier and isn't going to prevent the device from bending if you wear skinny jeans a size smaller than they should be for proper circulation, but it will definitely stop it from randomly folding in half from normal use.
I've mentioned before that I only use my device with WiFi, but I live in an area where a lot of neighbors share their connections and get together often. I play Nerf war, skateboard, and all the other stuff that the younger parents get dragged into by being close with them. I should also mention that I have no kids, so it's not something I consider in my own purchases. Knock on wood that I've never been able to confirm that the phone will simply break over time.
I can only assume it was one of those perfect scenarios, not unlike the Note 7 fires. It is obviously a possibility, but the actual number of people that will ever experience it is probably too low and it's just not enough of a safety concern to justify a recall or discontinuation.
Edit: Now that I think about it, I actually tried to use a Pelican G40 case to store the phone during travel (and add water protection). The case is just slightly too short and the device had to be angled for the latch to work. This would be a lot like placing the phone in a tight pocket and the cooler kept it rigid. I would be interested to see those bend tests done with the cooler.
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If the device is meant to be used exclusively with the cooler, ASUS should explicitly make that clear and include one with every phone, in which case the design of the Lenovo Legion is probably better - i.e just build a cooler hump into the phone regardless of the looks. The ROG 5 cooler is waay to bulky for pocket use for most people.
I think the weak mid body pf ROG5 is just due to sloppy design - which is unacceptable for what is meant to be a flagship device.
Either way, keep this phone in a bag or jacket pocket and make sure it's not at a bending angle at any time. Seems you don't need a big squeeze to break stuff inside the phone. I don't know what's under the mid section, it could be some antenna rails or other connectors that easily break or bend out of function. Again, I don't recommend testing any of this, the risk of breaking your device is high...
Andrologic said:
If the device is meant to be used exclusively with the cooler, ASUS should explicitly make that clear and include one with every phone, in which case the design of the Lenovo Legion is probably better - i.e just build a cooler hump into the phone regardless of the looks. The ROG 5 cooler is waay to bulky for pocket use for most people.
I think the weak mid body pf ROG5 is just due to sloppy design - which is unacceptable for what is meant to be a flagship device.
Either way, keep this phone in a bag or jacket pocket and make sure it's not at a bending angle at any time. Seems you don't need a big squeeze to break stuff inside the phone. I don't know what's under the mid section, it could be some antenna rails or other connectors that easily break or bend out of function. Again, I don't recommend testing any of this, the risk of breaking your device is high...
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Both Pro and Ultimate versions DO come with one, but one of the ways to make a cheaper version is to leave out some accessories and sell them separately. They may still expect you to buy it and may not prioritize the concerns of those that don't. Besides, building something prone to burning out and breaking down into the phone is a terrible decision. Lenovo will no doubt get their own backlash for that down the road.
I feel like carrying the phone in a bag or jacket is just as big of a risk. It would make more sense to get a rigid holster or sleeve. I don't feel like the design was sloppy, but definitely not as durable as typical phones. Much like the Nvidia Shield, I am sure there are a lot of things they wanted to make possible that ended up being a lot of compromises.
I'll be interested to see how widespread this becomes and how Asus goes about handling it. The number of imports / exports mean a lot of people are running around without proper warranty coverage.
Wow it makes my Note 10+'s battery replacement look like a cakewalk.
Yeah you don't want to flex this phone...
Update >> ASUS fixed the device. There was damage to both reception as well as reading the SIM slots. The main board had to be replaced. They did it free of charge under the warranty, no questions asked. I think they know they've messed up..
It sounds like Asus covered exactly what is written in the terms of the warranty, which is hardware failure without any obvious signs of abuse. I don't know that I would call it Asus knowing they messed up, but it's good they fixed it and hopefully you will have better luck this time around.
Thank you very much for letting us know. That might at least mean we don't have to worry too much