Dropped my Samsung S4 and cracked the glass outer screen, has anybody had any luck removing the bust screen and installing a new one? Cheers

Not sure about DIY but from experience I can recommend STW forumite wysiwyg as a top phone fixer.

I replaced the screen on a lumia the other day – watched a youtube vid & then 10 mins later it was back working again. I’m not much of a genius with these kinda things, but not scared to give them a go; usually they work out fine.

Did this with an S3 …….just take your time…and keep everything dust free if you can.
Watched lots and lots of youtube clips beforehand

Check youtube for guides, I just replaced the lcd/touchscreen of my Nexus 4. £35 in parts and did it whilst dinner was simmering on the hob. And my replacement screen came with the chassis which meant I avoided having to heat the old screen with a hairdryer to release it from the chassis, but did have to unplug and transfer every single component from the motherboard and chassis.

It was fairly easy, as long as you have some mechanical sympathy for unplugging the delicate ribbon cables etc you should be fine.

If your phone has a non-removeable battery, it might be worth buying a replacement. Mine was only £8 and glad I got it as the soft Lipo battery is fairly mangled after unsticking it from the chassis, wouldn’t trust it and it went outside in case I’d damaged it internally.

Go for it, it’s normally a 10 min job.

Just make sure you have the right tool to get the old screen out, don’t use a screwdriver or anything metal else you’ll damage the plastic and make a right mess.

It is a tricky job so is sticking the new glass on neatly. I bought a new digitizer and glasz from ebay for £70 simple job just swapping the internals over. I left the cracked glass for a while but it then pushed through and broke the digitizer. Hope this helps

I did my Galaxy Xcover2 screen. Was nerve racking but followed instructions and all went OK. Phone was good as new. 3 days later I dropped it on soft ground (this is a shockproof phone) and later than evening while charging it developed a charging error and that was the end of it! Whether there was a link between my repair and the subsequent fault or whether it really was done to bad luck and the drop I don’t know. I think I would rather pay a reputable company next time and get a guarantee.

I’ve done an iPhone 3gs and a nexus 4 so far (nexus included the chassis as per spooky above) iPhone was a doddle as it was lift out and replace, nexus you go in from the back so more components to remove. Easy if you take your time tho.
Check out the YouTube guides and see what’s involved. Only thing I’d avoid is mucking about with hairdryers to separate components stuck together

A lot of phone shops do that for you quite cheap while waiting. Thats is its just the glass, not the screen I think. Anyway thats my suggestion. Stress and hassle free, saves you from googling and youtubeing.

ifixit.com

Thanks for the replies, think I’ll give it a go!

I’ve replaced the glass on my S3 three times (I’m clumsy as) the first time was the hardest as samsung use a clear adhesive between the screen and glass and it’s a bugger to clean off. I bought my replacements from an ebay seller called frostycow as they were selling the glass with a proper double sided adhesive mount.
As above have a watch of a few youtube vids before you start and take it slow don’t overheat the glass while removing it as it can knack the phone (something to do with the digitizer which is apparently mucho £ to fix)

Only thing I’d avoid is mucking about with hairdryers to separate components stuck together

Agreed! With iProducts you can get a combined screen/digistiser/frame, which is vastly easier than trying to use heat guns to melt glue etc. Only about £10 usually as well, can’t believe Samsung ones are so expensive!

Only about £10 usually as well, can’t believe Samsung ones are so expensive!

for iPhones? Where have you found them that cheap?

He wishes. Cheap display glass usually appear to be made of sugar glass. You press the screen and it’s that thin the lcd does the weird rainbow thing.