RIP Pro1 - Caught a corner after a short fall

[archseraphim 50]

Going to assume my repair options are nil. Would've like to have it longer, but oh well.

[Wheeljack 212]

People here have ordered replacement screens for about $50 on aliexpress.

[archseraphim 50]

Good to know! Just found a link in another thread and ordered the screen. Hopefully all goes well!

[zurvan2 125]

You can also order a replacement screen assembly directly from support, but it's more expensive. It is a simple process to replace, though.

[atfrase 10]

2 hours ago, Wheeljack said:

People here have ordered replacement screens for about $50 on aliexpress.

$50? Wow; support quoted me 150 GBP.

[OKSun 103]

Do we have somewhere the link to the exact item on aliexpress?

Here:

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by OKSun

[Doktor Oswaldo 904]

On 9/4/2020 at 3:51 PM, atfrase said:

$50? Wow; support quoted me 150 GBP.

Yeah but support sold you the whole upper part of the phone, not just the screen.

[atfrase 10]

1 hour ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

Yeah but support sold you the whole upper part of the phone, not just the screen.

Ah, I see (and thanks for finding the link, @OKSun). I imagine the replacement of the screen only would be much more difficult, though; in the instructions support sent me for the whole upper unit, it was just five screws and a ribbon cable.

I wonder also if a screen-only replacement would suffice in my case; I have not only cracked glass but a permanent solid magenta line in one whole column of pixels. It does say "touch screen + LCD display" but I'm not familiar enough with this kind of hardware to judge whether I might have damage to some additional component(s) underneath.

[netman 1,424]

10 minutes ago, atfrase said:

I wonder also if a screen-only replacement would suffice in my case; I have not only cracked glass but a permanent solid magenta line in one whole column of pixels. It does say "touch screen + LCD display" but I'm not familiar enough with this kind of hardware to judge whether I might have damage to some additional component(s) underneath.

As long as the screen shows an image still (even if it's got lines n stuff) my guess would be yes. Do check whether the earpiece, selfie camera, notification light, proximity sensor and keyboard open/closed detection are still working.

[PanicBrothers 66]

I ordered in the past this:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_d8cjaSP

Fits perfect and all good.

 

Regards

Panic Brothers

[atfrase 10]

2 hours ago, PanicBrothers said:

I ordered in the past this:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_d8cjaSP

Fits perfect and all good.

 

Regards

Panic Brothers

How difficult was it to actually perform the replacement? Did you follow a guide or video?

[PanicBrothers 66]

Good morning,

I did not by myself. I went in a professional Mobile Care Center.

It took 30 Euro and all is done with 2 years warranty. For me this are only phones and things to make my life easier.This is the reason why I sell it after the repair. You can spend hours and hours to get something to work on the Pro1 and come here for discussion. I don't need a new Love to play with, I want a good working product 😉

[mcdinner 375]

On 9/8/2020 at 8:06 PM, PanicBrothers said:

I ordered in the past this:

https://a.aliexpress.com/_d8cjaSP

Fits perfect and all good.

 

Regards

Panic Brothers

did you buy the version with frame?

[fashion_m 5]

Wasn't Gorilla glass meant to be durable?

[EskeRahn 5,421]

3 hours ago, fashion_m said:

Wasn't Gorilla glass meant to be durable?

Unfortunately there are no known materials that are both transparent, hard, elastic and thin. So it is always some kind of compromise.

In general the more scratch resistant a material is, the more brittle (and thus fragile) it is.
Different versions of Gorilla glass has put more emphasize on one aspect or the other.

Personally I prefer to have a 'loose' tempered glass protector over a rather elastic (=scratch prone) screen. This way we get scratch resistance, and when it take a not too heavy impact, most often it is only the tempered glass you have to swap.

[benoitjeffrey 66]

7 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

Unfortunately there are no known materials that are both transparent, hard, elastic and thin. So it is always some kind of compromise.

In general the more scratch resistant a material is, the more brittle (and thus fragile) it is.
Different versions of Gorilla glass has put more emphasize on one aspect or the other.

Personally I prefer to have a 'loose' tempered glass protector over a rather elastic (=scratch prone) screen. This way we get scratch resistance, and when it take a not too heavy impact, most often it is only the tempered glass you have to swap.

I used to like the moto Z for this reason, they put a "shatter proof screen" thick plastic touch screen but it was prone to scratch. so adding a tempered glass and keeping some in spare was perfect from my point of view.

Aside of this, I just replaced my Pro1 LCD with a $69 elephone, it's not easy like replacing the lcd assembly but it's pretty easy vs a lot of other phone i done in the past.

I remember taking apart my Motorola Milestone, it needed to be disassembled from the bottom all the way up to the touch screen, so yes pretty easy job to do on the pro1

 

[atfrase 10]

On 9/15/2020 at 3:37 PM, benoitjeffrey said:

I used to like the moto Z for this reason, they put a "shatter proof screen" thick plastic touch screen but it was prone to scratch. so adding a tempered glass and keeping some in spare was perfect from my point of view.

Aside of this, I just replaced my Pro1 LCD with a $69 elephone, it's not easy like replacing the lcd assembly but it's pretty easy vs a lot of other phone i done in the past.

I remember taking apart my Motorola Milestone, it needed to be disassembled from the bottom all the way up to the touch screen, so yes pretty easy job to do on the pro1

 

Any advice or guide on how to do this replacement? I have the Elephone U Pro replacement part from aliexpress but I'm unsure how best to get the original screen off.

[internationaltraitor 84]

people who changed screens from the original to the elephone U.... do you notice any difference in the quality, sliding experience, crispness of display? etc.

[Hook 2,940]

4 hours ago, atfrase said:

Any advice or guide on how to do this replacement? I have the Elephone U Pro replacement part from aliexpress but I'm unsure how best to get the original screen off.

I believe F(x)Tec has a support video for changing out the screen.  I would imagine they would share it with you even if they didn't send you the screen. Worth contacting them.

[Slion 1,200]

16 hours ago, atfrase said:

Any advice or guide on how to do this replacement? I have the Elephone U Pro replacement part from aliexpress but I'm unsure how best to get the original screen off.

Remove the screen assembly first, there are five screws at the back of the display underneath stickers. Unhook the flexible flat cable. Then I believe you need to pry apart the screen itself from the assembly's frame. I believe it is just glued in place. There must be a small tool included with your replacement screen to help with that. 

[FlyingAntero 860]

On 9/26/2020 at 11:18 PM, atfrase said:

Any advice or guide on how to do this replacement? I have the Elephone U Pro replacement part from aliexpress but I'm unsure how best to get the original screen off.

These guides might be helpful:

• Teardown: https://gelraen.github.io/fxtec-pro1-teardown/
• Screen replacement: https://community.fxtec.com/topic/2586-spare-parts/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-40911

BTW: Are you able to share the instructions from the support (F(x)tec)? 

EDIT: Or is it this one? There are instructions how to disassembly screen panel with heat gun.

• https://matland.be/pro1disassembly.pdf

Edited September 28, 2020 by FlyingAntero

[VaZso 1,997]

On 9/26/2020 at 10:18 PM, atfrase said:

Any advice or guide on how to do this replacement? I have the Elephone U Pro replacement part from aliexpress but I'm unsure how best to get the original screen off.

I have just replaced my screen in my Pro1 yesterday.
The instructions @FlyingAnterolinked are good - you will need a heat gun (the one which is not looks like a hair dryer but a smaller, better controllable unit).
You should heat up the screen edges - the disassembly guide suggest 160 degree Celsius, ensure you don't really exceed it, so a simple hair dryer is really not good (also because of excessive amount of air and uncontrolled temperature).

You will need a little bit of patience but the display will come out.
Then you should clean the frame itself and you will need something which can be used to glue the new screen in a way it may be removed later but still holds well.
So don't use any epoxy or "super glue" like cyanoacrylate for this purpose.

You may have received some useful materials together with the new screen for this purpose.

The process itself is straightforward but you need a proper heat gun and maybe some experience.

[atfrase 10]

On 9/27/2020 at 8:04 AM, Slion said:

Remove the screen assembly first, there are five screws at the back of the display underneath stickers. Unhook the flexible flat cable. Then I believe you need to pry apart the screen itself from the assembly's frame. I believe it is just glued in place. There must be a small tool included with your replacement screen to help with that. 

 

4 hours ago, FlyingAntero said:

These guides might be helpful:

• Teardown: https://gelraen.github.io/fxtec-pro1-teardown/
• Screen replacement: https://community.fxtec.com/topic/2586-spare-parts/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-40911

BTW: Are you able to share the instructions from the support (F(x)tec)? 

EDIT: Or is it this one? There are instructions how to disassembly screen panel with heat gun.

• https://matland.be/pro1disassembly.pdf

 

3 hours ago, VaZso said:

I have just replaced my screen in my Pro1 yesterday.
The instructions @FlyingAnterolinked are good - you will need a heat gun (the one which is not looks like a hair dryer but a smaller, better controllable unit).
You should heat up the screen edges - the disassembly guide suggest 160 degree Celsius, ensure you don't really exceed it, so a simple hair dryer is really not good (also because of excessive amount of air and uncontrolled temperature).

You will need a little bit of patience but the display will come out.
Then you should clean the frame itself and you will need something which can be used to glue the new screen in a way it may be removed later but still holds well.
So don't use any epoxy or "super glue" like cyanoacrylate for this purpose.

You may have received some useful materials together with the new screen for this purpose.

The process itself is straightforward but you need a proper heat gun and maybe some experience.

Thanks for all these resources! I understand now the process, though I'm undecided whether I'll attempt it; I may just give in and order the full display unit replacement from Fxtec, which looks to be a much simpler replacement.

[archseraphim 50]

Just did my replacement as well. Didn't have a heat gun and just brute forced the old panel off, and while it worked for me it is a process I can't honestly recommend.

Does the version on aliexpress with frame also work with the pro1? If so that would eliminate the need for that step.

Aside from that it all went very smoothly. New display is indistinguishable from my original as far as I can tell.

[Hook 2,940]

22 minutes ago, archseraphim said:

Does the version on aliexpress with frame also work with the pro1? If so that would eliminate the need for that step.

@FlyingAntero came to the conclusion that the frames are different.