So recently I cracked the rear glass on my Pixel 2 XL. After searching around, I found the "official"repair places wanted around $80 to replace this. Then I found eBay had replacement glass for $13 (in the US, cheaper from China), and decided to give it a try. Figured worse case scenario I end up at the repair place getting the glass replaced anyway, and I'm out $13 extra.
This was not a difficult process necessarily, what I will say is that the glass used is extremely thin (stock and aftermarket), and the process of removing the old glass is likely to produce many tiny glass fragments.
Here's how I did it, if anyone is interested in giving this a try:
1. Mis en place. I used a couple plastic and nylon spudgers, guitar picks, one metal spudger, a hair dryer, and packing tape. I did this repair in the bathroom near the sink so I could easily brush small glass pieces into the sink and wash them down the drain.
2. Start off by heating up the rear glass with the hair dryer, but not too hot. You need to be able to hold the phone afterall. Take a piece of packing tape and place it over the rear glass to somewhat keep it together.
3. I used the thin metal spudger to get started on one side of the glass. I started on the broken side as I already had a gap there to work with. Slowly go around and remove the glass and double sided tape from the rear frame.
3. Remove the camera lens cover from the glass. It's attached to the glass with double sided tape. Most likely going to be small chunks of glass stuck to the front of the lens assembly.
4. Clean up any leftover glue/double sided tape and chunks of glass, so you have a nice clean surface to stick the new glass to.
5. Install the lens cover on the replacement glass, and clean the inside and outside of the lens cover and inspect the camera assembly itself for chunks of glass/dust/etc.
6. Install the new glass (with lens cover now attached) to the back of your Pixel 2 XL. Be very careful to line it up exactly where you want it to sit before dropping it onto the frame of the phone (you likely will not be able to peel it off and reapply it if you mess up, as the glass is very thin and would probably shatter if you try to remove it).
7. Profit.
That's about it. All in all this took me about 30 minutes from start to finish, and saved me just over $60. Worth it for a cheapskate like me ?
Hope this helps someone.
This was not a difficult process necessarily, what I will say is that the glass used is extremely thin (stock and aftermarket), and the process of removing the old glass is likely to produce many tiny glass fragments.
Here's how I did it, if anyone is interested in giving this a try:
1. Mis en place. I used a couple plastic and nylon spudgers, guitar picks, one metal spudger, a hair dryer, and packing tape. I did this repair in the bathroom near the sink so I could easily brush small glass pieces into the sink and wash them down the drain.
2. Start off by heating up the rear glass with the hair dryer, but not too hot. You need to be able to hold the phone afterall. Take a piece of packing tape and place it over the rear glass to somewhat keep it together.
3. I used the thin metal spudger to get started on one side of the glass. I started on the broken side as I already had a gap there to work with. Slowly go around and remove the glass and double sided tape from the rear frame.
3. Remove the camera lens cover from the glass. It's attached to the glass with double sided tape. Most likely going to be small chunks of glass stuck to the front of the lens assembly.
4. Clean up any leftover glue/double sided tape and chunks of glass, so you have a nice clean surface to stick the new glass to.
5. Install the lens cover on the replacement glass, and clean the inside and outside of the lens cover and inspect the camera assembly itself for chunks of glass/dust/etc.
6. Install the new glass (with lens cover now attached) to the back of your Pixel 2 XL. Be very careful to line it up exactly where you want it to sit before dropping it onto the frame of the phone (you likely will not be able to peel it off and reapply it if you mess up, as the glass is very thin and would probably shatter if you try to remove it).
7. Profit.
That's about it. All in all this took me about 30 minutes from start to finish, and saved me just over $60. Worth it for a cheapskate like me ?
Hope this helps someone.
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