The smartphone repair industry is full of unscrupulous companies who are only interested in taking your hard-earned money and fitting the lowest quality part at unbelievably low prices. Basically, anyone can setup a mobile phone repair business without any training or qualification (YouTube is a great platform for these types of businesses).

Very few businesses make their customers aware of the difference between copy and original screens. Often, screen replacement is one of only a few repairs that they can carry out. Most of the time they’ve cut their prices and profit so low they are working flat out at low profit vs fast turnover.

Some companies are so clueless, they don’t even know the differences between an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), non-OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and copy, so how is the poor unsuspecting customer to know.

In general, such business are searching for the cheapest possible price on parts (just as you the customer would look for the cheaper repair), and if their supplier offers a copy screen two or three times cheaper than the original … well, of course they’re going to buy the one that gives them more profit. But is the customer aware of this? most definitely not! 

Another practice that is becoming all too common in certain establishments you take your phone in for a battery replacement the technician then removes the original screen assembly and replaces it with a non-OME copy, why…. well they can then sell your original screen for more than they paid for the copy. A win win for the unscrupulous owners it’s totally dishonest and fraudulent.

At the end of the day it’s generally the customer who has been conned.

As I’ve mentioned before if you’re not aware there is a difference or naturally assume all repairs use original parts why would you ask? You’ve worked hard to pay for your device whether you are on a contract or you bought the phone outright, surely you would not knowingly put a poor-quality replacement on the device that could potentially malfunction or cause other issues within the device. Money though is always the driver, but you should always be made aware of the pros and cons of copies you can then make your own choices. 

Typical issues include

• Lower refresh rate
• Contrast not as bright or as vibrant
• Lower resolution - less sharp edges
• Copy screens have been known to separate away from the frame.

Then there’s the quality of the glass which in almost all copies is much thinner, if you drop it chances are it won’t survive

Often, they use a home button flex which is aftermarket which will render the touch id useless (the chip on the ribbon would need reprogramming or replacing with the original).

No immediate worry but there is the potential for Apple to stop a non-OEM screen working with an iOS update.

YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

We charge more than the guy at the market, but we guarantee that all Android replacements are an Original manufacturer part.

For Apple we stock high quality replacement parts alternatively you can choose an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)  replacement, though this would be reflected in the price.