I replaced only the glass on mine.
the above is for the digitizer w/glass - the below is for glass ONLY
Hi. This is my story about SUCCESSFULLY replacing only the glass of s2.
Background, you can skip this:
Few months ago I broken the glass of my beloved S2 in an accident, but because I had a screen protector the pieces of glass were kept together and the phone was 100% usable, only the image was distorted because of broken glass.
So I searched the available options: replace the whole display for a price of more than 100euro. Buy a defect s2 with good screen, but didn't found any lower than the previous price.
I had a previous experience with an Ipod Touch with the same problem, when I ordered the glass from ebay and went to a local phone repair shop that destroyed the Ipod. It was usable before going to that shop.
So I decided to give it a try and try to change it myself. I'm a programmer with what can be called poor electronic and hardware skills. So if I was able to do it, and you were able to find this post, you can replace it too. But after seeing some videos I had more confidence on my skills than of those repair specialists that were not careful with the other device.
First I found a clip on youtube about why you CAN'T change only the glass on S2. But I found also the above video with a interesting method, but it required a Molybdenum string that I couldn't found at a good price. Actually I believe that the shipment to Romania made the price to high for the string.
After researching I found the SOLUTION: on a page or youtube clip about how to remove the broken glass. But I've lost the link. Anyway, the procedure was simple. I remember that the video was about replacing the glass on a Galaxy S3.
So I ordered the replacement glass and some adhesive (finally not used) from ebay.
After I got the replacement parts, I opened the phone, you can find somewhere online the instructions how to do it.
For removal I used a pack of plastic poker card. It's needed something to not be to hard to scratch the digitizer, but hard enough to remove the broken pieces of glass.
I started removing the pieces around the Home button to get a feel of the process, and proceeded to remove all the pieces of glass and glue. It took around 3 hours to finish it and 48 cards. You need to lift the broken pieces with great attention and patience. It's not a hard job, but it takes time. Maybe with a hot gun is easier to remove, but when I received the replacement I was anxious to start and did not wait to procure one. During the whole process I kept the phone started to be sure that I did not broke the screen. In case of possible breakage or of a bad scratch I thought that I don't need to continue the procedure. Maybe is not recommended to keep it running, but it gave me a positive feedback that everything is ok.
After removing all the pieces of glass and glue I was able to see some fine scratches with a black background. I used some dust removing solution and then I attached the new glass. I only fitted the new glass on the place and I believe there were some glue left on edges that keep it in place because I did not added any other glue and it did not moved until now. With the new glass the scratches from the digitizer are not visible at all. And the phone works as new, the touchscreen was not damaged at all.
So it's completely possible to replace it.
Before fitting the new glass the cleaned touchscreen was like the touchscreen on S4: it was only needed to hoover with a finger at some distance above, but not touching
. I remember that the replacement of my glass was before the release of S4 and when I found about this feature I knew that I already had something like this on my S2.
I don't remember having any other difficulties during the replacement except the removal of broken glasses. And I used this phone continuously without problems since.
Only last night the phone stopped charging and I had to replace the charging port, flex ribbon; but it was not related to glass replacement.
I don't remember if it was needed to open the phone for glass replacement because I opened it when it broke to inspect it and I opened it also few time since then for various tasks.
The total price of replacement parts was below 10$, with glass, screen protector and adhesive ordered from ebay. I ordered also a case to protect the edges for future dropping and was a smart investment. The pack of cards I had from poker set, but It shouldn't be so expensive.
Success with your replacement.
