Repair guides

What the compatibility tables can’t tell you: how to identify a model with no box, why screen size isn’t a lookup key, and how to fit a protector that stays on.

• How to identify a phone model when there's no box

  Five reliable ways to pin down exactly which handset is on your bench, including the variant markings that decide which part actually fits.

  3 min read

• Why two 6.5-inch phones need different tempered glass

  Screen size is a sanity check, not a compatibility key. Here's what actually has to match, and why supplier listings that sort by inches will eventually cost you money.

  3 min read

• 2.5D, 3D, UV and privacy glass — which to stock and when

  A plain explanation of the tempered glass types you'll be offered, what each is actually for, and where each one causes problems.

  4 min read

• Fitting tempered glass without bubbles, dust or lifted edges

  The bench routine that gets a clean fit first time, and what to do when a speck gets under anyway.

  3 min read

• Seven ways repair shops order the wrong part

  The mistakes that actually cost money, drawn from how compatibility data really behaves.

  3 min read

• The oleophobic coating, and how to avoid destroying it

  What that slippery layer actually is, what removes it, and what to tell customers whose screen suddenly feels sticky.

  3 min read

• Glass, digitizer or display — telling the customer what's actually broken

  How to diagnose which layer failed before quoting, so you don't promise a cheap fix for an expensive fault.

  3 min read

• Talking to suppliers about compatibility groups

  Why suppliers use their own numbering, how to map it to yours, and what to ask for so reorders never go wrong.

  3 min read

• How our part codes work, and where the data comes from

  What a code like TG-13 means, why some phones return two answers, and how to read the compatibility data honestly.

  3 min read