Original vs Compatible Screens: What You're Actually Paying For

Get quotes for a cracked screen from three shops and you may get three very different numbers. That's usually not haggling — it's three different parts. Knowing which is which lets you compare quotes properly.

The three broad categories

• Original / OEM: the same panel the manufacturer fits, either service stock or pulled from a genuine supply chain. Highest cost, exact colour and touch behaviour, and features tied to the panel keep working.
• High-copy OLED: an aftermarket OLED panel that looks close to the original. Cheaper, generally good, but brightness and colour accuracy can differ slightly.
• Incell / LCD copy: an LCD panel replacing an OLED one. Cheapest by a wide margin. Blacks look grey, viewing angles are poorer, and always-on display features often stop working.

Glass-only vs full assembly

If only the outer glass has cracked and the display underneath still shows a clean image with working touch, the glass alone can sometimes be replaced — the panel is separated, re-laminated with new glass, and refitted. It's cheaper than a full assembly, but it's delicate work and it isn't possible on every device or every break. If the display shows lines, black patches, or dead touch zones, the panel itself is damaged and the whole assembly has to go.

Which should you choose?

It depends on the phone and how long you plan to keep it. On a two-year-old mid-range handset you're replacing next year, a good copy panel is sensible value. On a recent flagship — especially one with a high refresh rate or an in-display fingerprint sensor — the original is worth the difference, because copy panels frequently break the fingerprint reader or drop the refresh rate.

Questions worth asking any repair shop

• Which grade of panel is in this quote?
• Is the in-display fingerprint sensor guaranteed to work afterwards?
• What warranty comes with the part, and what voids it?
• Will you show me the old part when the job is done?

We quote the grade of part up front rather than after the fact, so you can decide what's worth it for your device. Send us your model and we'll give you the options with prices.