But I dropped one of the phones about 3 years ago, and damaged the screen in the bottom left corner. It was still working perfectly, with a tempered glass on it to prevent the crack from spreading.
A few days ago I decided to get it repaired, but now the phones parts are no longer available at the Mi service centers.
So, I’ve decided to replace the screen myself.
I ordered a toolkit from Amazon – https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0BCQFR182/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It arrived a few hours back, and with the help of YouTube tutorials, I managed to get the display off the phone. It’s not as easy as it looks, and it took me a good 2 hours before I was able to disassemble it. Mainly because I couldn’t get tools into any gaps between the screen and main body to pry it open. Indian YouYubers make the process seem so simple, they shove a plastic tool in, and 2 seconds later the phone comes apart. That didn’t work for me. I kept looking at disassembly tutorials, and found one where the guy uses a suction tool to create a gap between the display frame and the phone body.
I tried that, and it worked.
Sort of.
I managed to pry the display off, but it’s frame was still embedded in the main body.
But now, it was easier to get some leverage, and I managed to disassemble the phone.
I wasn’t sure I could do it, so I held off ordering the replacement screen till now. The original was about Rs. 2500 on the Mi site (when it was available). I ordered a replacement from maxbhi.com for about Rs.750. Plus another Rs.250 for some superglue. I’m not confident about the quality of the display, but I’m even less confident about my ability to reassemble the phone with damaging the new screen. The screen should arrive by this weekend, and then we’ll see.
Here are some images of my phone’s internals.
I think that’s some thermal paste on it. I’ve got a tube of Arctic MX4 – should I use it here?
I decided not to replace the battery, even though it was made in 2018, because it still gives me about 4hrs SOT… about the same as when it was brand new. And I’m not confident that I’ll be able to put the phone back together again.
