Question Phone screen compatibility.

[BobCat6767]

TL;DR at bottom.

Hi people, here to seek advice. I recently cracked my phone screen for the first time in my life. Dropped it on some stairs and it fell out of its very well worn phone case. Anyway the display and function seemed fine, just some thin cracks on the glass and a chip off the corner of glass.

I took it to get repaired the next day. When I got I back. They told me there was previous evidence of moisture so they couldn't warranty it. I didn't mind, its an old phone (2021) and understand water damage can affect the display. Anyway when I got the phone back I tried to play a youtube video, it was unlistenable. The audio was crackling heavily particularly on lower sounds and isn't as loud as it used to be.

I took it back again and explained what happened. They subtly tried to shift the blame and told me it could be pre-existing or happened when I dropped it. I doubt that
Iirc I had the audio playing the night I dropped it (after) else I definitely would have noticed with my alarms the morning of the repair. So I'm like 99.99% sure they botched putting it back together. Anyway they had a look and told me they would need to order a new part. (They were very quick to remind me I didn't have warranty.) When they got the new speakers I brought it back, but the issue persisted. The repair guy told me he can't fix and it might be the motherboard.
Also while waiting for parts to arrive I noticed it can no longer hear phone calls, I didn't catch this right away because I don't talk on the phone often.

I was still thinking that maybe the assembly was botched so I did some research. They used a generic A04S/A12/A13 screen replacment. Mine is an A127F A12. My question is. Are these incompatible and if so is the incompatibility likely the cause of the audio crackling and inability to hear phone calls? If so I have a receipt and no warranty. What recourse do I have?


TL;DR: Audio issues after screen replacment, an 'AO4S/A12/A13' screen was used on my A127F A12. Would this cause compatibility issues with the audio? If so what remedy can I get with a receipt but no warranty?

 

[VidJunky]

Welcome to Android Central forums. The A12 does have some age on it but it isn't that old. You're asking the wrong crowd about compatibility. That would be a question for another repair shop perhaps. They would have access to what parts are available, and knowledge of what parts, suppliers and sources are better. My best advice on that would be to call or visit a different place and one that isn't the same franchise.

In the meantime, when you say un-listenable, what do you mean? The volume was too loud, static, too low, couldn't make out the audio, what?

Is all audio this way or only YouTube, or just certain apps?

Are there other issues besides sound issues?

While it could be possible to have compatibility issues with the screen I wouldn't imagine that they would affect the speaker. Did they reopen the phone after you asked them to look at it? My first instinct would be that there was an error in the reassembly process and the speaker wasn't seated correctly, or may have been damaged in the removal. Which one I feel strongest about will depend on your answers to my questions.

First get some answers from another repair shop if you can, then ask someone to open it and check the assembly. Either ask the original shop and give them a chance to maybe correct their mistake or take it to someone else with the intentions of, if it was their error, that they pay them or pay you to pay them for the additional service.

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome to AC!

The screen itself shouldn’t cause audio issues like crackling or loss of call audio even if it’s a generic replacement.

On the Samsung Galaxy A12 (A127F), the display assembly is separate from the speaker and earpiece circuits. So using a generic A04S/A12/A13 screen might affect:
Brightness/quality
Touch response
…but not speaker performance or call audio directly.

What could cause your symptoms
Given the timing (immediately after repair), the more likely causes are:
Loose or improperly seated connectors (speaker / earpiece flex)
Damaged speaker or earpiece during disassembly
Debris or adhesive blocking the speaker ports
Incorrect reassembly affecting the top earpiece (why you can’t hear calls)

The fact that:
You now have crackling media audio, and
Can’t hear calls (earpiece issue)
strongly points to a hardware/assembly problem, not the screen type.

Take it back once again and ask them to reopen and double check everything , if they insist not from them how did you pay cash, credit card? Talk to your credit card make a dispute, if cash little more harder but still have a receipt so maybe talk to the owner or manager.

 

[BobCat6767]

Welcome to AC!

The screen itself shouldn’t cause audio issues like crackling or loss of call audio even if it’s a generic replacement.

On the Samsung Galaxy A12 (A127F), the display assembly is separate from the speaker and earpiece circuits. So using a generic A04S/A12/A13 screen might affect:
Brightness/quality
Touch response
…but not speaker performance or call audio directly.

What could cause your symptoms
Given the timing (immediately after repair), the more likely causes are:
Loose or improperly seated connectors (speaker / earpiece flex)
Damaged speaker or earpiece during disassembly
Debris or adhesive blocking the speaker ports
Incorrect reassembly affecting the top earpiece (why you can’t hear calls)

The fact that:
You now have crackling media audio, and
Can’t hear calls (earpiece issue)
strongly points to a hardware/assembly problem, not the screen type.

Take it back once again and ask them to reopen and double check everything , if they insist not from them how did you pay cash, credit card? Talk to your credit card make a dispute, if cash little more harder but still have a receipt so maybe talk to the owner or manager.

I paid credit card. Although I know the speaker stopped working after repairs, they tried to blame the motherboard. I'm worried they might have too much plausible deniability for me to dispute charges.
In regards to the display, I was wondering if the connectors were misaligned or not secured properly because of potential screen incompatibility?

Thanks very much for your response.

 

[VidJunky]

At the moment we don't really even know what's going on because you've answered none of our questions. Now you seem to be saying the speaker doesn't work at all.

If they put it back wrong you're going to have to get it opened to see inside. If they damaged something, you'll have to open it.

And if your want more advice you'll have to give us answers. If that's not possible, good luck in your quest.

 

[BobCat6767]

Welcome to Android Central forums. The A12 does have some age on it but it isn't that old. You're asking the wrong crowd about compatibility. That would be a question for another repair shop perhaps. They would have access to what parts are available, and knowledge of what parts, suppliers and sources are better. My best advice on that would be to call or visit a different place and one that isn't the same franchise.

In the meantime, when you say un-listenable, what do you mean? The volume was too loud, static, too low, couldn't make out the audio, what?

Is all audio this way or only YouTube, or just certain apps?

Are there other issues besides sound issues?

While it could be possible to have compatibility issues with the screen I wouldn't imagine that they would affect the speaker. Did they reopen the phone after you asked them to look at it? My first instinct would be that there was an error in the reassembly process and the speaker wasn't seated correctly, or may have been damaged in the removal. Which one I feel strongest about will depend on your answers to my questions.

First get some answers from another repair shop if you can, then ask someone to open it and check the assembly. Either ask the original shop and give them a chance to maybe correct their mistake or take it to someone else with the intentions of, if it was their error, that they pay them or pay you to pay them for the additional service.

Hi, thanks for your reply.

No known issues other than audio. By unlistenable, it crackles with deeper voices and sounds, static I guess, to the point where I can't understand spoken word. So unlistenable as in it's severe enough that I can't just tolerate it for the phones remaining life. The audio's max volume seems mabye 5-10% quieter than before the repair too. The audio does this with all sounds, including alarms and the *#0*# test. There is no sound whatsoever with the earpiece.

I took it back twice since. First time for them to look at, that's when they told me they would need to buy a new speaker. The second time they tried new parts and the same issue.
I haven't actually taken it back for the earpiece yet, as I didn't discover that till later. So I might give them a chance to fix that today.

 

[BobCat6767]

At the moment we don't really even know what's going on because you've answered none of our questions. Now you seem to be saying the speaker doesn't work at all.

If they put it back wrong you're going to have to get it opened to see inside. If they damaged something, you'll have to open it.

And if your want more advice you'll have to give us answers. If that's not possible, good luck in your quest.

Sorry I botched the reply system here. Deleted whatever you were responding to. Full response is posted now. For context the loudspeaker works but not properly as mentioned. The earpiece speaker does not at all.

 

[VidJunky]

What you described sounds like a blown or damaged speaker. Sounds distorted and at extremes, high volume or low bass, the issue is worse, is how you would describe a blown speaker. Where you said they tried new parts, are you saying that they replaced the speaker and you still have the same issue? Then you go on to say that the top speaker isn't working at all...

My best advice would be to take it to a new place, see what they have to say, and try to tie it back to the this repair shop. If all of this worked when it arrived a screen change should not have caused all of this chaos. Looking at the teardown video both speakers have contact pads instead of plugs or connectors. This means both or either issue could be being caused by a bad connection. You can see them and they talk about them around the 4 minute mark.

 

[BobCat6767]

What you described sounds like a blown or damaged speaker. Sounds distorted and at extremes, high volume or low bass, the issue is worse, is how you would describe a blown speaker. Where you said they tried new parts, are you saying that they replaced the speaker and you still have the same issue? Then you go on to say that the top speaker isn't working at all...

My best advice would be to take it to a new place, see what they have to say, and try to tie it back to the this repair shop. If all of this worked when it arrived a screen change should not have caused all of this chaos. Looking at the teardown video both speakers have contact pads instead of plugs or connectors. This means both or either issue could be being caused by a bad connection. You can see them and they talk about them around the 4 minute mark.

They ordered and tried a new speaker and had the same result. This was for the loud speaker down the bottom. I don't know if they tried a fresh ear speaker though. The timeline goes:
First visit: screen repair
Right after: bottom (loud) speaker issue discovered
Second visit: loud speaker looked at
Third visit: replacement part arrived, new speaker tested. (It was around the third visit I discovered the other speaker didn't work at all.
Fourth visit: Looked at ear speaker, could not fix.
Right after: Discovered the volume up button no longer works. (Physically won't depress.)

Yes so since my last reply the volume up button now doesn't work. This happened after the fourth visit to the repairer.

I also took it do a different repairer. They opened the case and the metal part under the volume up button is physically damaged. (Baffled as to how that happened) The new repairer said he can't fix the button without changing the whole screen again. He didn't try the speakers himself and just said to get a new phone.

So I now have a half working, distorted loud speaker + completely broken ear speaker AND a more recently broken volume up button (somehow).

I viewed the video you sent, ty.
I personally agree with you, it being a bad connection of some sort but I think the original repairer is a dead end after last time.