Lumia 920 Creaks, Squeaks, Build Quality Issues (video inside)

chan H H

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Hello all,

First of all, apologies for the long rant below :p. I am from Malaysia.

Intro

I've always been a Nokian if there were ever such a 'demographic', lol. I wouldn't deny if there was indeed some sort of sentimental attachment to the brand over the years even as I've started using other OS-es. Having owned about 11 Nokias to date since my high school days, starting from the first antenna-less phone and its sibling the 3210/3310, the butterfly 8250, the goofy looking 3650, then 6600 a.k.a sabun, the Rubik's lookalike 3250, and then an obsession with pancake-thin phones in the form of 6300 and then the 5310 Xpressmusic. Took a break trying out an Android using the Samsung Galaxy Ace but didn't quite click with it and returned it for the Nokia E5. A stolen E5 left me with a stopgap ultra-budget 1280 while awaiting for the Lumia 920's release.

I never felt the need of owning an iPhone since I believe that the 3rd gen iPad I have now delivers a superior iOS experience compared to that from a phone. I've also been following the WP/Nokia developments, paying much attention to Microsoft's vision of unifying/streamlining WP8 and W8 experiences across multiple device types (this comes also after much frustrating iTunes experiences)

Lumia

That said, I have recently joined the Lumia bandwagon with a newly purchased 920. Bought it at Senheng SS2 PJ 4 days back and took the last unit in the store - Matte black. Initial impressions were excellent - WP8 was beautiful and buttery smooth with the exception of subpar apps compared to those on the iOS appstore.

Nevertheless, 3rd day into using the phone, a 'creaking' sound started to surface around the left side of the phone, midway down, where the glass screen and polycarbonate body comes together. This 'creak' happens whenever I hold the phone in a normal position and apply slight pressure to the sides. Upon closer inspection I find that there is a gap of uneven size (about 0.5mm wide, enough to stuff a fingernail in) along the glass-polycarb bezel, which also acts as a sort of dirt trap, collecting dust over the course of the day. The right side of the phone where the buttons sit, hoever, are perfectly constructed with no visible gaps or dust-collecting issues. The creaking sound has progressively worsened over the next day where it has evolved into minor 'clicks' and pops whenever play is introduced to this side of the phone. It is as if the phone had new imaginary buttons on its left side!

On a side note, a friend owns the same black model purchased about 2 weeks prior and it has no such problems which confirms my believe that it is indeed a defect. This may seem like a minor issue to many but I find it unacceptable that a flagship phone have such problem which can be traced back to Nokia's QC/manufacturing tolerances. Spending the same amount of money that one would have to spend in order to get an iPhone/Galaxy s3 it's disheartening to see this happen (as much as I want the NOK/MS combo to succeed in this iOS-Android climate). A quick search on WPcentral and google indicates that this is not an isolated problem but one experienced by many across the world.

That said, part of the big reasons I purchased the 920 was the expectations of its physicality (much-touted polycarbonate housing) and its triumph as a product design. I probably wouldn't have been bother by this creak if it was any other phone - heck I wouldnt even mind if such things happen on a Samsung GS3 or Note 2 if i ever owned one knowing well the cheap plastics Samsung is known for using (no offense to Samsung owners!).

Proceeded to Senheng and requested for one-to-one exchange. Staff said that they are still out of stock and indicated that exchange is indeed possible - told me to keep my phone and will call me up for exchange once stock arrives. Taking this with a grain of salt and will insist to return the phone with fullbox and receipt tomorrow.

To conclude and to those who TL;DR, this post is meant to be a semi-rant and also a call for discussion. What is your experience with your Lumia concerning build quality? Suggestions for any way to communicate this problem to Nokia in a high impact and effective way?

Video

This is a short vid I took this morning. The clicking noises may be slightly exaggerated as I've normalized the audio in Adobe Audition but rest assured the annoyance factor remains the same.

 

James8561

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had creaks on the top part of my phone, near the audio port on my first device purchased on day 1 too. sent it in last month and now my replacement has been perfect so far
 

rbxtreme

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I have been using the Black L920 for about 10 days now and apart from a faint vibration rattle I have not had any squeaks and any loose component or dust in FFC. I consider this to be off a bad batch. You should be getting a better phone:). I agree these things happen and fortunately the issue is so evident. But honestly I admit that the way the phone is built we should not be looking at issues surrounding the polycarb case. So stay calm, its just a one off case. Cheers.
 

flame l

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The phone that I got has a squeak sound on top and, there's gap between the body and the screen on the sides of the phone.
 

Evan_ISS

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Had exactly the same issue, top squeaking and cracking, the plastic visibly bending even when pressed lightly.

Sent it back to Nokia twice (was over the 14 day period), the second time they sent me a replacement which is built like a tank.

It is a fault, replace it if you can or talk to Nokia support, they are very good.
 

flame l

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I was disappointed also cause they sent the phone back to me and there's still the gap between the screen the body , and the squeak noise on the top of the phone.
 

lshepTX

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I have the squeaks and creaks too as well as the vibration rattle. I sent it to Nokia's repair center (address below) on Jan 20 and just got it back "RETURN TO SENDER" and "UNABLE TO FORWARD".

NOKIA AUTHORIZED REPAIR CENTER
C/O UPS-SCS
13501 INDEPENDENCE PKWY - DOCK DOOR 1146
FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76177

Has Nokia already gone out of business?!? How can a company be closed on the weekends if they really care about customer support? The fact that they're closed on the weekends is a huge signal they don't care and is trimming costs to slow the sinking ship. This is a major disappointment.
 

Philippe Maes

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I too have a little gab on the top which I can "close" by pressing on the top. This doesn't bother me much but I have a couple of small particles in my FFC after a month of use, again not annoying but still.

I wonder if tightening the screws at the bottom would help...?
 

Evan_ISS

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I too have a little gab on the top which I can "close" by pressing on the top. This doesn't bother me much but I have a couple of small particles in my FFC after a month of use, again not annoying but still.

I wonder if tightening the screws at the bottom would help...?

I sent it back to Nokia (twice) and eventually got a replacement. It is a fault, plain and simple.

The replacement unit is built like a tank.
 

supereddzz

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Is the moral of the story then that if you complain enough, Nokia will put out and deliver the goods? I wish I didn't care about this stupid gap in the bezel, I really do... But the fact of the matter is, I spent so much money on this phone for it to have ANYTHING wrong with it. It just narks me off (it makes me want to swear a lot :p). It's been in for repair once and they did nothing but clean out the FFC, probably with some compressed air, and flashed Portico. THAT IS NOT WHAT I ASKED THEM TO DO. I told them the screen wasn't seated right and they did f-all about it... I don't know what to do...
 

Huime

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Is the moral of the story then that if you complain enough, Nokia will put out and deliver the goods? I wish I didn't care about this stupid gap in the bezel, I really do... But the fact of the matter is, I spent so much money on this phone for it to have ANYTHING wrong with it. It just narks me off (it makes me want to swear a lot :p). It's been in for repair once and they did nothing but clean out the FFC, probably with some compressed air, and flashed Portico. THAT IS NOT WHAT I ASKED THEM TO DO. I told them the screen wasn't seated right and they did f-all about it... I don't know what to do...
I do not recommend you to do this, but just an idea. You can use thick sealant like transparent nail polish to seal off the gaps. But do some research and practice before you try.
 

supereddzz

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Well I'm sending it back again... There's no point me keeping when every time I look at it I notice it - drives me insane! lol. Here's my repair note:

I have sent my phone in for repair at NOKIA previously and the fault that I had outlined has not been fixed. There is clear gap between the bezel of the phone and the screen along the left-hand side and the along top of the device (above the speaker grill). These gaps are allowing dust and debris to enter the phone and in the case of the top gap, allowing dust to enter underneath the front facing camera and proximity sensor. The gap along the side of the phone also creates light-bleeding in dark conditions. The fact that I highlighted this in my last repair note and it wasn't fixed causes me great concern. The glass of the screen should be completely flush with the bezel surrounding it. The poly-carbonate body should also be flush with the bezel. My device is suffering from a CLEAR MANUFACTURING DEFECT and needs repair or better yet, replacing. Please do not return the device to me until the issue has been resolved. I don't want to have to send the device back in for repair again.
 

Oliver Newell

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Im having the same problem, regarding the vibrator. When you press any of the capacitive buttons you don't notice it, because the vibration for them is very short and not meant to shake the phone but when a text message comes through the vibrator makes like a rattling noise. I don't think anything inside it is loose, but it just something I noticed. The rest of the phone is completely solid though. Very good build quality.
 

supereddzz

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Im having the same problem, regarding the vibrator. When you press any of the capacitive buttons you don't notice it, because the vibration for them is very short and not meant to shake the phone but when a text message comes through the vibrator makes like a rattling noise. I don't think anything inside it is loose, but it just something I noticed. The rest of the phone is completely solid though. Very good build quality.

The rattling is normal. It has been put down to the OIS behind the camera lens.
 

paddylaz

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+1, both Lumias I have owned have/had the rattling.

Wrong on both counts I'm afraid.

I've been through four lumia 920's. The very first one had the rattle that 90% of people are (rightly) complaining about. It's a VERY loud rattle that sounds like the whole phone is coming apart and is actually louder and more intrusive than simply having a ringtone.

However the other lumia 920's I've seen show what I am assuming is the 'normal' sound - which STILL has a slight rattle to it, but is unintrusive and (assuming you dont have OCD) fairly easy to 'get over.'

Please don't dismiss someone like this - I've experiened it first hand and it IS a big deal....but hopefully something that only affected earlier batches (I hope...).
 

Evan_ISS

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Wrong on both counts I'm afraid.

I've been through four lumia 920's. The very first one had the rattle that 90% of people are (rightly) complaining about. It's a VERY loud rattle that sounds like the whole phone is coming apart and is actually louder and more intrusive than simply having a ringtone.

However the other lumia 920's I've seen show what I am assuming is the 'normal' sound - which STILL has a slight rattle to it, but is unintrusive and (assuming you dont have OCD) fairly easy to 'get over.'

Please don't dismiss someone like this - I've experiened it first hand and it IS a big deal....but hopefully something that only affected earlier batches (I hope...).

I purchased my first Lumia the first week of release (UK). I got a replacement from Nokia end of January, so different batches.

Both handsets have/had a slight rattle when vibrating, initially I thought it was faulty up until I read about the OIS. Definitely not a rattle as you describe (i.e. something completely loose in the phone).
 

paddylaz

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Yeah, I mean basically what I'm trying to say is: my first lumia was so bad that it immediately made me google it to see the problem - it was very loud

But my subsequent handsets have only a minor rattle. So obviously SOME rattle is completely normal, but there are some handsets out there where it's so bad it NEEDS to be replaced.

I love Nokia, and would be first to defend them, but you cannot defend a rattle and component vibration that is LOUDER and more disruptive than a ringtone. It defeats the entire purpose. I'd recommend anyone who thinks they have it bad to go to a store or something and compare with a model there to see if they are suffering from the 'standard' amount of rattle that they all have, or whether they got unlucky like I did.
 

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