Lumia 930 oleophobic coating worn?

[Rory Sharp]

Hi.

I've had two Lumia 930 (white) phones and both exhibit what appears to be an issue with the coating on the screen wearing away after about a month.

I have attached a photo of the first phone that I had.

It appears that the screen get coated with fingerprints more easily in certain areas. When cleaned with a cloth there is no evidence of the marks or any kind of scratches at all. However, The upper part of the screen seems affected more than the lower. What is also interesting (to me) is that there appears to be a pattern of horizontal lines where fingerprints are present and this seems quite uniform in most areas. Perhaps this is a process that the screen goes through to coat it with the coating?

I raised a support request with Nokia for the first phone and they were not very helpful at all! Even when I tried to escalate I was apparently speaking to the manager. The suggestion I was given was to use a screen protector!

I have had a Lumia 800 and Lumia 920 previously and have never needed to have a screen protector as I take very good care of my phones!

I took the first phone back to phones4u who kindly saw the problem and replaced it with an identical model.

So I thought I would err on the side of caution and bought a soft case for the new phone.

However, after a month again this one has started to show the exact same problem, albeit to a lesser extent.

Phones4u have now gone bust so I am stuck with a phone that to me has a manufacturing fault that Nokia/Microsoft are not interested in resolving.

Has any one else experienced this issue or am I the only Lumia 930 owner to experience this?

It's really frustrating as it ruins the look of the phone and is very noticeable in bright lights until I clean the screen.

I'd appreciate any direction on where I should complain to get it looked at, as this could be an issue with a batch for the particular branch?

Thanks for your help guys.

Rory:unhappy:

 

[travis_valkyrie]

Afaik normal wear and tear are not included in warranty. But if it is a manufacturer fault, then it should do.

 

[Rory Sharp]

I agree about normal wear and tear. However I think that after a month of careful use on both phones to have the same thing happen in the same way/pattern suggests to me that there might be something wrong with the batch?

I was wondering whether any other Lumia 930 owners who have had their phones for a while without screen protectors have noticed anything similar?

 

[Grodelj]

Have you been cleaning the screen with anything else than dry cloth?

 

[maverick786us]

How can you leave the screen unprotected without a screen guard? I purchased a new Lumia 930 and am looking for a tempered glass protection.

 

[Rory Sharp]

Nope, only been using a soft dry cloth. :-(

 

[Grodelj]

How can you leave the screen unprotected without a screen guard? I purchased a new Lumia 930 and am looking for a tempered glass protection.

There are people like myself, who hate screen protectors and cases If I have a beautyful phone with beautyful screen, I don't want to ruin the looks with some plastic case and foil on the screen.

 

[Grodelj]

Nope, only been using a soft dry cloth. :-(

Do you maybe use some skincare products that stay on the skin? Anyhow..did you try to clean it with something else now, that the damage is already done? Maybe you could remove this with cleaner for computer screens.

 

[Rory Sharp]

Hey Grodelj.

Thanks for your input.

Unfortunately I don't use any skincare products other than the usual shower gels and soaps that wash off normally.

The photo shows what it is like after a few uses. When I clean it using a soft dry cloth the fingerprints disappear and there is no evidence of the striping. There are no scratches on the screen and it is like new... Which is why I'm thinking there is something wrong with the coating. As other parts of the screen repel the finger smudges and the parts where the smudges are bad has the coating removed.

It is strange that I have had two phones that are displaying the same issues. Yet no-one else seems to have them... Both phones were from the same store so it could be a batch issue? As I say, there is nothing unusual that I am doing with the device that would cause it.. And the most recent one is kept in a soft case with a soft lining which I thought would be enough to protect it :-(

It's a shame as it is a great phone but this has spoiled my experience :-/

 

[maverick786us]

There are people like myself, who hate screen protectors and cases If I have a beautyful phone with beautyful screen, I don't want to ruin the looks with some plastic case and foil on the screen.

I would prefer a wallet case a pouch from where you tray out the phone. That will protect the phone without spoiling the look. But a screen protector is a need. With my old Lumia. 900 the buttons in your denim pocket can cause a scratch

 

[Grodelj]

Hey Grodelj.

Thanks for your input.

Unfortunately I don't use any skincare products other than the usual shower gels and soaps that wash off normally.

The photo shows what it is like after a few uses. When I clean it using a soft dry cloth the fingerprints disappear and there is no evidence of the striping. There are no scratches on the screen and it is like new... Which is why I'm thinking there is something wrong with the coating. As other parts of the screen repel the finger smudges and the parts where the smudges are bad has the coating removed.

It is strange that I have had two phones that are displaying the same issues. Yet no-one else seems to have them... Both phones were from the same store so it could be a batch issue? As I say, there is nothing unusual that I am doing with the device that would cause it.. And the most recent one is kept in a soft case with a soft lining which I thought would be enough to protect it :-(

It's a shame as it is a great phone but this has spoiled my experience :-/

You should take both phonest to Nokia care, I suppose they are still under warranty.

 

[Coreldan]

How can you leave the screen unprotected without a screen guard? I purchased a new Lumia 930 and am looking for a tempered glass protection.

I would never put a screen protector on my phone. 930 since it launched, screen is still just like it came out of the box.

 

[maverick786us]

I would never put a screen protector on my phone. 930 since it launched, screen is still just like it came out of the box.

Its a matter of luck, if it falls and survive without a micro-scratch. I can't take that chance with my beautiful device, a micro-scartch will not affect the functionality, but it will hurt you. These glasses are scratch resistant not scratch proof

 

[Coreldan]

That screen protector instantly drops the beauty value of your phone before anything happens

 

[maverick786us]

That screen protector instantly drops the beauty value of your phone before anything happens

You can go for a good quality screen protector that is anti-reflective, so that it isn't visible at all. But I agree with one thing, that Lumia 930 has slightly convex screen. So the screen protector cannot cover the entire screen, thus making the lines visible.

But I don't have a choice. I also happened to have the same thinking as you do. 2 years ago, when I pruchased my first lumia device (Lumia 900). I thought that Gorilla Glass 1 is strong enough to take impacts. There wasen't a single situation, when my 900 was ever dropped. But one day I observed a micro scratch on the screen, I was in complete shock. Then I realized that while putting it in the front pocket, the metallic buttons right above the front pockets of the DENIM must have come in contact with the screen, thus causing the micro scratch. Since then I've been using screen protector. Although it alters the beauty. But a protection is needed

 

[Coreldan]

My 920 after 2 years of daily service managed pristine regardless of several drops, except for one microscratch on the screen that you could only see in certain lighting if you were looking for it. So sure, it happens, but what's the big deal, especially if it's about microscratches? I personally never sell me previous phone away, so I dont worry about the resale value personally.

For me the problem isn't only the looks, but also how it feels. The 920 especially felt really awesome with it's oleophobic coating (partially to also do with the overall rounded design). Given, I have very limited experience with at least higher end screen protectors to tell how they feel like, but I've yet to see or touch one that looks or feels good enough for me to even consider it worth a microscratch or two over the span of two years.

 

[Jason Hendry]

ive had my 930 over 2 weeks I clean it with first a wet non alchoholic wipe followed by a lint free cloth(my glasses cloth lol) and I do this 2-3 times a day lol. so far into the 3rd week not a single scratch and the phone on the screen is flawless. I have been carrying this in my jean pocket and coat pocked every day. Because I cant find a screen protector to fit over the whole phone I really haven't bothered and wont bother to put one one(I wish I could find one but I love the slopes to much.), I do however make sure there's nothing in the pocket I put my phone in now, and I always check for any sand as I live by beach. Im amazed there's not 1 scratch, ill update you in a couple more weeks incase it changes for me, but I think your right about a bad batch. Unfortunately it happens and being only a month old if it was apple they would just replace it without question so nokia, Microsoft need to up their customer support from your perspective. 2 apple iPhone I bought were faulty befor year out, they replaced within 2 days that's great service, though now im converted to win 8.1 I hope that the customer service proves equal to apple, cause ive never had better.

 

[anon9169769]

To clean my screen I used to use the microfibre cloth and screen spray liquid but then the cloth would get rough and add the smallest invisible hairline scratches (that can only be seen at an angle under a strong light) always kept my 1520 in a case. But now I clean my phone with a baby wipe and dry with kitchen towel. Makes no scratches and gives the screen a lovely feel too.

 

[igoramadas]

Some of you might be interested on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iksEsOdTrkk

Bought on eBay for around 20 EUR. One should be enough for around 5 to 6 applications, or roughly half a year. I'm using this (applied twice in 2 months) and it works like a charm!

 

[anthonyng]

is that just grease smears?

I'm a wipe it on my clothes guy. Noticed that the grease really doesn't come off until I used the cloth for my sunglasses. Picked it right off!