Flex cable for the LG Chocolate and a little repair.

My wife had a little phone that worked great and did everything she needed, but then it suddenly came down with something. We didn't want to buy a new one—my wife had already gotten used to this one. Besides, it had recently been fitted with a higher-capacity battery, so it lasted longer and was even more comfortable to hold. So we decided to get it fixed.
More after the jump.

Anyway, while a big review is in the works, I decided to play doctor for a bit.
Well, if we're going to fix it, let's fix it, I thought, and went looking for a cure on AliExpress. This had happened once before, and I had to buy the replacement part at the radio market. This time it was easier to get one from China.

A broken flex cable is a chronic ailment for slider phones. Smartphones are common now, but plenty of people still have old phones that work just fine.
This review is less about showing off the product (I only show the replacement to demonstrate that it's relatively straightforward) and more about sharing my experience with a good seller.
Read on to find out why.

So, I ordered the flex cable. I got a tracking number after 3 or 4 days (to be honest, I'd completely forgotten about it and only checked when it showed up in the mail). Then, just 10 days later, I picked up the package at the post office.
When I went to collect it, I even thought it might not be mine, but my address and last name were on it, so I took it home. I was expecting a small, ordinary envelope (it's only a flex cable, after all), but what I got was a fairly large box.


Inside the box was a foam insert, made to fit the cardboard box exactly (I'd never seen anything like that before—and it even had the store's name printed on it).
The photo shows the box next to the “patient” to give you an idea of its size. It's big enough to fit several phones like this, not just a flex cable.


Inside the box, the flex cable was wrapped in a thick layer of film so it wouldn't bounce around while postal workers were tossing the box around during — Packing it into the mail sack, or while the pilots were — Sending it by air mail ZZZ.
All in all, 5 out of 5 for the seller's packaging.


And here are the “patient” and its “medicine.”
The fault is still relatively mild in the photo. It gets worse when the screen turns white or starts showing four images.


Before confirming the order, it's a good idea to test the part—otherwise, that pretty packaging might be hiding a plain old dud.
How do you test it? Simple: replace the old one with the new one.
It only takes about 10 minutes, including two smoke breaks. :)
First, remove the battery, take out the SIM card, and unscrew the mounting screws.


I remove the two mounting screws hidden under the decorative caps.


I release the clips around the edges, disconnect one end of the old flex cable, and take out the two boards. One just sits in place; the other is held by a couple of clips. It's easier if you open the slider halfway first. Then I remove the six screws holding the sliding mechanism in place.


With the case split into two halves, I remove four more screws.


After that, I release a few more clips (electronics manufacturers love clips—monitor clips are especially delightful) and get access to the other end of the flex cable.
Here's what it looks like fully disassembled. Nothing complicated, really. The main thing is to remember which screws go where and how everything came apart. You can also lay the parts out in the order you remove them.


I remove the old flex cable and install the new one. The connector takes a bit of force to seat, so don't push too hard.


Put the two halves back together, screw them in place, and plug the other end of the flex cable into its connectors.
Basically, do everything we did the first time, but in exactly the reverse order.
While you're at it, you can clean off any accumulated dirt, but be very careful not to break anything.
Otherwise, our patient will die before regaining consciousness.


That's it—the patient has had its medicine and is feeling great.


The whole repair took very little time and required just a screwdriver and tweezers (or a guitar pick, scalpel—whatever you have).

Sure, I could have bought a new one, but sometimes you get attached to things and don't want to replace them. That's why I usually repair things like this, and the money I save is better spent on something more interesting.

As I said at the beginning, this is more of a review of a reliable seller. I can't even think of anything to complain about—maybe the price, but I did choose the cheapest offer on AliExpress anyway.

Pros.
Fast shipping with tracking.
Delivery was just as fast (10 days from when tracking started to getting the phone repaired; at the time of writing, the tracking still doesn't even show it as delivered).
Excellent packaging. Special thanks to the seller for that—I can use the little box myself for something (like insulating a sensor).

The seller also has a pretty wide selection.

I hope this review will be useful to someone.