Feronix
New member
This thread is for Lumia 535 users that are having problems with their touch screen like I had, and everyone I know with the same phone. The fix is simple enough and will cost you €10 or less.
This is NOT about the touch screen issue where the screen didn't seem to be accurate, that issue has been fixed with a software update for nearly a year now, so make sure your phone is up to date.
Right, so in February I got myself a Lumia 535 as it was basically a perfect phone for me. It was cheap, the camera was decent for a €100 phone, it was fast enough for all the apps that I use (fb, twitter, music, Skype), comes with a really decent, fast browser that can show mobile and desktop versions of sites and has expandable storage so I can use the phone as an MP3 player. I'm really content with this phone, especially considering the price.
There's an issue though: The screen is... well, it's crap. Obviously Microsoft had to cut corners to achieve that €100 price tag while still having a quad core CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 5" screen and it has become very evident to me that they did that on the screen.
The problem
Occasionally, on what I first thought were random moments, I'd have issues with the screen while most of the time it was fine:
- When using Wordflow or even typing regularly, the screen would activate letters that I didn't even get close to with my fingers, sometimes even without my fingers touching the phone at all.
- When scrolling through things as Tumblr and Facebook, the phone found it necessary to also view the action of scrolling as a click, resulting in me to enlarge a photo and having to click back a couple times before being able to scroll past a photo.
- Sometimes being unable to even unlock the phone, as I'd swipe the lockscreen up, but had the phone immediately pushing it back down again.
I then noticed that these moments were mainly at night, after drinking tea, after a hot shower or while I've been using the phone a good while with non-stop screen on time (and sometimes on the charger).
When drinking hot tea, I'd usually have my thumb hanging over the rim of the cup, thus it tends to be a bit sweaty. When taking a hot shower, condensation builds up everywhere on the walls and mirrors, but also on my phone screen that is laying in the bathroom at that very time. When using the phone for a long time with the screen on, it tends to warm up quite a bit and with the flimsy thin back cover this heat travels to your hand, making it slightly moist. And again the issue presents itself.
Microsoft Lumia's solution
I contacted Lumia Netherlands, and their response was that I should send in my phone for repair. Don't do that. Everyone that I know that has this phone, has the same issue, so when you send in your phone to get repaired all that's going to happen is that it's going to be gone for a (couple of) week(s) only for them to put the exact same crappy screen back on, as they've not acknowledged the fact that the screen is just pretty poor quality.
My theory
The screen seems to be sensitive to electrostatic charges. Once any form of moisture is, or has been in contact with the screen, it forms a layer on top of the glass. Normally when you touch the touch screen, it registers the point where it is touched and reacts accordingly.
BUT water transfers electricity, so when you press a place on the screen that is ever so slightly wet, the electrostatic discharge will travel through the moisture, and every single point of the screen that is also in contact with the moisture will be pressed. On a screen with up to 10 multi-touch input, this can be a serious problem.
Let me demonstrate with an image:
On the left we see the phone working normally, a finger touches the screen and the red ring indicates where the screen registers the touch.
On the right, we see a finger touching an area of the screen that has water on it (blue), the yellow line indicates the path of electrostatic charges (random, totally non-scientific testing) and once again the red rings indicate the (up to) 10 touch inputs that the phone registers, all at the exact same time.
The solution
Luckily, the problem is easily fixed by creating a layer between the screen and your fingers. This solution already exists in the form of screen protectors. I'd suggest a fairly thick screen protector, like an extra layer of glass that sticks to the screen rather than those flexible foil ones. The latter also tend to leave air bubbles, so when they're thin enough for water to travel through them, that water will be trapped in those air bubbles and the screen protector will work counter-productively.
Make you sure you clean your screen perfectly and dry it really well. But DON'T use a blow-dryer or leave it in the sun to dry, as this will warm up the phone. Just have a good ol' rub with a towel or kitchen paper.
Then apply a decent screen protector, which can be bought for less than a tenner (I paid €10 for mine in a dodgy shop in the city and the guy cleaned my phone for me (very well, might I add) and also applied it for me).
I've done some testing by making my fingers properly wet with some water, dipping my thumb in my Dr. Pepper, etc. and had a proper go with testing. Obviously grease and water are still going to make your typing experience difficult with how well your thumb glides over the glass, but the touch input was perfect and only keys that I actually touched got registered
This is NOT about the touch screen issue where the screen didn't seem to be accurate, that issue has been fixed with a software update for nearly a year now, so make sure your phone is up to date.
Right, so in February I got myself a Lumia 535 as it was basically a perfect phone for me. It was cheap, the camera was decent for a €100 phone, it was fast enough for all the apps that I use (fb, twitter, music, Skype), comes with a really decent, fast browser that can show mobile and desktop versions of sites and has expandable storage so I can use the phone as an MP3 player. I'm really content with this phone, especially considering the price.
There's an issue though: The screen is... well, it's crap. Obviously Microsoft had to cut corners to achieve that €100 price tag while still having a quad core CPU, 1GB of RAM and a 5" screen and it has become very evident to me that they did that on the screen.
The problem
Occasionally, on what I first thought were random moments, I'd have issues with the screen while most of the time it was fine:
- When using Wordflow or even typing regularly, the screen would activate letters that I didn't even get close to with my fingers, sometimes even without my fingers touching the phone at all.
- When scrolling through things as Tumblr and Facebook, the phone found it necessary to also view the action of scrolling as a click, resulting in me to enlarge a photo and having to click back a couple times before being able to scroll past a photo.
- Sometimes being unable to even unlock the phone, as I'd swipe the lockscreen up, but had the phone immediately pushing it back down again.
I then noticed that these moments were mainly at night, after drinking tea, after a hot shower or while I've been using the phone a good while with non-stop screen on time (and sometimes on the charger).
When drinking hot tea, I'd usually have my thumb hanging over the rim of the cup, thus it tends to be a bit sweaty. When taking a hot shower, condensation builds up everywhere on the walls and mirrors, but also on my phone screen that is laying in the bathroom at that very time. When using the phone for a long time with the screen on, it tends to warm up quite a bit and with the flimsy thin back cover this heat travels to your hand, making it slightly moist. And again the issue presents itself.
Microsoft Lumia's solution
I contacted Lumia Netherlands, and their response was that I should send in my phone for repair. Don't do that. Everyone that I know that has this phone, has the same issue, so when you send in your phone to get repaired all that's going to happen is that it's going to be gone for a (couple of) week(s) only for them to put the exact same crappy screen back on, as they've not acknowledged the fact that the screen is just pretty poor quality.
My theory
The screen seems to be sensitive to electrostatic charges. Once any form of moisture is, or has been in contact with the screen, it forms a layer on top of the glass. Normally when you touch the touch screen, it registers the point where it is touched and reacts accordingly.
BUT water transfers electricity, so when you press a place on the screen that is ever so slightly wet, the electrostatic discharge will travel through the moisture, and every single point of the screen that is also in contact with the moisture will be pressed. On a screen with up to 10 multi-touch input, this can be a serious problem.
Let me demonstrate with an image:
On the left we see the phone working normally, a finger touches the screen and the red ring indicates where the screen registers the touch.
On the right, we see a finger touching an area of the screen that has water on it (blue), the yellow line indicates the path of electrostatic charges (random, totally non-scientific testing) and once again the red rings indicate the (up to) 10 touch inputs that the phone registers, all at the exact same time.

The solution
Luckily, the problem is easily fixed by creating a layer between the screen and your fingers. This solution already exists in the form of screen protectors. I'd suggest a fairly thick screen protector, like an extra layer of glass that sticks to the screen rather than those flexible foil ones. The latter also tend to leave air bubbles, so when they're thin enough for water to travel through them, that water will be trapped in those air bubbles and the screen protector will work counter-productively.
Make you sure you clean your screen perfectly and dry it really well. But DON'T use a blow-dryer or leave it in the sun to dry, as this will warm up the phone. Just have a good ol' rub with a towel or kitchen paper.
Then apply a decent screen protector, which can be bought for less than a tenner (I paid €10 for mine in a dodgy shop in the city and the guy cleaned my phone for me (very well, might I add) and also applied it for me).
I've done some testing by making my fingers properly wet with some water, dipping my thumb in my Dr. Pepper, etc. and had a proper go with testing. Obviously grease and water are still going to make your typing experience difficult with how well your thumb glides over the glass, but the touch input was perfect and only keys that I actually touched got registered

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