Why Is My Phone Screen Breaking?!

My phone screen is breaking and I have no idea why.

(The image pictured is someone else’s, but a very accurate depiction of my phone screen breaking right now.)

I have the worst luck with smart phones. You already know this, probably. My dear sweet child, my Samsung Galaxy Flip Z, has crapped out on me and I feel very doubtful this is something I can get repaired.

It’s been just under three years since I got the thing, about 33 months. From my 2021 article on the subject, that means it’s right at tied for the longest I’ve ever had a phone without it breaking. Until now…

The very first Galaxy Flip Z is… a work in progress, to be sure. The screen protector always gets little air bubbles underneath, the closed display is too tiny to do much with, and the camera is subpar. They’ve, by all accounts, vastly improved on the phone with each passing year, to the point that the model 5 is a whole world ahead.

I was actually planning on getting the 5 this fall, after the 6 came out and got the price to drop…

But, out of nowhere, for no reason, the screen just crapped out while I was opening up the clamshell this morning. Random glitches, and otherwise totally dark.

I suspect it has something to do with the air bubbles that build up at the hinge. Maybe the right pressure went through and just blasted the thing apart, because there is now a very disconcerting little scratch right across the center of the screen.

The phone is on and seemingly working fine; the outer display still shows stuff. I bet if it was the model 5, I’d be able to go into settings and turn on Safe Mode to try and fix things myself. But that’s not possible on the model 1.

Not a fan.

I feel stranded, suddenly losing contact with friends and family, without many apps. Hell, without Dashlane I can’t even log into sites on my work PC. Without Paypay I have to lug cash around everywhere. Without Google Maps I’ll get totally lost because my sense of direction sucks. This is all a problem with me, not the phone. I should have had redundant

It’ll just be for a day, probably. Worst comes to worst, I have that Samsung Galaxy C from 2018 still; I can put my SIM card in there and keep using it for as long as it lasts. Assuming it hasn’t crapped out after three years of total disuse…

Anyway, this has been a kind of awful week, and I’m not surprised that I’d get something even worse thrown at me. Life is a challenge sometimes.