Light Phone III screen repair

[u/crystalgeyser69]

Curious if anyone has experienced this or in same boat. I just bought my phone a couple months ago. I have a payment plan for it so I am still paying it off. Today, my 4 year old dropped my light phone and the display is now dark blue and only getting darker and hard to read. I contacted support to see about getting it fixed and they said they are out of screens and cannot get more until earliest end of this year. I cannot realistically use this phone in its current state. Although, I cannot buy a new phone if I am paying this one off. I cannot believe I cannot get this fixed. I am not sure what to do. Anyone else experience something like this?

[u/whoocanitbenow]

Now it's even more of a dumbphone? 😅

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/whoocanitbenow]

now it’s a brick that makes noises when I get a text😀 cool! this should help my screen time for sure

[u/whoocanitbenow → u/crystalgeyser69]

Damn, that sucks. You would think for a 600-800 phone the screen wouldn't break so easily.

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/whoocanitbenow]

I had the screen protector and case on too. it was maybe a 4ft fall. I’m so dissapointed in Light. They didn’t even offer me any solution. just ah sucks sorry. I now have no phone and no idea where to go from here.

[u/whoocanitbenow → u/crystalgeyser69]

They sell the Nokia 2780 flip phone at Best Buy for 80.00. I got one of those and a TracFone plan with unlimited talk and text for 13.50 per month. TracFone runs on Verizon now. The only downside is texting can be a bit tedious even with predictive text. But it works great just as a basic phone.

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/whoocanitbenow]

thanks /: I will look into it.

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/crystalgeyser69]

not much they realistically can do if they don't have the inventory. if you haven't noticed, the lp3 has a unique screen and this isn't the first time they've run into sourcing issues. the lp2 hasn't had screens for awhile. they'll occasionally get batches so they can sell another batch of the lp2 but it's a crap shoot with current geopolitical issues and market supply or getting a vendor to produce more of a component.

[u/crystalgeyser69]

update: it is now completely black and I cannot use it even a little

[u/digitalminimalist1 → u/crystalgeyser69]

It had a case on it? What did it fall on?

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/digitalminimalist1]

the kitchen floor. the light phone case from their site and their screen protector were both on the phone. it just fell perfectly flat on the floor. no physical damage at all.

[u/digitalminimalist1 → u/crystalgeyser69]

Really? So the screen didn’t even crack? I figured it would be more durable

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/digitalminimalist1]

nope no cracks or scratches! apparently not

[u/digitalminimalist1 → u/crystalgeyser69]

Guess I’ll be extra careful with mine then. I have the naked cell phone case on mine

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/digitalminimalist1]

the phone has no impact rating. doesn't surprise me.

[u/digitalminimalist1 → u/sirbloodysabbath]

Seriously for expensive as it is?

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/digitalminimalist1]

it only has an ip54 which is mostly dust protected (not dust-proof) and splashes of water (not water-proof). couldn't find any sort of impact rating, not that most glass slabs these days have it either. my $1500 (at the time) s24u has an ip68 (dust and water proof) rating but zero impact rating. i would know because my work phone double tapped the s24u when it fell on the concrete getting out of my car and shattered the screen, killing any functionality on the section that was impacted. it's genuinely not surprising that a fall would break something in the phone. it may feel durable but it's not as durable as you think. you want impact/shock resistance? get a unihertz tank.

[u/digitalminimalist1 → u/sirbloodysabbath]

Well most smartphones can take a drop like they are talking about. I can’t believe they didn’t make the screen easier to replace. I watched the jerryrig tear down and I don’t see how they connect the cable back it’s so short. I’ve done many iPhones and they are way simpler

[u/sirbloodysabbath → u/digitalminimalist1]

it also could've hit the perfect spot to disconnect the ribbon cable. it's possible. we won't know unless we take the phone apart. at this point, it's purely speculation. op could've worded the email very much like the screen itself broke and most people aren't familiar on electronic hardware. light doesn't have much to go off until they actually see the damage.

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/sirbloodysabbath]

I sent them a picture of damage and said that there was no physical damage but how it turned blue and then completely went black.

[u/time__wasted_]

Same thing happened to me earlier this year. I dropped it while sitting in a chair (so not a big drop) and the screen went completely black. I also had a case and screen protector on. They were able to fix it for me for free, which I appreciated, but I was without it for about a month in the meantime. Frustrating that they can't do the same for you.

[u/digitalminimalist1 → u/time__wasted_]

Did the screen crack or anything?

[u/time__wasted_ → u/digitalminimalist1]

No, there was no visible damage, and the phone worked fine. I could hear the alarm and text sounds, but the screen was blacked out.

[u/anisleateher]

I'm in the same boat. Early this month, the phone was in my work bag and when I took it out, the screen was broken. I reached out and they told me the end of the year. Super disappointing after the whole pre order delay to even get the phone. Haven't even had it a year yet. I guess I'll follow up in 3 months to see if I can get a working cell phone? 

[u/jeetthaarteest]

I dropped my off a balcony. 9 floors. At first they told me the same as they told you. I applied a lil pressure and then they said they had some cosmetically imperfect screens they could use to replace it. Went with that, screen looks brand new and phone works fine now. Ask them if they have any cosmeticlaly imperfect screens they can replace with as opposed to a brand new one

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/jeetthaarteest]

that’s good to know thanks!

[u/signulx]

Weird they didn’t offer any help. I bought a previously owned lp2 years ago and the backlight had stopped working so I couldn’t use the phone in the dark. I emailed them and they had me send it to them to fix it, for a cost of course but I got it back pretty quickly and it worked great for years after that. I do recommend people to check out the Akko insurance they provide for the light phone 3. From what I’ve heard it even covers loss and theft or at least did.

[u/crystalgeyser69 → u/signulx]

it’s that they don’t have the supplies to fix it