4 smartphone repairs you can do yourself
Dropping an expensive smartphone can easily break the screen and completely ruin your day. While your smartphone is not designed to be self-repairing, there are several basic issues that can be fixed with a little knowledge and the right tools. However, it’s important to remember that opening a phone can void the warranty, so it may be worth considering this point and using your insurance if applicable.
Here are some of the common problems that can fix themselves:
Broken screen
The process of repairing a cracked screen can range from extremely expensive to quite simple and inexpensive. The difficulty factor relates to how the device is built. The first step is to carefully disassemble the phone. The most expensive screens to replace are those with the glass and digitizer fused together. Any other type is relatively inexpensive to repair. If you can remove the glass and find a suitable replacement, the actual repair is fairly simple. However, glass with a digitizer attached is a bit more difficult to repair because it has a data cable attached to it that needs to be installed properly.
headphone jacks
Any part of the smartphone that moves can increase the risk of failure in the future. Although the headphone jack is not motorized, it can experience a lot of stress from repeated use. Headphone jack units are relatively cheap and easy to replace. But the smartphone is not always so easy to open, especially those with unibody designs. Most headphone jack units are completely self-contained and mounted on the motherboard. However, there are some that also connect to the speaker assembly, making the repair more complex.
loose buttons
Loose or stuck buttons aren’t too hard to fix, as long as you can get your smartphone open. Most of the buttons are easy to buy and simply need to replace the ones that no longer work properly. However, there are some buttons that are connected to the motherboard through a cable and this can make the repair a very delicate process.
Camera
Other than a crack in the camera lens, it is very rare to experience a camera hardware failure. However, if the camera needs to be replaced, the camera sensors inside the smartphone are fairly easy to repair. This is an additional part that connects via a single cable and must be carefully connected to the motherboard.
