820 Cracked Screen #fail

[ToMTOm775]

Hello there,
Dipped into WP8 last week with an 820. Really liked it - been on iOS for 5 years and this was a welcome change.
But today - pulled my phone out of my coat pocket - and crack across the screen. Rubbish.
I'd not thrown my coat around etc.. just picked it up and put it down. I guess it was clonked at some point...

Even worse, the touchscreen now no longer works below the crack. Useless. Never broken a phone screen before - I wonder if this is partly due to the lack of gorilla glass...

Watch out other 820 owners... really really unimpressed with the durability (not) of this... hopefully I can get it fixed then I'm tempted to ebay the thing..
TT

 

[Colin Perkins]

Gutted.

 

[o4liberty]

That's sucks but no phone is bullet proof gorilla glass or not! This is the main reason I always purchase insurance so that the hurt is not that bad! I dropped my 822 today and luckily no damage just body scratches.

 

[Gaichuke]

There seems to be some misconceptions about both Gorilla Glass and the one used in 820.

Gorilla Glass is scratch resistant material, not impact resistant. This means that if the glass hits something, there's a chance it breaks. If the impacting material is also something harder than GG then it requires surprisingly little force to shatter the glass. That said, the single long fracture in your phone could be a sign of defective screen, you should let Nokia Care have a look at that. If there's tension introduced in the glass structure during the manufacturing process, the glass will break very very easily and it looks like that.

Lumia 820 also has generic scratch resistant glass in it, it just isn't the trademarked Gorilla Glass.

 

[tehtog]

Actually thats wrong. If you look you'll find gorilla glass is BOTH scratch AND impact resistant. Hardness affects scratching (if one object is harder it will come out the victor, like glass and a grain of sand) but it doesn't have the same relationship with impact. Any glass has a flexibility and a breaking point, gorilla glass has a much greater flexibility to regular phone glass.

Scratching = Depends on the hardness of the two materials.
Damage/Shattering = Depends on the force of the impact and how well the material copes with that stress..


Here's some proof
Fun with Gorilla Glass - YouTube

I asked Nokia about their 'scratch resistant glass' and this is their response.

We would like you to know that the Nokia Lumia 820 device only supports a normal screen glass and improper use can result in scratches. Please be advised that the Corning? Gorilla? Glass is known for better durability, which is preventing the scratches from further propagating in comparison to a normal glass. While stronger than normal, is still made of glass and can still result to screen scratches and breakages.

So no. Despite the rumors that this is really unbranded Gorilla glass or an equal product, it's just not true. The screen glass in the picture above looks like it's standard glass and it took a knock (which I would say gorilla glass could have sustained without cracking).

It's the lack of gorilla glass that's forced me to give up looking at the 820. Two forum posts this month have been about mundane events breaking the glass.

 

[Gaichuke]

Well, it's either Nokia Care having wrong information or Lumia 820 product manager lying. Somehow I think It's the former.

Lumia 820 Q&A- Your Questions Answered : My Nokia Blog

In this QA he says very clearly that it's not GG, but it's still scratch resistant.

 

[CDG]

Just 2 cents from my personal experience. The Lumia 900 was the only device I have had with "gorilla glass", and ironically the only one that has scratches on the screen from normal usage. I baby all my phones as I did the the 900

Here is a thread on scratches on the gorilla glass in 920.
http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-920/204542-lumia-920s-screen-i-easy-scratch.html


Sent from my Lumia 820 using Board Express

 

[tehtog]

^^^
Scratches and strength are totally different things. I've had phones with a GG screen and I can confirm that even a piece of sand (provided enough force) can scratch them. This is why the 'stupid' tests where they use knives are irreverent.

Well, it's either Nokia Care having wrong information or Lumia 820 product manager lying. Somehow I think It's the former.

Lumia 820 Q&A- Your Questions Answered : My Nokia Blog

In this QA he says very clearly that it's not GG, but it's still scratch resistant.

I'm not saying that the Nokia Bog-standard glass is not scratch resistant, I'm saying it's not the got anywhere near the resistance to impact (and is also NOT AS GOOD regarding scratches) as gorilla glass. No-one is lying here, You're just misunderstanding the properties of the material. The 820 just isn't rugged at all.

You seem to be confusing the two properties of the glass which are 'Hardness' and 'Strength'. The 820s glass just isn't even in the same league as Gorilla glass.

 

[Narr]

Any screen will crack with enough force, there are plenty of examples on the web of gorilla glass shattering so it's not going to stop everything.

 

[tehtog]

Yes but if this damage is anything to go by the 820s screen is WAY weaker than gorilla glass. I.e. If it takes a small tap it would smash whereas it would take considerably more effort to smash a GG screen.

 

[CDG]

It also depends on the point of impact. I dropped my Treo Pro 3 times (shh! Don't let Palandri hear that ) on the garage floor and no damage to the glass.

I also dropped my Vivid screen first on my desk and no damage.

Maybe I was just lucky both times, I will try not to drop my 820.

 

[Narr]

Yes but if this damage is anything to go by the 820s screen is WAY weaker than gorilla glass. I.e. If it takes a small tap it would smash whereas it would take considerably more effort to smash a GG screen.

Except neither you or the OP know what sort of a tap it was; maybe the screen was weak or maybe it was a big whack across something.

 

[tehtog]

Another user has reported cracking the screen when his young son dropped it. If it can't take a hit after being dropped from <2m then it's not as good as gorilla glass.

 

[gsquared]

Except neither you or the OP know what sort of a tap it was; maybe the screen was weak or maybe it was a big whack across something.

Given the phone was in his coat pocket it would bet on the latter.

OP: Once you get your phone fixed do yourself a favor and get yourself some type of case. I always recommend a leather pocket pouch. I used an old Blackberry leather pouch with my Sammy Focus and it worked great. Provided protection and was super easy to get at the phone.

 

[ToMTOm775]

Hello Again, an update and reply to some of the posts...

Thanks for the advice (cases, insurance etc..) and about warranty claims...

I've been in lengthy discussion with Nokia Care and with the retailers Tesco mobile (who normally assume first responsibility) and the best deal I've struck is to send it back and they will assess the damage and decide (if - I mean probably) how much it will cost to repair.

I'm still bemused as to how it was damaged.. I was outside, put the phone in my inside pocket (of a down jacket). Took the coat off, put it on the ground (I didnt throw it wildly!). 10 min later picked it up again - and when I took the phone out.. cracked. I suppose it could have had a small bump when putting it down, but really I've had an iPhone 3 and 4 for nearly 5 years now - and never ever had a problem with the screen. There was nothing else in the pocket. Of course - when you try and explain this to Nokia/Tesco you can hear them thinking yeah yeah...

One thing no-one here has really picked up on is that the touch screen does not work below the crack.. I've seen a good few iphones and samsungs that have cracked screens and work fine. This renders the phone completely useless.

I'll wait and see how much it costs to repair before going further - I've spied OEM screens online for $40.. so might give self repair a bash! Or break it up and ebay the parts if its too much...

A bit sad really - WP8 was pretty good in my view and I really liked the form of the 820....

 

[tehtog]

Given the phone was in his coat pocket it would bet on the latter.

OP: Once you get your phone fixed do yourself a favor and get yourself some type of case. I always recommend a leather pocket pouch. I used an old Blackberry leather pouch with my Sammy Focus and it worked great. Provided protection and was super easy to get at the phone.

OR not. We've already had another forum users screen crack after his son dropped it once. That's not the kind of robustness I expect from a ?400 phone.

 

[Narr]

It would be great if there were comparisons between this unknown glass and gorilla glass. I haven't seen anyone using their keys to navigate on the 820.

 

[ToMTOm775]

Hello, an update..
My phone went off to the retailer (Tesco mobile) to get a quote for the screen repair.
They want ?51 for a replacement screen - which I think is a pretty decent price.. of course I wish it hadnt broken so easily in the first place but ?50 isnt so bad...
So a happyish end to the tale (assuming it comes back fixed etc...). Just got used to my iphone again!
TT

 

[CDG]

Ouch! How did that happen?
Sent from my Lumia 820 using Board Express

 

[ToMTOm775]

Oh - thats not good.
For me the screen vulnerability is an issue.. so when it comes back from being fixed its going on Ebay...