Phone Screen Replacement

After years of using an otter case on my Samsung Note II phone, figuring it was near the end of life and wanting to enjoy a slim phone for a while before retiring it, I started using it without the case. I enjoyed having a phone that actually fit in my pocket, but alas the inevitable happened, I dropped it and the screen broke. This older phone still fit my needs however, so I was loathe to replace it. I've always wanted to tear one of these apart, so instead of throwing it away, I decided to replace the screen.

Replacing the screen on these isn't particularly easy for the unexperienced. There's many small parts and screws, the components are sensitive to ESD, and to get a good job without wrecking the case proper tools are needed. Fortunately I'm an N scale train hobbyist; these have similarly sized components and similar issues dealing with tiny electronic components.

Ifixit has a guide for replacing the screen on the Samsung Note II which I used as well as an order page for the various parts. It actually works the first time, I have no extra parts on my workbench, and my new screen is unbranded, which is a rather cool side effect of the surgery.