Unresponsive touchscreen problems

[Andy Man1]

Hello.

Im really tired of my SGS4 Active at the moment. When I updated to KitKat the 4G/LTE stopped working properly causing my signal to drop. So I had to force the phone to only use 3G. This was fixed in the lollipop update. Now the phone has a new problem. My touchscreen very often now stops responding. This means when using the phone I cant do anything. Or very often it also starts pressing multiple places on the screen without me touching the screen. Problem is solved temporarily by pressing the on/off button to get the phone on the lock screen. Mostly I need to make several attempts to get the screen to work again. I havent found what causes this or what makes it work for an extended period. Really sucks when someone calls and I cant take the phone.. What annoys me the most is that I need to send my phone in to repair a couple of times so that the shop can confirm whether or not they are able to fix this. Which they most likely can not? Also Samsung Norway cant help me either. They act like a reseller. They want me to go to the shop where I bought it or to my operator. This problem is intermittent(?). So ill be getting my phone back from the repair shop saying theres no problem with it right?

Anyone else having this problem or have solved it?

During every update I factory reset my phone before and after the update. My sgs2 also had various problems. Ive also always had some signal reception problems with these phones. If I cant fix this problem, what other brand should I choose?
Ive only had this phone for 1.5 years. I think its a little too soon to buy a new one if I can fix this.

Thanks for answer.

 

[prolongExistence]

Wow, I thought I was reading the old WebOs forums when I read this. I came from the HP/Palm Pre days when they were trying to get WebOs out there as an operating system. The screen issue was a very common problem with the Pre series devices. Your screen digitizer is shot. Your only hope is a screen replacement & since the S4 Active has the digitizer glued to the glass you're looking at about a $150 USD fix. I'm assuming you're in Norway so you're prices may vary.

I agree that 1.5 years isn't that old but 2 things to consider.....

1. Your battery is only designed to last about 2 years so battery life is going to start to diminish soon.
2. This is the GS4 series. The GS6 series has been out for a few months now. You are 2 versions down so how much longer do you think Samsung is going to be pushing Android updates for the GS4 series? It's not cost effective for a manufacturer to keep updating older devices, they want you to buy a new device.

 

[Andy Man1]

Hi! Thanks for the answer.

Yes im in Norway. Im used to repairing phones but if its 150 USD im going to have to consider buying a new one. With VAT and shipping it wont be worth it. Do I have a chance at getting it repaired through warranty? Here by law a phone should work for 2 years given its not been broken by the user. The strange thing is that screen sometimes works perfectly. Is this common symptoms of a digitizer malfunction? Is there any way to test it? Is it possible that the updates have broken my phone?

I really like the Galaxy Note. But im just annoyed at Samsung. So im thinking of giving another brand a shot. Some of the things that annoys me is that say Sony or Iphone very often has better signal reception than me. I mean not how the signal meter is scaled I mean that they can have a signal at places which I can not. Any brand recommendations? I get that most Brands wont make things that last forever But are there any "german" quality phones out there? If "german" is still a standard...

 

[prolongExistence]

Well if you are able to do the repair yourself then you can probably find the screen on eBay or amazon cheaper. I'm sure there are YouTube videos to show you how to replace it. But if you have that 2yr law then I'd try that route. Samsung warranty is most likely only 1yr.
Yes, it can be an intermittent problem. Pretty sure software has nothing to do with it, it's just a hardware issue.
I can't really help you to much with other brands. My first Android device was a Motorola & other than poor design it was a solid device.

 

[Andy Man1]

Thank you very much for your help