Samsung Galaxy series screen woes

[Magic Static]

I killed my A20 phone a few days ago. I had it in my chest pocket on bib overalls I was wearing. I had been doing yard work for a while and got a drink of ice water. Well the half round ice cubes the fridge makes can be a pain and often when they shift in a glass you end up spilling. Well I slobbered a bib full right on my phone and the touch sensor on the screen quit. This phone is not the least bit water resistant unfortunately. Doing some searches on the net revealed this whole series of phones has screen issues. Most common is the Black Screen of Death. Fortunately there is a fix for that but not my issue. I was hoping after a few days it would dry out and start working again. No luck yet. Probably the day my new phone arrives it will snap out of it. LOL

 

[Foxbat]

My family and I have a bad history of phones with water damage. My son forgot he had his iPhone in the pocket of his swimsuit and jumped into his friends pool. I couldn’t get mad because he had purchased it with his money earned at a big box home store. He ended up buying a new phone (again, with his hard-earned money) and swore to never do that again.

I am surprised that a Samsung Galaxy had water woes, though. I thought Samsung was better at that than Apple.

 

[Magic Static]

I am surprised that a Samsung Galaxy had water woes, though. I thought Samsung was better at that than Apple.

Hoping the reverse is true. I bought an iphone 12 mini. Supposed to be IP67

 

[Foxbat]

Hoping the reverse is true. I bought an iphone 12 mini. Supposed to be IP67

I treat my electronics as if they will die if the get wet. A couple of drops of rain I don’t sweat (or sweat ) but I do avoid intentionally submerging my iPhone. If it happens accidentally and it survives, great, but I don’t count on it.

My Sister and Brother-in-Law like their Galaxy phones. We keep on trying to get our older Brother into a smartphone but he’s still a dinosaur.

 

[TheKrell]

My family and I have a bad history of phones with water damage.

I was sitting in a beach chair while my family went swimming in the ocean. A surprisingly high wave made it up to where I was sitting. I didn't worry about that since the beach chair put my captain's quarters above the sand by a few inches. But I grabbed our beach bag by 1 handle. Of course my wife's Nexus 5 (back when that was still state of the art) was in the top and it fell out and sea water got inside.

I had to take the phone apart to get all the salt water out. Once I got it dried and put back together, it actually worked! But I had fractured the screen on 1 corner. Then it was straight downhill from there. I had the screen replaced, and then the digitizer didn't return the actual position of your finger. I had to give up on that phone.

Now my wife has been using a Galaxy S9+ and loving it.

 

[rvvaquero]

I used to use a Motorola Adventure flip phone. I ran it through the washer one day, didn't discover it until I put it in the dryer. The screen, with the power off, looked like lava flowing.

I took the battery out and put the phone in a baggie with uncooked rice for three days. At the end of that time, put the battery back in and turned it on. It worked flawlessly for another few years before I replaced it with a smart phone.

 

[Magic Static]

I used to use a Motorola Adventure flip phone. I ran it through the washer one day, didn't discover it until I put it in the dryer. The screen, with the power off, looked like lava flowing.

I took the battery out and put the phone in a baggie with uncooked rice for three days. At the end of that time, put the battery back in and turned it on. It worked flawlessly for another few years before I replaced it with a smart phone.

One of the big disadvantages with the A20 is you can't remove the battery. You can trip a relay that connects the battery current but it's not the same.

 

[Foxbat]

rvvaquero, your story reminds me of the ski trip I was on and forgot I had my Motorola RAZR in my inside pocket of my ski jacket that I had tossed in the dryer at the condo we were renting. Well, I also forgot the ChapStik I had in the same pocket, and being as I was skiing with younger coworkers, it was Cherry ChapStik (don’t ask!)

I was reminded of this every time I used the phone for months afterward. I guess I’m lucky the phone‘s battery didn’t overheat and catch fire. But it took a bit to clean the waxy film off the case and screen. It got everywhere.

 

[NYDutch]

In August, I got caught in an unexpected downpour that thoroughly soaked me and my Samsung Galaxy A51. After just towel drying the phone, it worked perfectly and has continued to do so. The A51 has no IP rating that I can find.

 

[Magic Static]

Update: Hoping to recover my contact list and nothing to lose I tore the A20 apart. Found the issue with the touch sensor and repaired it. The phone is up and running again. So now I have a back up and my contact list.

 

[TheKrell]

So now I have a back up and my contact list.

Good show. So... How and where did you back it up?

 

[Magic Static]

Good show. So... How and where did you back it up?

Poor choice of words I guess. I meant I have a back up phone to use. But for now my contact list is on two devices though.

 

[NYDutch]

Good show. So... How and where did you back it up?

I periodically back up the contacts on my Galaxy A51 by opening the contacts and taping on the upper right 3-dot menu and selecting "Share". Then tap the "All" check circle on the left and "Share" at the bottom of the screen. I send the resulting .VCF file to my personal cloud, but there are several other choices including emailing the file to yourself for saving elsewhere.

 

[TheKrell]

periodically back up the contacts on my Galaxy A51 by opening the contacts and taping on the upper right 3-dot menu and selecting "Share".

Dang it! My Moto G5 shows Call history and Settings in the menu: no Share option.

 

[Magic Static]

I periodically back up the contacts on my Galaxy A51 by opening the contacts and taping on the upper right 3-dot menu and selecting "Share". Then tap the "All" check circle on the left and "Share" at the bottom of the screen. I send the resulting .VCF file to my personal cloud, but there are several other choices including emailing the file to yourself for saving elsewhere.

Good tip. I'm working with my wife's aunt and uncle setting up a new computer. Folks in their 80's and the learning curve is steep. They both have A51s and I've been getting them to work with the new computer. And getting their new hearing aids all blue toothed to everything, cell phones , tv, and the computer.

 

[Magic Static]

The tip NYDutch shared about his A51 also works with the A20, but you need to access the contact list from the main menu for the share options to display. Even though my A20 has no sim card I was still able to email the contact list to myself.

 

[TheKrell]

The tip NYDutch shared about his A51 also works with the A20, but you need to access the contact list from the main menu for the share options to display. Even though my A20 has no sim card I was still able to email the contact list to myself.

Interesting. With that tip, I was able to use the 3 bars on the left (not the 3 dots on the right) to access contact settings. Then there are import and export options, so I chose "export". Unfortunately there was no way to email it to myself. So I saved it on my phone somewhere. I'll plug it into my computer tonight and see if I can find it.