Cracked phone screen

You have dropped it, the glass has gone, and the first thing through your head is what this is going to cost. Take a breath, because a cracked screen is the most common phone fault there is and on a handset you are otherwise happy with it is very often a straightforward swap, not the end of the phone. What matters is what the crack has actually damaged: sometimes it is only the top glass, sometimes the touch has gone with it, sometimes the display underneath is broken too, and those are different jobs at different prices. A screen swap does not need a workshop, so we come to you rather than have you post the phone away and go without it, and we can always collect it instead if that is easier. Tell us your exact make and model and what the screen is doing now, and we will confirm the part, say plainly whether it is worth putting right, and give you one fixed quote before the phone is opened. If we cannot fix it, you pay nothing for the repair.

Send an enquiry Book a repair

No fix, no fee on the repairIf we cannot fix it, you do not pay for the repair. In writing, on every job.
Free advice by messageDescribe the fault and we will tell you what it sounds like and whether it is worth doing, before anyone travels.
We come to youAcross Leeds, West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, or we collect and return.
A real person repliesNot a call centre, not a ticket queue: we read every enquiry, day and night, Sunday to Friday. The fixed quote you agree is the price you pay.

The short version

Cracked glass and a broken display are different jobs.
What still works decides it: touch, picture, or both.
On most phones the glass, touch and display are one part.
Glass lifting at one edge can mean a swelling battery.
Whether it is worth doing depends on the handset.

Try this first

Four tests you can do before you call anyone

None of these need tools and they take a couple of minutes. Between them they tell you which of the three layers has broken, which is the thing that decides how big the job is.

Scroll a long page slowly, moving your finger over every part of the screen including the crack. If the page follows your finger the whole way, the touch layer is intact and the damage is the glass. If it stalls, jumps, or the phone starts pressing things by itself, touch has gone too.
Put a plain white screen up: a blank note, an empty document, or the settings screen. A clean white field with only crack lines across it means the display underneath is still healthy. Black patches, coloured lines, bright spots or a spreading ink-like bloom mean the panel itself is broken.
Take a selfie, then make a short call and listen through the earpiece. A drop hard enough to break a screen sometimes takes the front camera or the earpiece with it. Knowing that now can change the answer on whether the repair is worth doing.
Set the phone flat and look along the edges of the screen at desk level. If the glass sits proud of the frame on one side, or a gap has opened along an edge, that is more likely a battery swelling underneath than the drop. Stop using it and stop charging it altogether, and get it looked at promptly - a swollen cell is the one finding on this page that does not wait.

What it usually means

What the crack has actually damaged

Only the top glass is cracked and the display and touch still work perfectly underneath, the simplest and cheapest case
Touch has gone with the glass: dead patches, taps landing in the wrong place, or the screen pressing things by itself
Lines, black patches, bright spots or a spreading ink-like bloom, which means the display panel underneath is broken, not only the glass
The screen shows nothing at all although the phone still rings, buzzes and charges, which is a broken display rather than a broken phone
On most modern phones the glass, touch layer and display are bonded as one part, so even a light crack means replacing the whole unit
Glass lifting or bulging along one edge, which is sometimes a swelling battery pushing the screen up rather than impact damage

Not sure which is yours? Describe it in a message and we will tell you, free. Tell us what it is doing and we will work it out.

At a glance

What still works tells you what is broken

Find the row that matches what your phone is doing now. It matters more than how bad the cracks look from the outside.

What the screen does now	What has broken	What that means for the job
Cracks in the glass, picture clear, touch works everywhere	The outer glass only	The simplest case. On a few handsets the glass alone can be replaced; on most it is still the bonded unit.
Picture clear, but touch is dead in patches or taps land in the wrong place	The glass and the touch layer	The display is fine but the part that senses your finger is not, so the bonded unit is replaced.
Lines, black patches, bright spots or a spreading ink-like bloom	The display panel underneath	A bigger part than glass alone, and the bloom spreads if it is left.
Nothing on screen at all, but it still rings, buzzes and charges	The display, or its connection inside	The phone and everything on it are very likely fine. We check which before quoting anything.
Glass lifting or bulging along one edge, with or without cracks	Possibly a swelling battery, not the drop	Deal with this rather than live with it. A swollen cell is a fire risk and keeps forcing the screen apart.

A screen that is a spider-web of cracked glass but still shows a clean picture is a smaller job than one with a single hairline crack and a black patch behind it. The state of the glass is the worst guide to the size of the repair.

What we do

How we find out what the drop actually broke

You tell us the exact handset, iPhone or Android, and what the screen is doing now, so we arrive with the correct display
We come to you across Leeds, at home, at work or over a coffee, since a screen swap does not need a workshop
We work out which of the three has broken: the glass, the touch layer, or the display underneath. That decides the size of the job
We fit the correct display for your exact model, rather than a near-enough part borrowed from a similar handset
We test touch across the whole screen, brightness, the front camera and the sensors before we hand it back
We tell you whether the panel is original-grade or aftermarket, and how the two differ in colour and feel, so you choose with the facts
If a swelling battery is lifting the screen, we say so and deal with that safely, because a swollen cell is a fire risk
You get a fixed quote before any work begins. If the phone is not worth fixing we say so, and you pay nothing beyond any call-out you agreed

Is it worth fixing?

Is a cracked phone screen worth repairing?

Nearly always worth doing on a phone you are otherwise happy with, since a screen swap costs far less than a new handset and keeps the phone you already know. A phone where only the glass has cracked and the display still works is the easiest yes there is. The honest turning point is an older or lower-value handset where a genuine bonded display costs a large fraction of what the phone is worth, or where more than one thing has broken in the same drop, for example the screen and the front camera together. That is why the selfie and the call are worth doing before you decide anything. If that is where yours has landed we will tell you plainly, so you are not spending replacement money on a phone that a newer one would serve better. And even if you decide to move on, do not leave a badly cracked screen in daily use: sharp slivers cut fingers, dust and moisture work in through the gaps, and a failing touch layer tends to spread. If the screen is too far gone to unlock and you want the photos off it first, say so before anything else happens, because that is a different job and it comes first.

This is a phone repair job. Advice by message is free, then you get one fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay for the repair.

Send an enquiry and describe the fault

Where we work

We come to you across Leeds, West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire

Home or work, day or night, Sunday to Friday. There is no walk-in shop, so we come to the machine, or collect it and bring it back. Start at computer repair in Leeds, or pick your area.

Questions

Cracked phone screen questions we get asked

Can you replace just the cracked glass, or do I need a whole new screen?

It depends on your handset. On a few phones the outer glass is a separate layer and can be replaced on its own, which is cheaper. On most modern phones the glass, the touch layer and the display are bonded together as one sealed unit, so even a crack in the glass alone means fitting the whole part. We will tell you which yours is when we quote, rather than after the job is underway, so there are no surprises.

The screen is cracked but it still works fine. Do I need to fix it now?

It is not usually an emergency if the display is clear and the touch still responds everywhere, but it is worth dealing with sooner rather than later. A cracked screen lets dust and moisture reach the inside of the phone, sharp slivers catch your thumb and can lift further, and a touch layer that has started to fail tends to spread until parts of the screen stop responding. Describing it in a message costs nothing. When we look, we confirm what the crack has actually reached and quote you before any work, so you can make the call with the facts.

Is it the glass or the whole display that is broken?

You can often tell from the outside, and the four tests above settle it in a couple of minutes. If it is only a spider-web of cracks in the glass and the picture underneath is clear and touch works everywhere, it is likely just the glass and the touch layer. If you can see lines, black patches, bright spots or a spreading ink-like stain, or if touch has gone dead in places, the display panel itself is damaged, which is a bigger part. We confirm exactly which when we look, and you get one fixed quote before any work starts.

The screen is black but the phone still rings. Is that the same fault?

It is the same family of fault and usually better news than it looks. If it rings, buzzes when a message lands and charges as it always did, the phone itself is running normally and only the screen is not showing you what it is doing. That points at the display or the connection behind it rather than at the phone, and it means your photos and messages are sitting there intact. We test which of the two it is before quoting anything, because they are not the same repair.

How much does it cost to replace a cracked screen?

It depends entirely on your exact model and the type of display it uses, so we will not print a number we would only have to break. A screen for one handset can cost several times what the same job costs on another, and a high-end display is a very different part to buy and to fit than a basic one. You get free advice by message, we confirm the exact part your phone takes, and then you get one fixed quote before the screen is touched. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay for the repair.

Will a cheaper aftermarket screen be as good as the original?

Sometimes it is close and sometimes you can tell the difference. Aftermarket panels vary: the best are hard to fault in daily use, while cheaper ones can differ in colour, brightness or the feel of the touch, and a few phones are fussy about non-original displays. We are straight with you about the choice and the trade-offs so you can weigh cost against quality yourself, rather than being handed the dearest option by default or a poor one without being told.

Can you fix it today?

Sometimes, and we will be straight with you rather than promise a slot we cannot keep. If we have the correct display for your model in hand, a screen swap is often done inside the visit. If your handset is less common, the right part can take a day or a few to reach us, and we will not fit the wrong screen just to be quick. Tell us the exact make and model when you get in touch and we will give you a realistic answer, not an optimistic one.

Sound more like one of these?

Tell us what is wrong.

Send an enquiry and describe the fault. We will find the fault properly, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay for the repair. A real person who does the work, not a call centre.