how to replace glass only on screen

[pumpmyvolume]

Just switched from iPhone to Galaxy S4. I love the new phone, however day 2 I managed to crack the screen against my concrete banister. Its in the bottom left corner (menu button area) and doesn't extend the entire screen so perhaps liveable but not enjoyable.

The touch screen still works, the LCD still works. I have checked eBay and apparently you can buy simply the glass overlay, and I have had this replaced on my previous iPhone. I read that its a bit more challenging to fix the glass-only portion of the Galaxy.

From ebay, its a 25$ fix. Its the challenge of replacing the glass-only that I'm unsure is possible. What are all of your thoughts?

Please allow me to stop getting glass splinters in my thumb!

 

[bosshaug12]

Just switched from iPhone to Galaxy S4. I love the new phone, however day 2 I managed to crack the screen against my concrete banister. Its in the bottom left corner (menu button area) and doesn't extend the entire screen so perhaps liveable but not enjoyable.

The touch screen still works, the LCD still works. I have checked eBay and apparently you can buy simply the glass overlay, and I have had this replaced on my previous iPhone. I read that its a bit more challenging to fix the glass-only portion of the Galaxy.

From ebay, its a 25$ fix. Its the challenge of replacing the glass-only that I'm unsure is possible. What are all of your thoughts?

Please allow me to stop getting glass splinters in my thumb!

Is it possible? Yes.
But to do it you need at least a heat gun or at best a hot air station or hako. You heat the lens and use a iSesamo or other thin metal shiv type spudger and start at corner and slowly remove the lens all while trying not to break or scratch your display, its tough. Once you remove the lens though you remove/destroy the layer of optically clear adhesive in between the lens and AMOLED/digitizer assembly. Removing this adhesive will cause you to lose the touch sense in the screen or make it extremely less accurate. Not only that but it tends to look like crap.

With that said I would not recommend it, at all. With the S3 the AMOLED display was a bit thicker than it is on the S4, making it a slightly easier lens repair. The S4 AMOLED display is extremely thin and fragile. Trying to separate the lens from the display, especially for a first timer, will cause you to, probably, break the display. Then you've wasted ~$30 and broken your screen for good requiring you to spend ~$250 on a whole lens/display assembly to get your phone working again.

It is much easier and produces a far better repair to shell out the extra dough and buy the full lens/display assembly. I would recommend this source...
Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9500 LCD Assembly

 

[Jonathan James]

We have just replaced the glass only on a Samsung S4 without issue. It is very similar to the glass removal of a S3, Note, Note2, etc. The glass is glued to the digitizer, so patience and heat will get you there. Here is our video of us doing the repair in about 15 minutes. S4 front glass removal only video.

 

[Sam Humbel]

Any tips on not covering the front facing camera with glue, making it permanently blurry? I've replaced my phone's glass twice now but cant seem to figure out how to not get glue on the camera. Maybe a thin plastic film on it to pull out once the glue needs to set?

 

[Max_Silverhammer]

That's an easy one. Just cover the lens with a thin coat of Vaseline. You could even paint the phone afterward with this method. After project is finished, wipe of the Vaseline and use a very, very small drop of dish washing liquid to get the lens crystal clear again. No water necessary.