Nexus 4 back shattered within 24 hours - not dropped!

[Deadringers]

Fake or not, I would advise everyone not to set the glass front or back onto a stone kitchen table, especially marble or granite, and doubly so if the phone has been warmed by being in a pocket or been in use on a call or such. Basically you don't want to cause the glass to have a rapid downward change in temperature. This is like back in chemistry lab where they tell you to never take a flask that has been heated by a bunsen burner and run it under cold water. The heat transference from glass to water or glass to stone is quite rapid and the material contracts too quickly, causing possible fracturing.

I can't believe I just read that along with 4 people thanking you...

This is complete and utter rubbish.

Perhaps if we were talking about something going from 100 degrees C down to 0 rapidly you might see something happen.

But the temperature in your pocket would AT THE MOST on a HOT day be like 25-30 degrees c.
And that would be uncomfortably hot IMO.

And your saying that some nominal temperature of about 20 degrees going down to 10-15 is enough to make some glass crack?

:facepalm:

God bless the internet.

 

[skyrockett]

Yeahh glass not gonna break from sudden temperature changes at such low temps. I once popped my windshield by spraying cold water on it. Its was like 110 outside ..you could imagine what was going on inside of that car! But the guy who replaced my windshield said that it wasn't water or anything he said that yes sudden temperature drop caused it to crack but chips and tiny cracks were the main cause.

 

[wx27]

I can't believe I just read that along with 4 people thanking you...

This is complete and utter rubbish.

Perhaps if we were talking about something going from 100 degrees C down to 0 rapidly you might see something happen.

But the temperature in your pocket would AT THE MOST on a HOT day be like 25-30 degrees c.
And that would be uncomfortably hot IMO.

And your saying that some nominal temperature of about 20 degrees going down to 10-15 is enough to make some glass crack?

:facepalm:

God bless the internet.

Sorry, didn't mean to get your panties in a knot from just giving some advice. Never did I state that the glass WILL crack if you place it on marble or granite, just that it's probably not the best of ideas to do so. And a phone can get north of 40 C in your pocket if some application is running in the background and cranking up the CPU. I'm not saying the temperature difference is a possible source of the OP's shattering, but the rate of temperature change.

Perhaps the OP had a glass back that had a defect in production and a rapid temperature change accentuated that weakness and caused the material to fail. I'm just throwing out a possible explanation to what the OP experienced and you label it complete and utter rubbish. You are entitled to your opinions on the matter. Have a good day.

 

[Phenom]

OK, I just bit the bullet and called LG on my own. Of course they wouldn't quote me a price, but they did say that if I shipped it and got the repair quote and declined it, there would be no charge to me. They'd just ship it back as is. That's good to hear considering previous threads/comments stated that ppl were forced to pay a "diagnostic" fee if they declined the work. Guess I'll get on eBay and buy a cheap 2nd phone to use so I can ship in my phone for repair.

 

[Deadringers]

Sorry, didn't mean to get your panties in a knot from just giving some advice. Never did I state that the glass WILL crack if you place it on marble or granite, just that it's probably not the best of ideas to do so. And a phone can get north of 40 C in your pocket if some application is running in the background and cranking up the CPU. I'm not saying the temperature difference is a possible source of the OP's shattering, but the rate of temperature change.

Perhaps the OP had a glass back that had a defect in production and a rapid temperature change accentuated that weakness and caused the material to fail. I'm just throwing out a possible explanation to what the OP experienced and you label it complete and utter rubbish. You are entitled to your opinions on the matter. Have a good day.

It was more the fact that you were comparing a bunsen burner with a phone case getting hot in your pocket that made me cringe.

 

[wx27]

It was more the fact that you were comparing a bunsen burner with a phone case getting hot in your pocket that made me cringe.

That was more of an extreme analogy/hyperbole. I'll mark it as such next time so people don't overreact.

My real point to the OP is that they could have experienced what happens when a material contracts suddenly (giving an extreme visualization just to represent the thermal mechanics) and that if their device has a defect in the glass, the material contraction can lead to their shattering.

 

[donm527#IM]

my nexus was running super hot and draining my battery the other day... i suspect an app recently updated or service causing the burn and i could see the radio icon active when idle. so i uninstalled some apps and disabled some services and i turned off the phone and wanted to ge the temp down and power back on to test if it still went hot. I happened to be at an ice rink watching my daughter practice and decided to lay it on a super cold counter glass counter top and got the phone ice cold in minutes. i remembered this post but didnt care and went for it... didnt crack.

just sharing personal experience. i guess there could be a bad batch of glass. but guess i've been lucky. also dropped my phone a couple of times with just a super thin ringke case... once on the road when getting out of my suv... and no damage. ymmv.

 

[Nimrod Shory]

It just happened to me also!
I had to google it to see if it happened to anybody else.
I've put my N4 on the table (really gently) and after a minute started hearing a cracking sound, when i flipped it over I saw it was starting to crack slowly.
It was really spontaneous.. It was absolutly strange!
I bought it from Google in the US and brought it to europe so i guess no customer care for me.
My only advice is buy a protecting case as soon as you buy your phone!

 

[return_0]

It just happened to me also!
I had to google it to see if it happened to anybody else.
I've put my N4 on the table (really gently) and after a minute started hearing a cracking sound, when i flipped it over I saw it was starting to crack slowly.
It was really spontaneous.. It was absolutly strange!
I bought it from Google in the US and brought it to europe so i guess no customer care for me.
My only advice is buy a protecting case as soon as you buy your phone!

http://oi47.tinypic.com/6h2lae.jpg

http://oi50.tinypic.com/5f0mu1.jpg

Could you give more details about what happened when it cracked? For example, was it a cold surface? What material? Was the air or the phone itself hot prior to placing it? I haven't had any such mishaps, even without a case.

 

[majiklantrn]

Yikes. I love having my N4 naked but geez..... is it worth the risk?

 

[anon(5719825)]

If you refuse to use a case you have no right to complain when it breaks. I really do feel for you people that have devices cracking and shattering but I feel 90%+ could have been avoided with a good case.

I have not used cases on any phones I have had starting with an iPhone 3GS. All of them have been glass and have never broke one yet. Never had a case on the Nexus 4 and never will.

 

[anon5664829]

You had an issue with the nexus 4??? BS I have a nexus 4 and I haven't had any issues you are a bold faced liar!!!!

Wow strong words for someone that has no idea that has happened, I for one believe it.

 

[anon5664829]

No disrespect, but anyone using a phone mostly made of glass naked, without a case or a bumper deserves to have his phone shattered.

Uhh no I do not deserve to have my phone shatter, no matter what material it is made out of.

 

[Antony Vila]

I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies. I have had a very similar experience. I 'placed' my google nexus 4 on a perspex surface and heard a crack. Single crack in one place with hairline lines spanning off. To all those who said it was BS, it absolutely isn't. The phone is that fragile!

The take home message for anyone with one is to protect it! I've got a cover on order which will hide the crack.

Shame, because the phone should be able to withstand putting down on a variety of surfaces (no matter what the heat difference if that were the cause in both cases).

I think those arguing that people using a phone without a case are somehow misguided are themselves missing the point. A phone should be enjoyed in it's truest naked form like the pictures we all bought into. If this is not the case (no pun intended) and all phones require ridiculous padding, Google should charge ?2.99 extra and include one in the pack with an option to choose the colour.

Why should the user have to be tasked with buying something so essential from Amazon?

There have been enough stories on-line about this happening for it to be quite clear that it's not the customer who is at fault.

If Google don't want to include a cover, they could at least put a sticker warning of the dangers involved in putting this phone down on non-padded surfaces!

 

[thisfnguy]

Wow strong words for someone that has no idea that has happened, I for one believe it.

Next time I'll be sure to make my sarcasm more apparent. My apologies for the confusion.

 

[anon5664829]

Next time I'll be sure to make my sarcasm more apparent. My apologies for the confusion.

Ahh ok I see

 

[moshel]

Happened to me too, 24 hours after buying my Nexus 4. No cracking sound, just picked up the next day and found a single crack across the back side. It's time for a recall Google!

 

[NickFromHouston]

What does the phone look like with the back glass completely removed? It might not look bad at all, and you may not want to replace the broken glass if it might end up just breaking again.

 

[jdbii]

I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies. I have had a very similar experience. I 'placed' my google nexus 4 on a perspex surface and heard a crack. Single crack in one place with hairline lines spanning off. To all those who said it was BS, it absolutely isn't. The phone is that fragile!

The take home message for anyone with one is to protect it! I've got a cover on order which will hide the crack.

Shame, because the phone should be able to withstand putting down on a variety of surfaces (no matter what the heat difference if that were the cause in both cases).

I think those arguing that people using a phone without a case are somehow misguided are themselves missing the point. A phone should be enjoyed in it's truest naked form like the pictures we all bought into. If this is not the case (no pun intended) and all phones require ridiculous padding, Google should charge ?2.99 extra and include one in the pack with an option to choose the colour.

Why should the user have to be tasked with buying something so essential from Amazon?

There have been enough stories on-line about this happening for it to be quite clear that it's not the customer who is at fault.

If Google don't want to include a cover, they could at least put a sticker warning of the dangers involved in putting this phone down on non-padded surfaces!

Google might be exposing themselves to lawsuits in they included a warning or advised a case should be used. I think it would be an implicit admission that the device is defective.

 

[donm527#IM]

well its been mentioned that google has updated the case with little nubs on the back to reduce sliding? i would imagine that it resolves any possible cracking cause the glass will not touch the surface now. also it was mentioned the camera hole is reduced... imo that could indicate that besides camera hole size, that the glass could be subtly different and you'll never know it. i imagine you wont hear many more of these issues.

Google might be exposing themselves to lawsuits in they included a warning or advised a case should be used. I think it would be an implicit admission that the device is defective.