OK, so a couple days ago, in a fit of rage, I stupidly threw my phone down on a counter it bounced off then onto the cement floor….yeah. Here’s a pic (there’s a slight warp to the phone now):
So after that bit of satisfaction of smashing something…I slowly started to realize that I just got the phone maybe 2 months ago (I swapped my brand new Samsung S7 for it) and I hadn’t done a back up yet and over the course of 2 months I met a lot of people at the exhibitions and events, not to mention the pics I used my phone for….So I’m stewing about to boil over so I exiled myself to a corner and I’m fighting off the flu.
The flu won, slept almost 2 days. So 3rd day, today, I’m up looked at the phone, no lights no nothin, plugged in, nothing…took my sim out to put in back up phone and left the house. Went around to the used kiosks to check prices of used phones and new phones as well as repair prices. After many oooh and aaahs about the condition of my phone here’s what I gathered:
Area: Toa Payoh, Orchard, Plaza Singapura (Country: Singapore)
Price range for screen inclusive of labor: $290 – $420
Price range for Motherboard inclusive of labor $250 – $300
The high prices are from Samsung. Note: If you let Samsung fix your phone they WILL wipe your phone! They said because they reflash the phone or something like that. Also, they won’t back up for you! Where as the shops, they only replace the display so your data will stay intact.
Price range for NEW Note 5 High $800’s to $900’s
Price range for used Note 5 between $500 and $600
Price range for used Note 4 Between $300 and $400
The worry now is the warp on the phone has it caused any issues with the motherboard, Samsung said maybe, other shops say probably not. All say have to replace the display first.
Time it takes to change the display is 2 hours, Samsung 2-3 days. The shops that don’t have the display in stock will take a week to get it in.
I went with a shop in Far East Plaza called CityMobi. A gentleman named James helped me out. After much deliberation I went with CityMobi because no one had a blue display (my Note 5 is the blue one) but he offered gold or white. No one else offered. But most of all, in my opinion, he was the most honest, realistic person that I had spoken to. He was pretty sure the bend was not serious and the motherboard should be fine.
So I chose the gold display went back 1h 45 min later and it was done. The phone works, my data is all there and dang, I think two tone looks pretty good. The phone is still a bit warped, the speaker grill thing at the top is a bit wonky but hey….it works!
Anyways, i was offered a discount on a gold colored case (I guess my two tone phone isn’t as cool as I thought?) and screen protector so what the heck I got both. All in, it cost me $325, an expensive lesson to learn what button sets me off.
I hope none o’ya have to go through this but if ya do, I hope the numbers and process helps calm you down. Oh, if you haven’t done so already, BACK UP YOUR DATA!