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Dust Under The Screen

Do you have dust under the screen of your HTC Desire?


  • Total voters
    199

JohnnyBravo1000

Android Expert
Jun 3, 2010
929
56
Luton
Apologies for the double thread, but my plan is to get a mod to merge all the dust threads for the Desire into one thread to include this poll.

I have received three Desires and all have had dust under the screen. It's white and almost looks like a tiny hair. You really have to look to notice it, but once you know it's there it is rather annoying.

I just wanted to see how many suffer from this problem on their Desire.

In order to check properly, your phone needs to be off or in standby mode. Wipe away all excess dust on the screen and look very carefully.

Post your findings in this thread and vote in the poll.

Feel free to post information about how long you have had your phone, if it's built up over time, was present as soon as you took it out of the box, your location and network.
 
Can't see any dust under mine. Silicon case and headphone bung fitted to reduce chances of dust.

Thanks for the feedback, mate. I'm really hoping mine are all from a bad batch, as I have had three Desires, all of which have had dust under the screen.

I have tried taking pictures to give examples, but it's too small to show up on camera.

I'll definitely be getting a headphone bung to reduce the chance of dust once I find a dust free handset. Where did you get one from? I have only seen them from Hong Kong on ebay?
 
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As I said in another thread, there is dust but its not visible unless I get the light at the right angle with a dark background. Maybe I should return it but it seems that it isn't really terrible. if it was interrupting the use as in always visible I would probably return it.

When I did see it, it was near the volume rocker but about halfway down the phone.

I wouldn't say it was hairs, looks like the screen was smeared on the inside TBH. has a slightly greyish look.
 
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I have had two Desires and nearly a third, and ALL had at least some dust under the screen. I also have two work friends that have Desires and, despite them swearing blind they had no dust under the screen, on close inspection I found they did. I think many people just are not looking hard enough in the right light conditions.
 
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Well guys...I noticed dust under the screen of my new Desire about a week after receiving it. It covers an area about the size of a 2p coin to the bottom left hand side of the screen.
Admittedly it hasn't got any worse in the last six weeks or so...but it is really annoying on an otherwise great bit of kit!
Markyar:thinking:
 
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Well guys...I noticed dust under the screen of my new Desire about a week after receiving it. It covers an area about the size of a 2p coin to the bottom left hand side of the screen.
Admittedly it hasn't got any worse in the last six weeks or so...but it is really annoying on an otherwise great bit of kit!
Markyar:thinking:

I wouldn't worry too much... despite what people say I am yet to see a single Desire with no dust under the screen. I don't think people actually look properly in the right conditions - it's not easy to see.

I myself have had 3, all with dust and I know the OP has had similar issues. 2 of my friends now have Desires, and both have at least a few specs of dust. They don't seem to care or notice, but it drove me mad. My current phone has 1 spec of dust. To be honest, I don't care anymore as it can only be seen in direct sunlight, and seeing the screen at all in direct sunlight is a bigger issue :)

It is my opinion that the dust gets in during the manufacturing process, that is why it does not move and not get worse as the screen is actually sealed. Personally, I don't care about the dust anymore. I'd add that your dust has probably been present since the day you got the phone - you just never noticed. So don't let it spoil the device for you.

That said, if it really does bug you, feel free to try and swap it over, but be warned you could end up with more :) - or more problems far worse than dust. At the end of the day, it's just a few specs of dust.
 
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I have had a pretty good look on my screen and I haven't noticed any dust or particles under it and as far as looking even harder to find it I personally find it pointless if I am being honest. If I haven't found it with a pretty thorough inspecting then I am unlikely to notice it in everyday life. However I noticed straight away that dirt and dust gathers around the edges of the screen and maybe over time it may move under the screen, which if that is the case that is pretty poor if you ask me. I read in one of the other threads, I think your original thread OP, that someone dropped their Desire and that dirt mentioned exploded onto the screen, which may be the problem, maybe a few knocks during deliveries forces dust under the screen.

I am with Orange UK and when they were sold out one of the customer service guys told me they had Desires in stock but they were unavailable because they take their phones apart to test and then rebuild them, maybe that is a cause for dust with some networks or it maybe a reason that my Desire has no apparent dust beneith the screen with an extra clean during rebuild?
 
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I have had a pretty good look on my screen and I haven't noticed any dust or particles under it and as far as looking even harder to find it I personally find it pointless if I am being honest. If I haven't found it with a pretty thorough inspecting then I am unlikely to notice it in everyday life. However I noticed straight away that dirt and dust gathers around the edges of the screen and maybe over time it may move under the screen, which if that is the case that is pretty poor if you ask me. I read in one of the other threads, I think your original thread OP, that someone dropped their Desire and that dirt mentioned exploded onto the screen, which may be the problem, maybe a few knocks during deliveries forces dust under the screen.

I am with Orange UK and when they were sold out one of the customer service guys told me they had Desires in stock but they were unavailable because they take their phones apart to test and then rebuild them, maybe that is a cause for dust with some networks or it maybe a reason that my Desire has no apparent dust beneith the screen with an extra clean during rebuild?

I think you make a good point. I think some of us, myself included, inspect the device too much because we want it to be perfect. I would never have noticed my spec of dust had I not gone looking for it... but you know what, if you go looking for flaws you will find them.

I've not heard about companies taking the phone apart (although if Orange did it, it would probably be to stuff as much crapware inside as possible :) ).

According to HTC, the screen is sealed, so any dust in there got in during manufacturing. I saw the post about the "dust exploding inwards"... to be honest, if you drop a phone onto concrete anything could happen, so i don't think this is indicative of a build quality problem.
 
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I think you make a good point. I think some of us, myself included, inspect the device too much because we want it to be perfect. I would never have noticed my spec of dust had I not gone looking for it... but you know what, if you go looking for flaws you will find them.

Thats exactly what I was thinking, but I did it anyway but I won't do it again because I know exactly how you guys feel, I can get a bit OCD if I find something like that and I would probably fall out of love with the phone for a long time if I found anything which the dirt around the edges is starting to do!

I've not heard about companies taking the phone apart (although if Orange did it, it would probably be to stuff as much crapware inside as possible :) ).

True that, I've been with Orange for going on 10 years now and I used to love them, they've always added extras but nowadays they seem to replace software instead like replacing Google Talk with Orange Messenger and the default web browser, which both don't seem to work with wifi due to Orange World it seems.

But to go back on topic, that is what I was told and I assume they have no reason to lie to be fair. Maybe he just meant all the removable parts such as battery and SD Cards.
 
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What do you mean by 'dust', tiny flecks, or big clouds of fluff (someone said something about a coin-sized area)?

I've installed a painting app and painted my screen all-white, and I can't for the life of me see a thing on it. I've had my Desire for about a week, and I've kept it (same as my Galaxy) in my jacket pocket with no protector or rubber plugs.
 
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I have had a pretty good look on my screen and I haven't noticed any dust or particles under it and as far as looking even harder to find it I personally find it pointless if I am being honest. If I haven't found it with a pretty thorough inspecting then I am unlikely to notice it in everyday life. However I noticed straight away that dirt and dust gathers around the edges of the screen and maybe over time it may move under the screen, which if that is the case that is pretty poor if you ask me. I read in one of the other threads, I think your original thread OP, that someone dropped their Desire and that dirt mentioned exploded onto the screen, which may be the problem, maybe a few knocks during deliveries forces dust under the screen.

I am with Orange UK and when they were sold out one of the customer service guys told me they had Desires in stock but they were unavailable because they take their phones apart to test and then rebuild them, maybe that is a cause for dust with some networks or it maybe a reason that my Desire has no apparent dust beneith the screen with an extra clean during rebuild?

You make a lot of good points, mate. Regarding your last point, I will be able to confirm this at some point in the future. I can have my phone sent off at any time during the warranty period for a clean. I was told that whatever the problem is, they will strip down the phone, put new software on it, and generally give the phone a service before sending it back "as new".

What do you mean by 'dust', tiny flecks, or big clouds of fluff (someone said something about a coin-sized area)?

I've installed a painting app and painted my screen all-white, and I can't for the life of me see a thing on it. I've had my Desire for about a week, and I've kept it (same as my Galaxy) in my jacket pocket with no protector or rubber plugs.

My "dust" are tiny white particles - they look like tiny fibres from a piece of clothing. They are very small and you have to scrutinise the phone in order to see them. They're not visible in normal light, but they seem to glisten very slightly in direct sunlight - which as TrueSpin mentioned, viewing the screen in sunlight is task in itself! :D
 
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I have also got the white specs but it was through my own fault, I dropped my phone and the dust that had built up along the side of the glass imploded under the glass :( But I can live with it because its only a couple bits. I t has tought me to not drop my phone again :)

Interesting discovery, buddy. It makes it plausible that people may have dust under their screen as a result of the phone being knocked about while in the delivery process.
 
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I have also got the white specs but it was through my own fault, I dropped my phone and the dust that had built up along the side of the glass imploded under the glass :( But I can live with it because its only a couple bits. I t has tought me to not drop my phone again :)

Is it possible they were always there but you never noticed until you looked closely because you were looking for damage?
 
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