Screen Ridiculously Weak?

rhamblet

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I have dropped 4 Nokia 1520s, this is my 5th device. Two yellows, two whites, and now this black one. They are not exactly bulletproof... Its a 1 drop kind of phone, and trust me, its not worth a case unless you buy an otter box.
 

Jazmac

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That's like jumping from an airplane wearing a backpack hoping it opens into a chute. Then blame the backpack for not doing a better job of landing you safely. It cost you 220 bucks the first time and it'll likely cost the same this time. Just like metals on the Iphone6 Plus will bend, glass will break. Its not a phenomenon when it happens, those materials are doing what they've always done. How about just get a case? Its cheaper than replacing glass.
 

N_LaRUE

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To the OP, I managed to crack my supposedly indestructible L920 screen.

It all comes down to how it falls and what it falls onto. Obviously the harder the surface the more likely you'll break something. If it falls on a corner you're likely to crack it. If you drop it another way the whole screen goes. You drop another way and you get a scratch or two.

As someone has mentioned. The variables are impossible to calculate and difficult to determine.

I tend to think of my phone like a laptop. I wouldn't drop it from any height. Yes phones should be a bit more rugged but when the screen gets over 6" and is thin you can't expect it being too robust.

You've been unlucky and unfortunately dropping something like a 1520 is more likely to break simply due to physics than say dropping a L920 or something smaller.
 

jomarr

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Funny because I dropped my 1520 a month ago naked on concrete and only a couple of scratches, light scratches that aren't visible to the naked eye unless you put it on direct light.

I guess it depends on the situation.
 

stephen_az

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Yeah, hence my question re: Am I just unlucky. Seems confirmed I am not unlucky and indeed this is "normal" for the 1520. Oh well.

I am sorry but how exactly has your position been confirmed? I see most people saying don't drop your phone or any phone can break or a large glass screen is susceptible to cracking. Where are all the people saying they dropped theirs and it also broke? As to the comment about a phone being damaged 10% of the times, that is just a number being pulled out of thin air. In fact, the same goes for saying a car will be damaged 99% of the time. With any vehicle made or sold in the US bumpers are designed to protect it from damage at low speeds. Likewise, you can total another person's car at 65MPH by spinning them through minor contact at a rear quarter panel and your own vehicle may have little more than a few scrapes. Police do it all the time, as do stock car drivers. The point being is all factors must be considered and there may be circumstances where damage to a phone (or car) will happen 100% of the time and others where it may occur 1%. As such, the logic is absolutely flawed.

I am not going to tell you to buy a different phone nor not drop your phone - one is your choice and none of my business and the other may be beyond your control. I dropped my 928 and 822 a number times due to temporary dexterity issues before and after having three vertebrae fused in my neck, Neither were damaged but that does not mean they are indestructible. I also would have objected to anyone saying I should be more careful since they clearly were unaware of my own circumstances. What I will say is I do object to claiming a screen is ridiculously weak (your words) based solely upon personal experience. The only thing that has been confirmed here is that phones can break if dropped. How you choose to proceed is up to you but in no way has your assertion that the 1520 is exceptionally fragile been demonstrated to be factual. It is still simply an opinion based upon personal experience....
 
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RumoredNow

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Gel Case + Tempered Glass Screen Protector. My protection arrived before my phone did.

Dropped twice. Once I don't quite remember how it landed, I think it was on edge from about two feet onto a table? The other was flat, belly flop style, right onto the screen from waist high onto a hard tiled floor. Made everyone turn and look in a crowded public space. Made my stomach hurt to hear it.

# of scratches on device = 0
# of cracks on screen = 0
# of defects on TG screen protector = 0
 

HoosierDaddy

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Yeah, hence my question re: Am I just unlucky. Seems confirmed I am not unlucky and indeed this is "normal" for the 1520. Oh well.
I agree it might not be a matter of luck. There are other reasons phones are dropped.

And it might be more likely to damage a 1520 than a 920.

But that isn't a deal breaker for most people. I've never dropped a phone in my life, so don't worry too much about what will happen if one I buy gets dropped. Obviously it can happen but for me it's somewhere between getting hit by lightning and having someone nail me running a stop sign. Not much of a concern. But if likelihood of dropping a phone is between forgetting a birthday and the sun coming up (save the Copernicus jokes) a 1520 might not be the best choice.
 

Reflexx

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Okay, so consensus is expect the phone to shatter when dropped from waist height? If so, then yea I will move to a different phone. No way in hell a 635, 920, Samsung ativ odyessy, 822, etc would be shattering from those heights. I know because after using cell phones for the past 10 years of my life this is the first one to ever break once, let alone twice. Guess I got lucky for 10 years straight and this is normal now. I still have a couple 920s so ill resurrect those until a 1520 replacement comes out. Not worth the $220 replacement bill twice on a $450 phone. That answers my question anyway.

It's luck.

All it takes is for the edge or corner of the screen to take enough force.

You may have dropped phones before, but not all drops are equal. If it doesn't hit the right part then you just get scratches. If it lands wrong you get broken glass.

A bigger phone will have bigger surface area. Therefore, you have a higher chance of not being lucky.

​It's not the phone that's the problem. It's dropping it that's the problem.

If you refuse to get a case but want a big phone with a big screen, then you should know that you have a decent risk of that screen breaking with a drop.
 

Reflexx

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Yeah, hence my question re: Am I just unlucky. Seems confirmed I am not unlucky and indeed this is "normal" for the 1520. Oh well.

It's "normal" for anything with a large screen.

It's even normal for something like a 920. You just have a better chance of being lucky because of less surface area.
 

Loc Ngo

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I have dropped my phone quite a lot since I bought it and I haven't had a single crack on my screen. I use a case as well and it is a transparent one because I like the aesthetic design and colour of my phone. Perhaps you can try the same as me.
 

rhapdog

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Gel Case + Tempered Glass Screen Protector. My protection arrived before my phone did.

Dropped twice. Once I don't quite remember how it landed, I think it was on edge from about two feet onto a table? The other was flat, belly flop style, right onto the screen from waist high onto a hard tiled floor. Made everyone turn and look in a crowded public space. Made my stomach hurt to hear it.

# of scratches on device = 0
# of cracks on screen = 0
# of defects on TG screen protector = 0

Yeah, I did the Gel+Hard plastic dual layer case with the Tempered Glass screen protector. Dropped the phone dozens of times on a variety of surfaces, never on purpose. It seems to have hit in just about every position imaginable. No damage to any parts of the phone, case, or screen protector so far.

Something to consider, if you don't want to get a case, and I understand a large device like a 1520 a case will make it even larger and that much more difficult to wield, at least get a good quality tempered glass screen protector. If the screen breaks, then you can usually just peel off the screen protector and the screen underneath is untouched. I keep a spare tempered glass screen protector in my desk drawer just in case. I have a spare device arriving today for my backup, just in case. Why? Because I'm paranoid, and I know if something happens to my phone, I need to keep working. I keep data backed up to OneDrive AND to my laptop regularly. I recommend the same to everyone I know.
 

etad putta

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As long as someone brought up the Tempered glass screen protectors, what are the the thoughts on those? Will they absorb and break before the phones screen?
 

RumoredNow

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As long as someone brought up the Tempered glass screen protectors, what are the the thoughts on those? Will they absorb and break before the phones screen?

That is the reputation and there are a lot of videos on teh Utubez to show it does work...

Will it work 100%? IDK

I do know it probably saved my screen in the above case (since the glass is in effect 2X thickness). When my wife's Note 2 slid in between the cushion on the couch and the arm and got sat on, it saved her screen at the expense of a crack on the TG protector.
 

rudypoochris

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I agree tempered glass is the way to go. My friends have it on the iPhone and it saves the screen without a doubt. On the 1520 though since the screen is curved, it doesn't bond to the edge and it looks like ****. Same generally issue I have with adding a case to such a beautiful phone. I'll revert to the 920 until something else comes along or try for a 930 since they have metal all the way around the edge.
 

worldspy99

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A standardized drop test for a object such as a phone involves dropping it 6 times from a height of 1.5m. Depending on which face/corner of the cube it is dropped can determine what breaks in which drop. Both your drops could have landed the phone in a manner that would cause the glass to break. Also size does matter!
 

rhapdog

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I'm sure that it won't protect in absolutely every case, however, it does have basically the same effect as people boarding up windows when a hurricane/typhoon is coming (or when expecting a riot.) It adds enough protection to make it considerably less likely for the screen to break.
 

HoosierDaddy

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Although I've been lucky/careful enough to never drop a phone, I'd use a lanyard if phones came with a tab like point and shoots for wrist strap or a threaded hole to screw one in. Better yet, a Travis Bickle device up the sleeve.
 

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