How Sweat Ruined my Android Screen

Not long ago I posted about how I ordered a warranty replacement LG Nexus 4 due to screen issues caused by sweat. I figured I'd make an article about that and go in to greater detail and with a picture so you can see exactly what happen and what it looks like.

So we already know that sweat is a pretty aggressive chemical our body produces.  It has the ability to eat away at super glue, tarnish metals, and discolor clothing, never did I think this would happen.

I work a very physical demanding job, lifting 100+ pound wooden gables and various other size doors and objects. Clearly working a job like this can cause me to work up a little sweat, and the unthinkable happen. My phone sits in my pocket with the screen towards my leg to protect it from accidental knocks against the screen, but it turns out the heat and slightly sweaty leg area was getting contact with my screen. After a few weeks of this happening continuously I started to notice this foggy patch appearing in the center of my screen where my leg has contact with it. Turns out the fingerprint resistant coating, or the technical term 'oleophobic coating' was being eaten away by the sweat of my leg.

As a result I now have this foggy patch on my screen that I can polish away, but as soon as I begin use my phone for a couple hours, or place it back in my pocket, the foggy patch returns once again. Clearly this gets annoying very fast. This could have been prevented by using a screen protector, but I was unaware my sweat would cause this sort of damage.

Long story short. I called Google Play Warranty Call Center, and described what had happened and they said they've never heard of an instance such as this, but they said this is something they'd cover under the manufacturing warranty. So that being said, my new Nexus 4 will be here in a few days and I learnt a valuable lesson here. From now on at work I'll be using my belt clip holster, and Nexus 4 being sold in Canada now I should be able to find a local retailer for an Invisible shield.

I pass on this story as a warning to the rest of you. This happen to me and it could possibly happen to you as well. I'm not saying this is a fault of the Nexus 4, but rather another thing to think about next time you're out jogging with your phone in your pocket or something. Doing some research on Google, I've seen a few other cases of iPhone users reporting similar problems.

Keep those screens protected people, I got lucky with the warranty this time, next time I may not be so lucky :P