How To Check Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Model Numbers

The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was released in August, 2015 and is available in different variants depending on the different regions. It’s very important to know your Note 5 model number especially when you’re going to buy replacement parts for DIY repair. Most of the parts in different variants of the same model are interchangeable, while some of the vital parts like front bezels, charging port flex ribbons are not.

Here we list some tips to help you figure out what your Galaxy Note 5 model number is:

Galaxy Note 5 models of major carriers in the US.

Galaxy Note 5 models for other countries.

China mainland: SM-N9208, SM-N9209;

Hong Kong: SM-N9200;

Korea: SM-N920S, SM-N920L, SM-N920K;

Canada: SM-N920W8;

Australia, New Zealand, Singapore: SM-N920I;

Europe: SM-N920F;

• Find model number in the system.

Go to Settings>About, then you’ll be able to find the model number.

• Find model number on the back cover.

Some carriers will print their logos on the back covers, while some will print the model numbers directly on the back covers. Take Note 5 Sprint version back cover replacement as an example, the model number SM-N920P can be seen among the words print.

• Find model number on the charging port flex.

As the charging port flex assemblies for different variants of Galaxy Note 5 are not interchangeable, model numbers will be printed on the charging port PCB board for easier recognition. Here is an example about the European version Note 5 charging port flex replacement with model number SM-N920F on the surface.

If you still have no idea what your Galaxy Note 5 model number is, you may consult with the shop where you bought your device.

Highlights of HTC One A9

HTC rolled out their latest flagship the One A9 the other day, proving the rumors which stipulated the device having a 5.0 inches AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920*1080, 2GB RAM, the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow and 2150mAh battery.

At first glance, we almost thought this device was a direct copy of the iPhone 6. Surely, we knew it comes from HTC, but just like The Verge said “It's also the most blatant and highest-profile iPhone ripoff sinceSamsung's original Galaxy S.” Anyways, this new flagship from HTC has upsides and downsides, but here we show you guys the highlights:

Display:

HTC's One A9 use an AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080*1080 pixels, 441PPI. Since the iPhone 6S’ display supports a resolution of 750*1334 pixels, you can expect more detail and higher resolution on the latest HTC handset. Vivid and colorful pictures are expected.

Price:

It no surprise that the price is one of the biggest highlight of the HTC One A9. Compared with other devices, such as the iPhone 6S or Galaxy Note 5, HTC is launching the A9 at a much lower price. The iPhone 6S is sold at $649, while HTC’s One A9 only stands at $399, a difference of $250. Maybe HTC has learned from feedback on the M9’s, it’s better to price at a lower level for more market shares.

Quick Charge:

More and more cellphones are built with quick charge technology. As for the HTC One A9, it supports quick charge 2.0, while an update to 3.0 is coming soon. After charging for several minutes, the device can be used for almost 2 hours. This feature performs better especially when its battery is very low. Meanwhile, the iPhone 6S needs to be charged for 150 minutes to bring its battery from zero to full. Quick charge is an awesome feature that iPhones are definitely missing out on.

Optical image stabilization:

Speaking of picture performance, HTC’s One A9 improves the hardware, which aims at reducing picture quality loss caused by vibrations from the users’ hand. The HTC One A9’s camera will be allowed to shoot at slower speeds in low-light conditions and improve the photo’s quality with the latest algorithms. With OIS at its disposal, the new HTC flagship’s camera performs better than previous generations.

The HTC One A9 is expected to revive the glory of HTC, while it is hard to say if some features really amazed us. Anyways, consumers will make the final decision whether they like it or not. Let's wait and see.

iPhone 6+ and iPhone 6S+ Screen Comparison Report

Before the launch of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S+, some repair technicians had started a discussion in some forums wondering if the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6 LCD screens are interchangeable. Now we all know that there’s an added 3D Touch layer in the iPhone 6S/6S+ compared with previous iPhones, however, since the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S are the same size people still wonder if their LCDs are interchangeable despite the 3D Touch. Today, we took two LCD and digitizer with frame replacements, one for the iPhone 6+ and the other for the iPhone 6S+ to make a comparison, check out what we found.

When holding these two screens, you can feel that the iPhone 6S Plus LCD screen and digitizer with frame is obviously heavier than the iPhone 6+.

At first glance, though, we don’t see any obvious differences between the two earpiece holes, front camera holes, sensor holes or home button holes, as well as the touch response sizes. However, you can see that the flex ribbons are in different shapes.

After careful observation, we found that one of the two iPhone 6S+ LCD assembly flex ribbons is for connecting the home button and logic board, while the other is a flex unit for both the LCD display and touchscreen. However, the two flex ribbons on the iPhone 6+ LCD assembly have individual flexes for the LCD display and touchscreen.

Checking further, it’s quite plain to see that the ICs on the flex ribbons of these two devices are completely different.

That’s to say, neither the LCD screen nor the digitizer for iPhone 6S+ and iPhone 6+ is interchangeable with each other.

As for the outer glass layer, we haven’t tested them yet, but there is a fair chance that the iPhone 6S+ glass lens works on the iPhone 6+. Like the previous iPhone 5/5C/5S, it’s a fact proven by many repair shops that the glass screen is compatible while the other screen layers are not.

What about the digitizer frame?

Apparently, the iPhone 6S+ digitizer frame does not looks the same as the iPhone 6+’s. In other words, the iPhone 6+ digitizer frame is not compatible with the iPhone 6S+.

Before looking deeper, we theorized that the plastic retaining brackets for the front facing cameras were the same, however that turned out to be wrong. There’s a little difference hiding under the flex ribbons. As for the earpiece mesh cover with gaskets, they look exactly the same.

Another big difference is the IC chip for the 3D Touch in the iPhone 6S Plus as you can see on the above picture.

We’ll update the results once we make sure that the iPhone 6S+ and iPhone 6+ glasses are interchangeable. If anyone has any luck using an iPhone 6+ glass replacement on an iPhone 6S+, please let us know your feedback by commenting below.

How to Recover Photos and Data with Broken Screens

Unexpected things do always happen without notice or before getting some preparations. For example, your phone drops and the screen gets broken or even goes dead in a sudden. Now you realize you should have backed up all the important information like: photos, videos, messages, contacts etc. in advance. 

We all know that personal data should be backed up in case of being leaked or lost when your device is having a screen replacement, is it too late to backup data from a broken phone now? Never mind, here we guide you through how to restore data with broken phones.

For Android Devices

Before recovering data, you have to make sure the screen is unlocked. Some phones are badly damaged and you don’t even know how to unlock the unresponsive or dead screen, please check here for help.

Step 1: Connect your broken phone to the PC via a USB data cable.

Step 2: Access your phone’s internal memory by AutoPlay > Open folder to view files.

Step 3: Copy the data you want to recover from your broken phone’s internal memory and past to your PC.

 

For iOS Devices

Like mentioned before, first is to unlock the device. If your iPhone cannot be unlocked by touch, try to ask Siri for help by double tapping the home button.

Step 1: Connect your damaged iPhone to the Mac or Laptop via a USB data cable.

Step 2: Start the iTunes, then go to File > Devices > Restore from Backup, or click the device button, go to Summary tab > Restore Backup. 

Step 3: Choose the backup file you want to restore from the available selection.

 

Other Solution: Data recovery system.

There’re a variety of different cellphone data recovery software or apps online, visit some professional Android discussion forums like Android Central or iOS discussion forums like Mac Rumors to check what they recommend, which can help to reduce the chance of downloading an improper or unsafe one.

How To Identify Different LG G4 Model Numbers

As the successor to the LG G3, the LG G4 was released into LG’s flagship smartphone product line on April 2015. Like the LG G3, this new generation of LG G series devices has many different variants and models, here we’re going to sort them out.

1. Generally, the following rules can be applied to the LG G4 model ranges.

LG G4 model numbers major U.S. carriers:

LG G4 model numbers for different areas:

2. Check the model number in the system by going to Settings>About.

3. Find the carrier logo on the LG G4 back cover and then check with the above charts.

4. If you still have no idea, call the store where you bought the device for help.

Also, there’re some other models derived from LG’s G4.

• LG G4c: LG H525N

• LG G4 Dual: aka LG G4 Dual-LTE, LG G4 Dual-SIM, LG H818P (Indonesia, Ukraine, Thailand), LG H818N (Hong Kong)

• LG G4 Stylus: aka LG G Stylo for T-Mobile

• LG G4 Beat: aka LG G4s, G4 s, LG H735

15 Tips and Tricks of 3D Touch You Don’t Want to Miss

With the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus having been in users’ hands for a few weeks now, we want to make sure you make full use of all the Peeks and Pops. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get to grips with what 3D Touch can do.

1. Quick Actions

Since not all apps support quick actions, you can press any item and experiment to see if it can be added.

2. View Photos

Press to peek at an image, swipe up to share/copy it or press harder to pop the image to full screen. Also, when pictures are taken in Live Photo mode, the pictures appear as static images but come alive when you press on them.

3. View Messages

Press a name in Messages and you can choose to create an email, make a voice or video call or reply to a message. Drag the preview window upwards to bring up a list of quick replies.

4. Preview Emails

Press a message in the inbox list to peek at its contents, press harder to open the message. Or press hard on the contact icon on the top right to open a menu that allows you to execute different actions.

5. Preview Links

Press firmly on a link and a pop-up preview of the site will appear so you can quickly check it before launching it in a browser. When you are previewing the page, you can slide it upwards to access a menu that allows you to perform further actions.

6. Peeks and Pops

The “Peek” is a configured view controller that allows users to get a preview of content before opening it (like a snippet of an email before opening the full file). The “Pop” is when the user clicks through the preview to open the full document, bringing it to the top of the screen.

7. Zoom

9to5Mac found a Peek Zoom option disabled by default. When you press harder on the screen, you can zoom in to see the entire display and zoom out when you release pressure. This zoom feature can be enabled by going to Settings>General>Accessibility>Zoom, turn on Zoom and also enable Show Controller. 

8. Trackpad

Press the keyboard until it turns light grey, when the keyboard changes into this trackpad, you can move the cursor by swiping your finger around the keyboard. You can also press once to select a word, press twice to highlight a sentence or press three times to choose a paragraph.

9. Take a Selfie

Press the Camera icon, then choose Take Selfie from the Quick Actions menu. You can also choose to record a video or slow-mo.

10. Active Live Wallpaper without Unlocking

If you use a Live Photo as your lock screen wallpaper, simply press hard to activate the image, no need to unlock the phone.

11. Sketches

Create a new Note in the Notes app and choose the pencil, marker or pen tool and then select a color. Press your finger on the display and you’ll be able to sketch, the darkness varies by how hard you press.

12. Adjust the 3D Touch Settings

You can adjust the 3D Touch sensitivity (Light, Medium or Firm), or turn on/off the 3D Touch features by going to Settings>General>Accessibility>3D Touch.

13. Direction Navigation

Simply by pressing on the Apple Maps app, you can get driving directions back home in a snap by tapping on “Directions Home”.

14. Switch Apps

If you like to switch different apps, apart from double pressing on the home button, you can also press on the left edge of the screen to jump to previously used apps or press even harder to be taken to the multitasking view.

15. In iOS games

Another one for the future, but 3D Touch holds the potential to turn onscreen elements into pressure-sensitive gaming controls – making games deeper without making their control systems any more complicated. This is a quantum leap forward.

How To Disassemble/Tear Down/Take Apart iPhone 6S+

The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus were released last week, 3D Touch is the most significant feature of these two new iPhones. A few days ago, we guided you through on how to replace the iPhone 6S+ screen with the 3D Touch layer disassembled. Now we’re going to tear down the whole device to check what have been changed apart from the 3D Touch film.

Tools Needed:

Heat gun/hair drier

Pentalobe screwdriver

Screen suction cup tool

Case opening tool

Spudger tool

Tweezers

Eject pin

1. Power off your iPhone 6S Plus.

2. Undo the 2 charging port screws, then apply heat around the edges of the screen to soften the adhesive underneath.

3. Use the suction cup tool to lift up a small gap in between, then insert a case opening tool.

4. Slide the case opening tool around the edges of the screen to slowly open the screen. Do not raise the screen up over 90° as it will damage the flex ribbons.

5. Undo the 5 screws to release the metal bracket covering the flex ribbon connectors.

6. Disconnect the 3 connectors of screen flex ribbon, front facing camera flex ribbon and 3D touch flex ribbon to release the iPhone 6S Plus LCD and digitizer assembly.

7. Undo the 2 screws holding the home button bracket then remove it.

8. Disconnect the flex ribbon connector then apply some heat on the home button to soften the adhesive and remove it to release the home button.

9. Undo the 3 screws holding the front speaker metal bracket, then remove it to release the ear speaker underneath.

10. Heat up the front facing camera flex with proximity sensor flex and remove it.

11. Undo the 8 screws to release the metal plate.

12. Pry up the flex ribbon connector, heat up around the edges then gently pry up the 3d touch film from the attached screen.

13. Remove the SIM card tray with the help of an eject pin tool.

14. Undo the 2 screws, remove the metal bracket and then pry up the 3 connectors underneath.

15. Undo the 3 screws (the 3rd screw is placed under a black tape), pry up the metal bracket, retaining bracket and flex ribbon connector to release the front facing camera.

16. Undo the 3 screws and remove the meta bracket, then peel off the black tape and undo the screw underneath. Pry up the flex ribbon connector and plastic bracket.

17. Undo the 2 screws to release the plastic bracket, then undo the other two screws.

18. Undo the screw, loose the signal cable so as to remove the motherboard.

19. Remove the 2 cables on the motherboard.

20. Undo the 5 screws to release the two metal brackets. Then undo the other 4 screws (the last screw is in the rear housing), pry up the antenna cable connector to release the loudspeaker module.

21. Release signal cable 1, then heat up the black adhesive tape to release signal cable 2.

22. Undo the 2 screws, pry up the flex ribbon connector to release the Tapic Engine vibrator.

23. Undo the 5 screws as shown below, heat up the black tape to soften the adhesive, then pry up to release the charging port flex assembly with earphone jack. Be extreme patient on this step.

24. Heat up evenly on the back and the 3 adhesive tape heads to soften the adhesive, then pull out the adhesive tapes in the direction as shown below to release the battery.

25. Undo the screw to release the metal bracket, then undo the other 3 screws, heat up the adhesive tape to release the mute button flex ribbon.

26. Undo the 3 screws, heat up the adhesive and remove the volume button flex.

27. Remove the side keys.

28. Undo the screws, release the brackets on both sides of the rear housing.

Now, the iPhone 6S Plus disassembly was finished.