yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Almost all reports of the LCD cracking have been caused by stress with quite a few people mentioning "pockets." It's pretty clear the SGS4 because of its thinness and near bezel-less display is more prone to stress damage than the SGS3 was. But since Samsung never published a stress guarantee for the SGS3 or said the SGS4 would be better or worse people with damaged panels have acted as scouts warning others about stressing the SGS4. I'd be shocked if any of these cracked panels were repaired under warranty and if they are it would be considered goodwill. So with what's known either don't subject the SGS4 to stress or buy another phone if it's a concern. Samsung's not going to change the design or repair damaged displays carte blanche because it's too hard to tell what's been caused by user damage and what's a stress crack which, in a way, could be considered user damage also (it didn't crack by itself ;) ). And with no implied durability guarantees from Samsung it’s going to be awfully hard fighting them as what’s “weak” or “strong” isn’t defined so everyone’s expectations are just that; expectations. I'm sure this isn't what people want to hear but it's pretty much the state of the union.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] btemtd:
Mine is always in my pocket and my jeans are not that loose wt all. I wear a tight fit
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mightyillidan:
gotta be faulty screen lol they do drop tests on this ****s and it survives
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Hendrickson:
Then one day soon you will have a surprise. A dead screen like the others here including myself.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SATAN999:
Yep also put screen towards leg to protect it, just in case I do knock into anything!

Also had over a dozen phones over a dozen yrs and never ever broken one before!

Used kies to back up the phone, as it still starts up fine
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] swalker23:
I will just have to be very careful with my S4
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SATAN999:
Added a list of the other threads I have seen in my first post (no 11)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
Well, I was searching to confirm that the S4's amoled is backed by a metalplate and found a video on youtube off an screen replacement.

J C on a pogo stick! :eek: :eek:

The amoled is so thin and easy to shatter that it makes me afraid putting any kind of pressure against the phone...

It's probably much easier to shatter it than you'd believe...

Thermal expansion might even be able to do it.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] saspi:
Actually it is pretty true…this phone is way too easy to break.I broke the lcd while walking with it in my front pocket (no skinny jeans and yes the screen faced my leg,no case though).

I repaired it and ofcourse i paid for it (i broke the screen didnt i…?!?!).Fair to mention that the glass above the amoled didnt had a scratch

10 days after the replacement the phone literally fell on my head while watching a video in bed.And guess what.It broke again.I dont know if im such an idiot,or really that kind of an unlucky sucker..my previous phone was an iphone 3GS i dropped it more than 20 times sat on it at least 3 times without noticing it.The worst thing was a broken glass which i replaced myself for 10 euros.

I warned some friends who where thinking about bying this phone..Dont get me wrong its a great great phone but i dont need to pay more than 900 euros for this.Ill wait for the Xphone and stay with my 3gs
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] zezza:
can you post the link to the YouTube video?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mmessina:
Just had same thing happen to my 2 week old S4. have had many phones and many pockets never had a similar incident. ATT store and support said too bad so sad. Glass is perfectly fine digitalized cracked wit:crying::crying:hout harming glass, very strange. Not much I can do about it since I didn't purchase insurance. This is what class action is all about, not a lawyer fan either, Just FYI
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
That's not a "metal plate" it's the back side of the AMOLED display itself. That's part of the problem (I think) because the plastic frame the glass and display are bonded to are too thin collectively and the flex they allow are what (I think) is causing the demise of the displays people are experiencing. The N2 actually has a separate magnesium sub-frame that prevents flex. But it's also 9.4MM thick and weighs 183g vs. the SGS4 at 7.9mm and 130g.

The display and front glass are fused, with a layer of optical adhesive. The glass is then adhered to the plastic display frame, making a single assembly. Not a big surprise.​

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+S4+Teardown/13947/3
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
The grass isn't greener on the other side. ;) The One deforms when dropped because the unibody doesn't allow the energy of an impact to be dissipated.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] puremind:
I have been reading several posts of yours in this vein, but to me those 2-5% defects are what warranty is for. If you are going to exclude defects from being repaired under warranty, than you are clearly screwing over your customers and deserve public bashing.

It may not make Samsung accept more repairs under warranty but it will create noise at a level appropriate for the incurred prejudice.

When dictators exterminate people, it is not pragmatic to complain about it publicly, and still entire populations rise and protest. Just because the outcome seems distant and unreachable shouldn't discourage people from exerting their power. It is just the right thing to do and collectively the impact can be staggering.

In this instance there is even less of an drawback to protesting, it costs only a little time. Is that really too much to ask to expect those prejudiced to make noise about it? If everyone was reacting in the way you do, the replacement and repair cost incurred by the customers for any device defect would be much higher, as it would be a door open for companies applying poor quality controls.

As a consumer I always want as much transparency on brands's strengths and weaknesses, so that those that do things right are rewarded and those that don't are penalized. It is just in everyone's best interest to propagate truths efficiently.

Kudos to Samsung for fixing the performance issues. Next.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
I totally agree. But I can think of three identical scenarios currently taking place:

HTC isn't covering the repair of broken camera lenses even though there appears to be no "user induced damage" or anything that doesn't point to a component or manufacturing defect.

Sony isn't repairing water damaged XZ's even though many owners claim that the ports were covered as directed and they were only briefly submerged in shallow water.

Asus refuses to repair known defects that have nothing to do with s/w on all their devices that have had their bootloaders unlocked.

So there are lots to keep people busy if they want to fight unfair manufacturer’s policies. If I'm "screwed" I take in to account how bad a screwing I got and if it was egregious I won't buy that manufacturers products again. Hence my boycott of LG.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernando sor:
There is a difference between dropping a phone and having the screen crack while in your pocket.

Just like the one camera lens this is clearly more than a few isolated incidents. If I didn't know better I would think you work for Samsung. You seem to be putting a lot of effort into minimizing the damage the people in this thread are talking about. Why I don't know. I have the one and clearly there are a few people having the same issue with that phone also. I don't personally have those issues but it that doesn't mean their damage is not valid.

After owning 6 smartphones in three years if I had a phone screen crack while just in my front pocket I would be pretty pissed off.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
I get the "to stop spammers you are not allowed to post links" and I'm not sure I should try and get around it :p

But search youtube for "Samsung Galaxy S4 Screen Replacement / Frame Exchange" by Le55on5

Well, thank you for mangling my quote.

Skander is the person who originally made the claim.

And after the person in the video removes the amoled it does look like there is a metal plate that the amoled is glued to BUT i was most surpriced by the extreme fragility of the amoled.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Skander1998:
It's true that the actual amoled itself is extremely fragile and it's been so since the S1. so again not really sure it's the cause of the problem here since nothing really changed - now the actual thing, if you were able to flex the phone to the point of breaking the amoled, that motherboard is really something that won't survive in my opinion, so I doubt any (let's say most) of people phones "just broke".

Trust me I'm clumsy, I break things too without knowing, including my bones x)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] beatmag:
so there is a metal plate support the screen?

i looked at that youtube video, and couldn't really work out whether it was metal or plastic.

either way the screen is like stuck on......so its not going to help much. i think.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
There's a difference between a couple of dozen out of millions and a crisis too. ;)

I'm equal opportunity. You and I have been in a lot of threads together. You've never once seen me point out the One's gaps, breaking camera lens, differences across displays, or any other minor issues because I feel about them the same way I do about the SGS4's display cracking. I'll bring them up occasionally when people paint the One as "perfect" and the SGS4 as "crap" but I don't consider them big issues based on volume. And since you can't use a camera without a lens the impact of having to have it replaced is pretty close to having to replace a display. You can just "live" with either.

Just perspective. It's an emotional thread and the emotion makes the problem seem bigger than it is. Just like the One's camera lens thread. If it becomes a pandemic I'll be the first to say so. ;)
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
A bit of a silly comment given that your stat relies on every S4 owner who has suffered from this issue posting in this thread. Where as the truth is the vast majority of them haven't even heard of XDA Devs, never mind posted on here with their problems.

Sent from my Qualcomm Galaxy S4
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fernando sor:
Well ok then lol.

How dare you make sense.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Here on XDA, there are 67 pages of distressed SGS4 owners representing some number of devices discussing crackling audio over headsets. This thread is 20 pages. And 10 pages are devoted to discussing how big an issue it is rather than reporting cracked displays. So over some base of owned devices you can safely say that cracked displays are less of an issue than crackling audio; at least on XDA. And you're not going to tell me that people investing their time in the audio issue wouldn't be in this thread if their screen cracked. I've owned devices with major problems and you can tell pretty quickly when something's affecting a large percentage of devices.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
iPhone 5 vs S4 destruction tests ...

Yet another iPhone 5 vs S4 destruction tests you might say ... but take a look anyway. You might get a surprice ... :good:

Only thing missing is the "Jeans Pocket Test" :laugh:

Link: Galaxy S4 vs. iPhone 5 in a brutal destruction test video
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] puremind:
1. The broken camera lens is hard to prove because it is on the outside. If it is true that this broke as a result of heat expansion rather than poor treatment, then the poor user is clearly prejudiced, loosing a good portion of his investment in a short span of time. HTC in that case can choose to play deaf and not cover this under warranty - this will have an impact on public perception.

- I would complain to HTC on the phone and argue with them and show my discontent

- I would write about it so that many more hear about the poor customer policy of HTC and are also warned before purchasing this device

2. Again, hard to prove. Sony just shoot themselves in the foot by advertising a feature that when stretch-tested fails. But honestly I am less sympathetic of those users because they probably wanted to test the waterproofness and forgot to use the device as they would normally do and instead looked for trouble...I don#t think the phone is advertised as being able to use it under water (touch screen doesn't even respond) so I don't consider submersion a typical usage. But that's just me.

3. I am fine with Asus's policy because you are not supposed to unlock the bootloader, and overclocking for example could lead to hardware faults.Also, I have a choice of voiding my warranty or not, it is not imposed upon me, and if I don't agree it is easier to stay away that be sorry later.

4. Samsung screen issue

- You don't know about it beforehand - you can't stay away from the phone initially

- It is not to be expected from regular use

- Samsung can't prove that you banged or dropped the phone, therefore it qualifies as a defect/vulnerability, especially if this happens after only a couple of weeks.

- You loose your investment without doing anything stupid or out of the ordinary -- unfair to the customer

Sorted by their degree of customer hostility for not covering under warranty: 4, 1, 2, 3
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
You live in a deluded world where every product is without flaw, every customer is given the benefit of the doubt, and companies don't care about profit. Here is a list of things from memory that were "unfair" to the customer:

Asus used a full metal back cover on the Prime (TF201) completely hosing GPS and partially hosing Wi-Fi. The crappy wireless performance was surely known by Asus from the results of their design and testing pre-release and they released it anyway.

The HTC One X has a stupid design where the guts of the phone slid in to the polycarbonate uni-body. The connection points for Wi-Fi and GPS were too precise and the slightest misalignment caused the signals to drop by magnitudes.

The LG O2X/G2X had a fault in the design of their charging circuit that wreaked havoc with its wireless signals, caused random reboots, and made the device practically unusable at times.

Motorola publically promised that all high-end 2011 devices would receive JB and then said "not so much" and offered owners a $100 credit toward another Motorola phone.

Samsung's implementation of GPS in the i9000 became legendary because it was FUBAR. Owners spammed their social pages, started petitions, and launched a "#samsungneveragin" crusade on Twitter. Crickets.

The Exynos exploit was sloppy on Samsung's part and put customer data at risk (sort of) and the sudden death syndrome is pretty hard to understand coming from a company with Samsung’s resources.

Displays Sony initially used on the Xperia S were sensitive to heat and displays starting turning yellow in massive quantities. Obviously Sony didn't do a lot of testing.

With all that said I don't think any of the companies listed are inherently bad nor have "anti-customer" attitudes. Crap happens. Sometimes owner's just have to invest time (which is money) to correct a wrong done to them and, as in the case of Sony with water damage, HTC with cracked lenses, and Samsung with cracked displays, pay for things they clearly aren't responsible for. And through all of the above each company listed survived what they unleashed on customers. And that's just the way life goes.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] haloimplant:
Hah yeah I upgraded from my I9000M to this phone and it's so nice to have working GPS.

No cracks yet my theory is that at least some people are leaning their elbows on them (caught myself doing this a couple of times) or have them in a position where they get stressed as the person bends over. Should the phone have been more rigid to prevent this? Probably, but it is what it is.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] noideaforusername:
Watch this everyone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4f9gQ7b6Gg

It shows you how durable this device really is.

Why don't you try to make a thread and see if the cracked display came from the same shipment/store? It looks to me that there was a problem in one factory that caused several amoleds to crack easily. Anyway, as you can see in the video, the device is very durable.

+ I would like to know if any I9500 owners suffered this issue? If not, it looks like my theory is correct indeed since the I9500 and the other models are created in different factories.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] kuribo67:
I'm French,I ordered mine in a French web site and it's a i9505. The screen cracked in my front pocket :(
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BeSeanB:
can't belive this is true :eek: water resistent? i'd realy love to test it by my self :D is this samsung official or just a "fanboy" (nooffence in this word ,okay? :P) channle?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] noideaforusername:
I'm not sure if it's official, but it's not water resistance like the Active edition. It can survive under 2 minutes under shallow water and even after that you'll have to soak the device in rice for a few days for the device to recover. But yes, it is fully recovers :)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105...phone-5-in-our-brutal-destruction-test-video/
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SSTaLoN:
According to here it is official video.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/12/samsung-galaxy-s-4-stress-test/
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] valentinrascu:
I solve with this : aluminium bumper
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Euthye:
Also it would be interesting to see how many Otterbox Defender/Armor case users suffered from sudden cracked screen syndrome, obviously breakages that occurred while the Otterbox owner was throwing the phone about to show how good his case was have to be ruled out.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
Here it is embedded. I'm guessing a lot of folks who are pessimistic will say the video is "staged" by Samsung to make the SGS4 look better and that the tests don't represent real world performance. If that's true, and SGS4's are as fragile as being portrayed here, Samsung will be in a world of hurt. Whether in Korea, the EU, or the US you get in a lot of trouble for releasing "official" performance claims that have no foundation in truth. And as you watch the video look around in the background at the testing facility. You're looking at tens of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment. And there were probably a dozen initial designs tested in the durability lab before the SGS4's final design was approved. So either: A) Samsung is suicidal and decided to release a device key to their profitability knowing it was frail and weak, or B) the SGS4's fine overall but not as durable as other phones because of its thinness, lightness, and larger display.

[YOUTUBE]K4f9gQ7b6Gg#![/YOUTUBE]

This from the video (at 1:58) explains the broken AMOLED display panels. GG3 is extremely flexible. So when stress is applied the AMOLED panel is

always

going to crack first.

And look how thin the glass/panel combo fused together are (at 3:14).

So I'm pretty convinced that GG3's flexibility and the thinness of the AMOLED panel are what are causing the latter to crack under stress; especially twisting and bending.

---------- Post added at 09:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 AM ----------

I tested it on a N2. Mine accidentally fell in to my pedicure water and was completely submerged. When I pulled it out it worked fine but the speaker made a God awful screeching noise. The phone also thought a headset was attached when it wasn't. The next day after it dried out everything was fine.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ratcom:
was thinking of getting one of these myself..... would seem logical the metal bumper would stop any bending which in turn prevents the screen from cracking :good:
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
I'd wait to see some reports from people using it to see if it affects the wireless signal. All the antennas are at the edge of the device and metal and wireless signals don't mix.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SSTaLoN:
was your reception affected at all?
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] FinancialWar:
Get it case for you phone OP...
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] beatmag:
I smell alot of BS from Samsungs Stress Testing S4 Ad.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] puremind:
As you said yourself only a very small proportion has a defect. And you have a warranty for that. You don't expect it to happen to you when you buy it. It is not a rational thing to do.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BarryH_GEG:
I think what they tested was accurate. Below is last year's stress test video featuring the SGS3 and N2. The flex tests in last year's video aren't repeated in this year's. I'm guessing for a reason. ;)

[YOUTUBE]N7Glmqb1B58[/YOUTUBE]
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] beatmag:
there is no warranty, if the screen cracks.

if the screen cracks its going to be $100-$300 bucks to fix and probably a month wait on parts.

Thats exactaly what I was wondering myself! Why didn't they show the same test for flexing and sitting on the phone.

lol, it would have cracked instantly...

I guess the Full HD screen might be more fragile that the S3's
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] puremind:
The expectation, though, is that warranty covers defects. The fact that it doesn't in Samsung's case is what screws customers over. That's not being deluded than to purchase a phone hoping that it can be used normally for several months and that if the fault lies with the device it will be covered by warranty. That's the reasonable assumption everyone makes when buying a phone.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] valentinrascu:
No. Is the same

---------- Post added at 08:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 PM ----------

Yes, is much more solid.
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] noideaforusername:
The problem is that there is no way for you to prove you didn't drop the device or abused it.

Sent from the octa planet in the fourth galaxy
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Technoidse:
Well, Fortunateness for me I live in a country where warranty implies that the manufacturer (Samsung in this case) has to prove I abused the phone, so in those cases where there is no visible external damage (samoled breaking underneath the GG3) there would have to be accelerometer patches inside the phone, (kinda like the water detection patches ;) ) to prove it was dropped.

In those cases (which as pointed out before are very few) where the samoled breaks beneath the undamaged GG3 is exactly the thing warranty should cover, something that is obviously a non design manufacturing error. (Designed faults are things that can come back and bite a manufacturer in the ass even long after the general warranty is over).

In those cases where the samoled has broken and also the GG3 has cracks/breaks etc, then I'm afraid that you are correct. It would be indistinguishable from external blunt force and therefore the unlucky owner is SOL :(
[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lambstone:
Not sure if this has been posted. There's a YouTube video detailing Samsung stress testing the galaxy s4. It's really durable.

Sent from my Galaxy S IV