yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SAShady:
Yup, happened to me yesterday. Have the Sprint variant, with case and screen protector, didn't bump anything at all, pulled it out of my pocket and 3/4 of the screen was black. Took it to service center and the tech didn't even look at it, just said it was my fault and file an insurance claim. I was livid, and asked how it was possible for the screen under the glass could crack with absolutely no damage to the front glass or the rest of the phone? They of course had no answer, only that it was physically damaged, therefore my fault. So a $600 device I bought a month ago was replaced with a refurb for another $150. I'll be calling Sprint, Samsung about the defect tomorrow, and insist on a refund of the deductible since its obviously a widespread design flaw/ manufacturer defect.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
With GG3 being this flexible you're going to see a ton of AMOLED's that cracked without the glass cracking; even those that have explainable drops.

I thought this was interesting from the One forum. They are having unexplained cracking discussions too but not as many as what's been shared here. It would seem that something that happened to the phone earlier or a latent defect can set it up to crack at a later time without much effort.

And this was HTC Germany's response to the OP that started the thread...

Dear Mr. X,

Thank you for your email regarding your device. My name is x and I'm from HTC technical support and will be helping you.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with your HTC One.

The screen of this handset is indeed strong but we advise customers not to keep the unit in a pocket. Did you accidentally nudge your HTC One somehow?

Unfortunately, screen damage is not covered under warranty. This is seen as user damage.

Maybe you have an insurance that can compensate this?​
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lambstone:
Guys, have you seen this

http://youtu.be/K4f9gQ7b6Gg

Turn on captions.

This is the stress test video. S4 is supposed to be rather resilient.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
How terribly unfortunate for you ;)

Thanks for making me even more happy for living in Sweden ;)

And one Swedish S4 user has already got their phone repaired on warranty since the shop he bought it from could not prove he had dropped it ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] t3chn0s1s:
Yea, guys - anyone who thinks they're going to have a better experience by jumping ship to an HTC One BEWARE. I literally dropped mine One a matter of mere inches (with a case on it) on to ceramic tile. It should NOT have broken. HTC told me that even (unseen) scratches on the Gorilla Glass can weaken the glass enough causing it to break easier if dropped not very far. I told the HTC rep I had mine a matter of days and never put it in my pocket with keys or change that would scratch it. I got no sympathy. Still had to pay them $180 to fix it. At least you guys can possibly repair yours on your own. The One is SO NOT user repairable because of its unibody construction. It may look nice and be aluminum and all but it CANNOT be repaired by the user without damaging certain components while taking it apart.

Just an FYI that the grass is definitely NOT greener over here in HTC land.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Sellers in Sweden can say "no" just like they can in the UK. And if a buyer appeals the seller's decision all the National Board for Consumer Complaints in Sweden can do is add the sellers name to a blacklist; they have no enforcement power. The step after that is just like the UK; civil court. It seems consumers' interpretations of these laws differ widely from their actual wording and the protections they provide.

2.3.2. Redress

National Board for Consumer Complaints

The Board's job is:

to investigate conflicts between consumers and traders about goods, services or other utilities intended primarily for private use (consumer disputes) and recommend a solution to the dispute,

to give an advisory opinion in consumer disputes, at the request of a court of law,

to support the mediation role of local consumer organisations in consumer disputes,

through training, advice and information, etc and to inform consumers and traders of the Board's practice.

The Board's decision is a recommendation to the parties about how the dispute ought to be settled. The Board's decisions are not binding and cannot be appealed against. In practice most businesses respect the recommendations of the Board and many traders have, through their branch organisations, undertaken to follow the Board's decisions. If the trader does not follow the Board's recommendation, the consumer can take the case to an ordinary court. Businesses not following the Board's recommendations are published on a "black list" in a consumer magazine, a list cited widely in media.​
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
Actually, they can't "just say no" they have to prove that the customer damaged it, The actual law text says so, The Consumer ombudsman says so, National Board for Consumer Complaints also says so, no "interpretation" needed.

Translated by google:

According to the above:

We have been running around with our phones in our pockets and we should be reasonable sure that we can continue without it breaking :p

And about the National Board for Consumer Complaints in Sweden having no enforcement power, there has been resent talks about actually making their decisions legally binding ;)

Well as I have said, If my S4 suddenly pops its amoled and the outer Glass do not have deep scratches/breaks and or other signs of abuse on the phone, I (living here in Sweden) won't have any problem getting the warranty honoured by the seller since they have actually did sell me it and not samsung and while they will try and fob it of on samsung (directly or indirectly) the seller is the one responsible for warranty etc.

This has already happened to another Swedish owner of an S4.

Now is there a reason you so strongly suggest that;

"If your device breaks for any reason you are so SOL, its unpractical to even try and make sellers honour their warranties, The consumer laws don't protect you, you might as well buy another one and hope it is better"
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Here's what it comes down to. You walk in to a seller in Sweden with a cracked phone and say you didn't do it. They say screen cracks are always caused by customer abuse. You say "prove it." They say "there's nothing to prove." You have choices. Live without your phone for months while you appeal the seller's "no", pay for the repair yourself and hope you get it back when you appeal the seller's "no," or live with a broken display. You can wave any amount of "laws" in front of the seller you want and it won't make them repair your phone. You may overturn there "no" at some point through appeals but there's nothing anyone can do if a seller refuses their claim without then entering a long and drawn out process with the time invested potentially being a greater expense than the repair itself. And as has been said before, displays crack from user damage. It's going to be hard for people with mysteriously cracked displays to say "I didn't do it" with any credibility. And nothing I’ve read that prevents the seller from disagreeing with a buyer’s claims or interpretations of the regulations. And there wouldn't be a detailed dispute resolutions processes if there weren't disputes.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
Well, One Customer actually DID that and in the end the seller DID repair his phone, without any process other than trying to first fob it off on Samsung. And do please note that in this specific case the phone was in pristine outer condition, including the outer layer of the front glass.

And while some consumers here in Sweden do happen to be in the Kafkaesque situation you describe, If you do show that you know your rights and the laws and regulations governing those rights most of the time your warranty will be honoured.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
And I'm sure there will be others. And I'm equally sure people will be turned down too. And the "no external damage" defense is pretty weak. You can easily drop any phone in a $5 USD TPU case and have the screen crack without any external damage. After the SGS4's been out for a while and tons of AMOLED's crack without the glass cracking that’s also going to become a questionable defense. If you watch the stress test video a couple of posts back it's pretty impressive how resilient GG3 is.

Time is the key word. It'll be great for everyone who gets their display replaced under warranty. The time and turmoil those that get denied will end up going through makes you question whether the investment's worth it.

P.S. - Huge points for use of the word "Kafkaesque." ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernando sor:
This is the only thing I'm hesitant about. My wife is due for her upgrade on Verizon and she likes Samsung. She can be really rough on phones. I think the s4 would be perfect for her and a huge upgrade from her Samsung charge.

I can just see her amoled going black in her pocket and my taking the brunt of her wrath lol. She literally has no clue about technology.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Wow, a mixed marriage. With you being pro-HTC and your wife being pro-Samsung how will you raise the kids? ;)

I’m the one all my non-geek friends come to for advice. That’s one of the reasons I’m following this thread (not to make everyone’s life miserable as suggested). Here’s my take away. I think the SGS4’s as durable as a phone with its characteristics (thin, light, compact, almost edge-to-edge display) can be expected to be. I think that GG3 being flexible and the SGS4 being so thin make it more susceptible to screen damage caused by stress and flex. So for impacts (drops and falls) I think if the SGS3 was a “8” the SGS4’s a “7;” and that’s pretty much shown in Samsung’s stress test video. BTW, I’d rate the One X a “8” and the One a “7” also because the One can deform when dropped where the One X wouldn’t. In terms of flex I’d rate the SGS3 a “8” and the SGS4 a “6.” I think that flex and stress are going to do quite a few SGS4’s in. I’d rate the N2 a “9” because of its magnesium sub-frame.

So my advice would be to avoid the SGS4 if putting it in a pants pocket was a requirement. But I’d also advise that putting any phone with a 4.7+” display in a pants pocket is playing Russian roulette anyway; no matter how many times someone says "but my 'X' didn't crack when I carried it in my pocket." . I’d close with the SGS4’s not a phone you can just throw around. And insurance on it is a must.

If you look at the leaked shots of the N3 more of them are going to end up with cracked displays than the SGS4. There is no bezel to protect the much larger display and it’ll probably lose the magnesium sub-frame in the name of thinness. In the pic below it doesn't look much thicker than the XZ which is a very thin phone. I'm also planning on buying it regardless because I want the features and am willing to take the durability hit.

I also think GG3 is a gift and a curse. I think it’s going to prevent a lot of scratches but its lack of hardness is going to kill a lot of AMOLED and LCD display panels. GG3 hasn’t been mentioned for the SGS4 Active and I’m guessing that’s because they went with GG2 for durability. I'm curious to see how other phones with GG3 fair when they are released.

All just my opinion of course. :)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gabi11:
I wonder what cases all those cracked devices had?

I mean, putting a case like otterbox or something on that level should prevent it?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] adl:
So a Spigen NeoHybrid or Armor isn't offering ANY protection for carrying it in the front pocket?

------------------------------------------------

If you like Techhouse you can listen to my tracks here:

www.facebook.com/mister.adl
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ballist1x:
Doesnt sound good. I've dropped my s2 numerous times although its in a gel case never had an issue.

It doesn't help that the back of the s4 feels really slippery.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hailmary:
Dont wear a very tight jeans like a cowboy fit ones...then bend sitting around w/ the s4 inside pocket...blame yourself & your fashion sense.

Sent from my GT-I9505
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernando sor:
Thanks. I actually think the s4 IS probably pretty durable when it comes to drops. It's light and the impact would be absorbed better than a metal phone.

I go caseless on my dna and my one but I'm very, very careful.

I'm pretty set on getting it for her. That way I can mess with it also and see what the phone is all about. :)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ostrow30:
I also had a very similar experience as the original post. I had my galaxy s4 in the front pocket of my shorts and when I pulled the phone out of my pocket the screen would not turn on. I can see cracks in the LCD below the glass. The phone was not dropped and it did have a case on it. I don't recall bumping into anything while the phone was in my pocket.

I guess I am just amazed at how easily it broke under what appears to be normal intended use.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
Going over the pictures and reviewes of those cases:

The Neo hybrid one is just about a waste of money, it will only protect the phone from scratches on the back and sides, it gives no additional structural support at all.

The slim armor one is better but as the hard cover don't cover the whole length of the phone, the case wont protect it from "Sudden tight jeans amoled breakage"
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Gillion:
Has anyone seen or heard of this problem occurring with a hard case ?

Sent from my GT-I9500
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Euthye:
f

Agreed, I've wondered for ages why Otterbox of all companies don't make a flip cover, maybe they're too tied into the "holster" but perhaps view covers will give them the excuse to experiment.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] negrobembon:
The s4 doesnt look THAT weak to me
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Hendrickson (OP)

raidenuk

beatmag (discoloration)

jdashford

scriptx

pitapart

murrowxda (AT&T)

Shadowcash ("friend's broke")

greenandroid.sb

_Supernaut

zoroko

blader0109

nevillejb75

Ace 272

epsilon8888

SSTaLoN

kuribo67

danniibxn

Toshanda (screen died)

minipcpro (YouTube video)

saspi

saspi (broke again after repair [drop])

mmessina

AMDERS17 (AT&T)

SAShady (Sprint)

ostrow30

Trax_

LadyDiana0265

XsonicX

Gash128

TeeeJaay ("friend" - GG3 cracked, not AMOLED)

rallyfan1986 (GG3 cracked, not AMOLED)

So with 25 pages of discussion, 32 are how many phones have been reported with broken displays in this thread as of June 19th. I was killing time on a plane today and went through this thread to do the count. Here are some things I picked up from the comments:

The "mystery cracks" all occurred while the phone was in motion (EG: shirt pocket) with lots of comments about "it was fine when I put it in my pocket and broken when I took it out."

There are more than a dozen posts from people who keep their phone in their pocket (shirt and pants) and various reports of drops and flexing incidents where nothing happened to their phone.

Only a couple of people reported that GG3 cracked along with the AMOLED panel and that was in "drop" scenarios. The rest all reported just the AMOLED panel broke.

If there are 5,000 owners in the i9500/i9505 forum, 32 cracked displays equals a 5/10ths of a percent damage rate. 250 cracked displays would be 5%. I think this really is a mountain being made out of a molehill. And I didn't see any posts that said "I put my phone down on a table and it was fine and when I picked it up it was broken." So I question whether phones being carried loosely in pockets may have been exposed to stress or flex that their owners didn't realize. That, or they were previously stressed or flexed and just light jostling from being in a pocket was all it took to do them in. In that vein, it could also have been a manufacturing defect that caused light stress or flex to crack the AMOLED. Regardless, while it sucks for the 5/10ths of a percent affected, it seems a bit premature to declare the SGS4 universally "weak" which is the trend this thread's taken.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Trax_:
delete

Delete pls
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsmith0892:
Actually it's 5/10ths of a percent, but you're onto something here. I only recently got my S4 and this thread is getting me very worried. But I'm getting an Otterbox Defender so hopefully that should protect it well enough from these random breakings. If I did more research on new phones I probably would've just waited to get the S4 Active, but that ship has sailed.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ITALIANNYC:
Oh great I just ordered this phone today from T-MOBILE instead of the HTC ONE and now I am freaking out, considering I work in the plumbing trade and always keep the phone in my pocket. DAMN!

I am coming from a gs2 that has been fine.

Maybe I should cancel and get the HTC ONE?

Decisions Decisions... Ugh
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] msavic6:
Well I just ordered an S4, all my phones have been kept in the front right pocket of my jeans. I do not wear tight jeans, they are relatively loose and have not caused a problem with any of my previous phones.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
There have been some "hero" stories posted too. They kind of get lost in between the "OMG!" stories.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bsmith0892:
This is all probably being blown out of proportion. When you read a topic all about people's phones breaking, you're going to get a biased viewpoint. But, if you want peace of mind then splurge on a nicer and more well built case for around $30 to $50 instead of the cheaper ones for $10.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Still on the plane. Here’s some comparative. This is from the One’s 67 page “cracked camera lens” discussion. There are 46 reports over a smaller user base as the One probably sells 1/3 to 1/2 of what the SGS4 does. So you could probably call the One’s issue more significant. In other words you’re more likely to crack a One’s camera lens than a SGS4’s display. It’s kind of in the same category as the SGS4’s cracked displays too. Everyone with a cracked One camera lens says “it was fine up until it wasn’t” with no one saying they had anything to do with the cracking. So for both situations maybe it’s a production issue, a component problem, or something environmental that the owner’s don’t realize. Regardless, both issues comprise a (relatively) small amount of devices both on XDA and shipped. You should also all be thankful Samsung forums aren’t as hostile toward negativity as HTC forums are. The thread had to be cleaned three times because of naysayers accusing those with cracked camera lenses of working for Samsung and posting just to sabotage HTC. It’s a wacky world. ;)

P.S. – HTC’s and/or a carrier has replaced about 1/3 under warranty. The rest were charged $90 USD even in countries with consumer laws.

jackwu95

fidelcstrl

nab195

KMadine

HarveyTAS

Chidaboy83

dark4181

teshnit

dmk123

morehands

craig19904

vivanshah

Jncojoke

xiLLeNtz

xiLLeNtz (second crack)

TEKtheMAESTRO

Lookatthemonkeys

troot

Twyxx

AmoebaAstronaut

fadercrusader

UberMoogle

jongie123

randychuah

Gadget_Grover

TheChad72

paparis13

sherold

Wilsonium

EricRKnudson

JamieKitson

saladbowl831

Moenmann

softei

timme282

kcolatay

eironman23

NOlightON

homeslice976

soldatosp

mikeyd85 ("friend")

Poongash

jakr202

TRuss4420

nookienut

MK SHOP
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] uesat:
Dude the screen clearly broke and HTC builds better quality phones. Those are just facts man. Deal with them.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
All countries have consumer laws, the difference is how protective they are and IF they are enforced.

The UK law you quoted and the Swedish law I quoted differ in that the Swedish law (on paper) would force Sony to repair waterdunked sony xperia Z's because they are widely shown in commercials being dripped in aquariums, rinsed off under faucets etc etc.

Now here in Sweden as YOU pointed out, that law is not actively enforced, so consumers can still be told "Go pound sand".

And that happens mostly because people don't know what the law says (for some funny reason people in general thinks that they have a lawful right to return goods for a refund, but are soo unclear about their warranty rights) and even do its prohibited shops generally tries to keep it that way.

And because of the above there is some self policing to keep it from becoming actively enforced.

BUT if people starts out with the notion that they can never defend their rights...then we end up living in Barrys world with Kafka and his friends :p
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kuribo67:
Here's my S4 with the cracked amoled :

:crying:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] TeeeJaay:
a friend's S4

display is still working, the one that cracked is the GG3 glass

same scenario, S4 in front jeans pocket
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Euthye:
If you're taking it to work consider the otterbox armor for ultra sturdy waterproofness or just an otterbox defender for the sturdy without the waterproof.

As I walk about I've noticed that my n4 in jeans, combats or hoody pockets bangs on things such as shopping trolley handles, table tops, shop displays and baby buggies, it's in a hard flip case but if I was reaching and put pressure on the case I reckon I'd break my screen.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Seth Johan:
Then mine's gotta be tougher than that! The aluminum frame is slightly bloated on the side just below the power button. I tried to fix it by repeatedly hammering it down with a hard wood (the aluminum was thicker than I thought it was -_-). So yeah, my phone got beaten many times that day. Had I been aware of this issue, I would've not done it. But thank God, no damage done. LOL

Hopefully, Sammy will give a free fix to your phone.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SSTaLoN:
Morale of story i realized.. if you getting the S4 or any 4.5" screen smartphone with close to edge to edge screen.. don't put it in your back or front pocket, and a case may not be able to protect the flexness of the phone.

I guess i am getting a side pouch to put my S4 once it gets repaired from samsung... lol..
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LadyDiana0265:
Samsung galaxy s4

two weeks ago we bought this phone brand new for a grad gift for my daughter. she spent $60 on a protective case bc she has dropped her phones b4. Yesterday, when she got bent on her knees to p/u a paper at work, it fell out of her pocket (from about 18 inches off the ground) onto the BACK and CRACKED in the corner of the glass on front! My son bought the same phone just a week b4, has dropped it SEVERAL times WITHOUT a protective case and has had no probs with it cracking! I am PISSED. I paid $500 to pay off her contract and get her the new phone. I AGREE THIS PHONE IS WEAK. She is devastated.

SEND it to the manufacturer to fix so when there are enough complaints about this screen...you can get your $ back!!!
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
With yours added to the list there have been 28 reports.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] XsonicX:
Same here... I'm from austria.. I don't even have my phone 2 weeks now and it's broken UNDER the touchscreen glass...

Support of samsung sayed that it's my fault and that i have to pay 250€ for the repair.

BTW. my 3 years old HTC still works fine